(Seychelles News Agency) - The Seychelles Coast Guard vessel, Saya de Malha, left on Monday on its latest recovery mission of fish aggregating devices (FADs) in the island nation's waters, namely the outer islands. 

The crew, who will be participating in the 21-day mission, was seen off at the Seychelles Coast Guard Base by Jean-Francois Ferrari, Minister for Fisheries and the Blue Economy, and Dr. Jan Robinson, the chief executive of the Seychelles Fisheries Authority (SFA).

In addition to a scientific observer and a senior fisheries scientist from the SFA,  four students and a lecturer from the Seychelles Maritime Academy (SMA) are taking part in the recovery mission.

This is the third FAD Watch recovery expedition since the Sustainable Indian Ocean Tuna Initiative (SIOTI), the SFA, and the Spanish Association of Tuna Freezers (AGAC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in July 2023.

Keeping drifting fish aggregating devices (dFADs) from becoming stranded and entangled in coral reefs, shallow water habitats, and coastal zones is the goal of the MOU.

The area of focus for this third mission will be the outer islands, where the crew will intercept and recover FADs at drift that pose a risk of stranding in the shallow marine habitats.

Fish aggregating devices are man-made and usually floating wooden structures with hanging nets to attract fish. These rafts can either be free-floating, known as drifting FADs, or anchored to the seabed, known as anchored FADs.

Undersea life and marine creatures, including turtles and sharks, congregate around FADs and can become entangled in the floating nets attached to FADs.

During the send-off, the CEO of the SFA provided the crew with everything they required for their trip. These consisted of neoprene vests, water shoes, and sunscreen.

Robinson told the students to thoroughly appreciate the experience while keeping in mind their main purpose which is to collect as many FADs as possible

"You've got all the tools at your disposal and what we want to see at the end of the mission is a lot of important information coming back from you, in particular from SFA to provide that information to us," said Robinson.

He added, "It's really important we know everything you are doing on a daily basis to try and locate and recover FADs so that we can report that to those who put the FADs in the water in the first place about how difficult it is to collect these devices."

Ferrari wished the team success and advised them to exercise prudence while at sea. He also expressed his gratitude to the SMA and SCG for their continued support and hoped that by the conclusion of the trip, the students would have learned new things and be ambassadors for these kinds of projects.