Although the fleet of Spanish purse seiners registered in Seychelles have noted a drop in catch for the yellowfin tuna in 2023, the first half of 2024 seems to be back to the normal average, said the deputy manager of OPAGAC, Miguel Herrera.
The OPAGAC-AGAC group represents the interests of six Spanish seiners out of the 13 seiners registered in Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean.
OPAGAC is an organisation of producers of frozen tuna recognised in Spain by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, while AGAC is the Association of Large Tuna Freezers and currently has nine groups of shipowners.
Every year, the Seychelles-flagged vessels are legally required to declare their catch for the year on December 31, and usually, vessels start reaching their limit towards the end of October or the beginning of November. This is, however, vessel-specific as each one manages its quota differently.
Last year, since the vessels were behind on their quota, they were still at sea until the end of December. To ensure that these vessels did not miss the start of the season at the beginning of January, they were allowed to remain at sea and granted permission to declare their catch for 2023 two weeks later on January 15.
Herrera said, "Yes, there were vessels from AGAC that remained at sea over the end of the year, as they had not reached their YFT catch limits. All Seychelles-flagged purse seiners have logbooks onboard and skippers are obliged to report catches in those logbooks, per fishing set and species. Therefore, the SFA (Seychelles Fishing Authority) can monitor the catches in near-real time and assign them to the year in which the catch limit applies."
He noted that "this has been the system used by other members of IOTC (Indian Ocean Tuna Commission), like Spain and France, since the implementation of catch limits for the monitoring of catches against the limits assigned to each purse seiner. This system assists Seychelles to fully utilise its catch limits, reducing the time in the port of purse seiners and ensuring a longer economic activity and supply to the canning factory in Seychelles."
Herrera surmised that the drop last year may have been due to natural phenomena such as El Nino, but for this year, they were maintaining the normal average so far.
"The fleet has noted a drop in catchability of yellowfin tuna during 2023, which was very likely driven by oceanographic conditions. During 2023, the thermocline was allegedly deeper, and the fish targeted by surface fisheries was more spread over the water column, some beyond the range of purse seine nets, which may reach depths of around 150-200m, depending on the currents. However, in 2024 everything seems to be back to normal, with catches of YFT at normal average levels according to skippers."
Yellowfin tuna in the Indian Ocean is currently the most overfished tuna stock in the world. In 2016, the IOTC adopted a resolution reducing the fishing allowance of the species by 15 percent to help rebuild the population.
Given these limits and the possibility of catchability being affected by natural phenomena, Herrera said, "The fleet tries to adapt to the circumstances as they come, using the technology at hand. Fishing is always subject to management rules and the availability of tuna schools, which may be caught as either free-swimming schools or associated with fishing objects. In recent years, shipowners and skippers have been obliged to plan properly their fishing activities, bearing in mind the catch limits in place. The recent adoption by the IOTC of catch limits for the bigeye tuna may also bring changes in the future, as the fleet adapts to both yellowfin and bigeye catch limits."
Given Seychelles' position geographically, Herrera highlighted the country's privileged position in the Indian Ocean, being at the centre of purse seine activity. He emphasised the importance of maintaining a fine balance between further investments as well as certain challenges that may arise on the horizon.
"Most of the purse seine fishing occurs in the western central Indian Ocean, in waters within or neighbouring the Seychelles EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone). Regarding investments, it is a delicate balance, and we believe that there will be increased competition in the region, as some other coastal countries are trying to develop infrastructure and services for fishing vessels. Considering that Seychelles has been the most important tuna hub in the region for many years, we are confident that the government will keep using their savoir-faire to keep levels of activity where they are now," he added.
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Herrera concluded that while the rest of the year is still uncertain regarding the catch levels, they are still hopeful for the future and that "2024 seems to be a normal year, with catches at levels similar to those before 2023. However, it is too early to say whether this will be the situation by the end of the year as this is a very changing world."
"We hope that we will be able to make the best of our fishing opportunities, within the margins established by the IOTC, and the Seychelles government, to ensure the long-term sustainability of our vessels and the resources they depend on. We are also hopeful that the IOTC will be able to resolve all the issues identified at previous YFT assessments and reach a consensus on a fully inclusive YFT management measure. In this regard, we fully appreciate the active role that the Seychelles government has been playing at the regional level and hope that efforts to bring everybody on board will continue," he said.
