In this article, CFFA highlights the Seychelles small-scale sector’s concerns and demands in light of the ongoing negotiations for the new EU-Sechelles Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA) protocol.
Reading time: 10 minutes.
The European Commission received the mandate from the Council to re-negotiate a protocol for the EU-Seychelles Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA) and the negotiations have started today.
In the mandate negotiating directives, the EU Member States ask the Commission to promote “an appropriate involvement of stakeholders in the programming and implementation of activities” linked to the SFPA. In this publication, we seek to highlight the small-scale sector’s concerns ahead of the SFPA negotiations.
The Seychelles small-scale fishing sector is comprised of two large groups. First, the small-scale fishers that operate in the inshore areas, using handlines, traps, gill nets, beach seines and harpoons and targeting reef species such as snappers, groupers, barracudas and parrotfishes. They sell their catches locally, including hotels and restaurants. The second, is a smaller segment comprising semi-industrial vessels (14-23 m) which, depending on the season, can operate outside of the inshore exclusive zone targeting tuna-like species, and whose catches are for export.
1. Access issues
a) Competition from foreign industrial vessels: facing overcapacity in the Indian Ocean
The previous SFPA protocol gave access to 40 tuna seiners and 8 surface long-liners based on a reference tonnage which was estimated in the last round of negotiations for the previous protocol. The evaluation published in January 2025 informed of a reduced utilization of the number of fishing authorisations for the Seychelles EEZ, especially since 2023. The evaluation further pointed that “local shipowners do not experience competition by the EU fleet” and that they “support its renewal” (see page 67 of the evaluation). Among the EU SFPAs, The Seychelles SFPA is indeed one of the most accepted by local communities.
However, while small-scale fishers that operate in the inshore area and face little competition from the EU fleet and other foreign industrial fleet, this is not the case for Seychellois semi-industrial vessels. “Our semi-industrial vessels have been decked in Port Victoria for months”, says Rodney Nicole, member of the Seychelles Fisherman and Boat Owner Association (SFBOA) board, the largest small-scale fishing organisation in the country. The EU fleet is certainly not the only foreign fleet present in the Seychelles EEZ, the country has several fishing agreements with foreign countries, having recently also signed an MoU which regularises the presence of 15 Chinese long-line fishing vessels. He explains that the overcapacity in the Indian Ocean means that these vessels, which used to go out at sea for 10 days, now must spend three times the time at sea to catch the same number of fish. “The long time on board also impacts the quality of the fish when it is landed”. For Nancy Ramkalawan-Onginjo, chairperson of SFBOA, explains that for the last few years “tuna-like species have completely disappeared from the Mahé plateau” as they are intercepted by tuna industrial vessels well before.
Regarding overcapacity in the Indian Ocean, this is an issue that SFBOA fishers have long insisted on, especially with regards to purse seining capacity and the impacts of Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs). Furthermore, in 2017, they co-signed a position on access allocation at the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) which called for fair allocation criteria which should explicitly reserve resources share for artisanal and semi-industrial fleets of coastal states. This is already being debated in some RFMOs (e.g. ICCAT).
proposals for negotiations
> Based on a transparent and science-based capacity assessment of the semi-industrial access needs, the EU and the Seychelles should ensure Seychelles’ semi-industrial fleet gets priority access to resources.
> The EU should advocate with its partners, including The Seychelles, for the development of an approach to access allocation that gives priority to those that fish in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner and bring the most benefits to coastal states (local employment, landings, etc.).
b) FADs: Polluters should pay for their mess
Since the last protocol, the EU purse seiners must contribute via a fee to a national environmental fund, of which 53% has been used by the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) to collect stranded Fishing Aggregating Devices (FADs) and other fishing equipment (see page 19 of the evaluation). Despite this FAD recovery programme, FADs continue reaching the Mahe Plateau and being collected by small-scale fishers in the inshore areas.
These FADs can destroy the fishing gear of fishers, but can also be dangerous if fishers collide with them at night. Fishers take this pragmatically, “some are even recycled by our communities”, notes Nancy Ramkalawan-Onginjo, yet the SFBOA suggests more stringent measures for stranded drifting FADs as they see this removal programme too expensive: “There should be a ‘polluter pays’ policy”, insists Rodney Nicole. “These FADs have identification systems, so it is easy to trace back and fine the responsible vessel.”
proposal for negotiations
> Introduce a binding ‘polluter pays’ clause in the protocol, obliging EU purse seiners to finance recovery costs of lost Drifting Fish Aggregating Devices (DFADs), with clear traceability and fines when owners are identified.
c) Landings: bringing benefit to the local sector, not disrupting it
In their conclusions, the evaluators note that the SFPA was successful in bringing benefits to the local sector because “EU purse seiners sold the equivalent of 18% of their catches in the Indian Ocean, including in the Seychelles fishing zone, to the local cannery resulting in an annual average of close to 37 000 tonnes of tuna species processed locally” (page 56). The rest of EU catches were transferred to reefers and exported. The activities linked to the local cannery create, according to the evaluation, approximately 1500 jobs.
The evaluation continues that an “unknown proportion of bycatches” is “landed by purse seiners, including EU purse seiners, found a niche on the local market for the poorest of the Seychelles’ population”. This would be thanks to the “relatively low prices compared to fresh fish landed by local small-scale fishers.” Small-scale fishers view this differently as they argue some of these catches compete with their catches and disrupt the local market. The evaluators only see this as a communication problem: “These views suggest that communication about the interactions between EU tuna fleets and artisanal fleets should be improved.”
CFFA generally advocates for local landings of bycatch in favour of women fish processors in African SFPAs, as women usually struggle to access raw materials to process. However, the issue in the Seychelles is the complete lack of gender-disaggregated data on the fisheries sector – acknowledged by the Ministry of Blue Economy itself – which makes it difficult to have a real overview of the sector and of the gender-specific challenges.
Furthermore, as the evaluation well points out, the lack of data on bycatches makes it also difficult to understand whether and how the bycatch disrupts the local market. It is good news then, that the “Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) is in the process of developing an appropriate data management system to collect such data,” (page 17 of the evaluation) and CFFA encourages the EU to support this collection as well as the collection of gender-disaggregated data on the small-scale fisheries sector.
proposals for negotiations
> Establish a transparent monitoring mechanism on bycatch landings, disaggregated by species, volumes, and price to be able to assess if it undercuts artisanal fish prices.
> Require that bycatch be landed on the condition that they do not undercut artisanal fishers prices and that it ensures fair access for women fish processors. For this, the EU support should include technical and financial assistance to improve data collection, including gender-disaggregated data.
2. Sectoral support
a) Transparency and participation around the use of sectoral funds
Small-scale fishers still request to be consulted in the evaluation process and in the identification of the priorities for the use of sectoral funds. Fishing organisations acknowledge that an effort has been made to better advertise the projects that have been funded with EU SFPA sectoral funds by marking them with the EU flag.
The Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) has also been more communicative on the use of funds and generally on the SFPA process, and the evaluation gives a good overview of the projects funded. However, CFFA and SFBOA still request that there is a publication of the report of the use of sectoral support, so that stakeholders can participate in the dialogue from an informed position.
proposals for negotiations
> The EU should publish annual reports on sectoral support spending and ensure that small-scale fishers organisations are consulted before allocations under sectoral support are decided.
> The EU should also make sure that all fishing organisations are consulted during the evaluation process. This was not the case in the last evaluation of January 2025, in which the main small-scale fishing organisation, the SFBOA was omitted.
b) Support to the local sector: no-one should be left out
The SFBOA is generally positive with regards to the funds allocated in support of the small-scale fisheries sector. Among the projects the evaluation mentions, the modernisation of several landing sites in the islands of Mahé, Praslin and La Digue. However, the evaluation fails to give information on the frequentation of the landing sites as they did not consult local fishing associations. SFBOA also mentions positively the construction of marketing sites, including gear shops, of the construction of the academy quay and one ice plant. Local small-scale fishing associations also benefitted from support to officially register or for the funding of their secretariats up to 1000€/month (page 43 of the evaluation).
For the next protocol, the SFBOA requests continued support for fishing associations, as well as continued funding for facilities “and support for maintenance and upkeeping of already existing facilities”. They need more ice plants “especially during the high season [Ed. During calmer weather] as there is a high competition for ice, due to the production from semi-industrial vessels,” states Rodney Nicole.
Finally, the SFBOA is grateful for the pension fund for fishers, which was established last April: “Registered fishers up to 55-years-old contribute for a minimum of 10 years 50% of the amount and sectoral support completes”, explains Rodney Nicole, yet her regrets that “a lot of our fishers were interested, but were disqualified because of their age.” Indeed, many fishers are between 58-60 years old and are therefore not eligible for the fund. Nicole explains that they tried to negotiate for those up to 58 to be able to backpay for 3 years, but this was unfortunately not taken into consideration.
While the SFBOA is working in the generational renewal of their sector, by encouraging women and youth to get involved, they also request for support for those fishers at the end of their careers which will face a precarious retirement. “We also ask that all measures are in place”, explains Rodney Nicole so that it is real fishers that benefit from this fund. He notes: “In the Seychelles, anyone can register as a fisher, provided they pay a fee.”
proposals for negotiations
> Ensure sectoral support includes not only construction but also maintenance of facilities, and prioritises funding for ice plants.
> The EU should continue supporting association capacity (training, administration grants).
> Revise eligibility to allow older fishers (e.g. up to 60) to join the pension fund through backpay mechanisms, and strengthen controls to ensure only bona fide fishers are enrolled. The EU support should also cover alternative retirement mechanisms for those already too old to qualify.
Conclusion
The next EU Seychelles SFPA will only be legitimate if it strengthens, rather than undermines, the resilience of Seychelles small-scale and semi-industrial fleets.
That means clear rules to guarantee priority access for local vessels, binding obligations on EU purse seiners to clean up their FADs, and transparent mechanisms ensuring that bycatch landings do not distort local markets but instead support women processors and low-income consumers.
It also means sectoral support that goes beyond infrastructure to cover maintenance, administration, and social protection, from ice plants to pensions, in ways that are genuinely accessible to those who fish for a living.
This protocol can be a model for fairness and accountability in EU external fisheries policy. To achieve this, SFPA negotiators must put the voices of Seychellois fishers and their organisations at the centre of decision-making.
Banner photo: A fish market in Victoria, Seychelles, by Nenad Radojčić.
The Indian Ocean archipelago’s ageing population of small-scale fishers strives to bring generational renewal to fisheries by sensitizing school kids on the profession and training young women to re-skill in fish business.