(Seychelles News Agency) - The Seychelles Fisheries Authority (SFA) is undertaking a study to assess the vulnerability of seabirds to longline fishery in a bid to reduce the risks of these species ending up as bycatch. 

The exercise will allow for a comprehensive assessment of the population status of these birds, which are most vulnerable to this type of fishery.

The head of department for Fisheries Management and Technical Coordination of the SFA, Vincent Lucas, told SNA that this assessment will also propose measures for bycatch mitigation, which will then be incorporated into the national plan of action for minimising incidental catch of seabirds in the island nation's longline fisheries.

 "We are mainly targeting the Seychelles-registered industrial longline vessels, which operate 25 degrees south in the Indian Ocean. This area is a hotspot for seabirds. And they are captured as bycatch as they forage on longline bait as they sink," explained Lucas.

The need for such exercise is a resolution taken by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), which has recognised the need to strengthen mechanisms to protect seabirds in the Indian Ocean and the global concern that some species of seabirds, notably albatrosses and petrels, are threatened with extinction. 

The IOTC, through this resolution, is also seeking to achieve reductions in levels of seabird bycatch across all fishing areas, seasons, and fisheries through the use of effective mitigation measures.

Seychelles, a 115-island archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, has a growing fishing industry. However, the incidental bycatch of seabirds has been of increasing concern, particularly by large-scale tuna longline vessels and, most recently, small-scale longline vessels.

The assessment aims primarily to evaluate the population status of seabird species most vulnerable to bycatch in the Seychelles longline fisheries and to propose measures for bycatch mitigation.

According to Lucas an already recruited consultant will be identifying the most vulnerable seabird species through bycatch data analysis and expert consultation, "as well as estimating population sizes and trends for these vulnerable species, assess the impact of bycatch from the Seychelles longline fisheries on their population viability, evaluate the effectiveness of existing bycatch mitigation measures in the Seychelles longline fishery and finally propose practical and cost-effective seabird bycatch mitigation measures tailored to the Seychelles longline fishery."

The exercise will take three months to complete. Lucas further added that last year, SFA and its parent ministry, the Ministry of Fisheries and the Blue Economy undertook an assessment of the population status of seabird species that are most vulnerable to the Seychelles longline fishery and proposed measures for bycatch mitigation.

This was the first step in the process to develop a Seabird National Plan of Action for Seychelles. The finding of this assessment will be incorporated in the National Plan of Action for minimising incidental catch of seabirds in the Seychelles' longline fisheries, which is expected to be completed in 2025.

According to the authority, between 2019 and 2023 over 800 seabirds were caught by fishing vessels, this figure includes dead and live birds, with the latter being released.

The sustainability of seabirds is a national concern in Seychelles, especially species found on the outer islands where there used to be big populations. In February 2022, the Minister for Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Flavien Joubert, raised concerns over the declining population of the sooty terns whose eggs are a local delicacy.

"The population of the sooty terns has gone down significantly and it is quite alarming. It is necessary for us now to take certain actions to prevent further decline in the population of sooty terns in the country. Several measures have been proposed and a temporary ban on sooty tern egg collection with two-year review cycles whereby census would be updated," said Joubert. 

The ban on collecting the sooty tern eggs is still being maintained, and seven sooty tern colonies have become extinct in Seychelles.