The Management and Staff of the Aquaculture Department of the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) welcomed a group of delegates from European Union on their visit to the Broodstock, Acclimation and Quarantine Facility (BAQF), which included the handover of a new fishing vessel in providence on Wednesday 5th October. The delegation was headed by the EU ambassador to the Republic of Seychelles, His Excellency Mr. Vincent Degert.
During their guided tour of the multi-species quarantine and acclimation facility, the delegates were able to see the wild caught Broodstock that are being prepared for life and reproduction in captivity. They also visited the quarantine area which includes six quarantine tanks (7.6m3 each) operating on a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS), and an acclimation area that comprises two 40.5m3 tanks (for large fishes including grouper) and four 20m3 tanks (for smaller fishes including snapper & pompano). The capital cost for the facility was approximately 860,000 Euros and has been fully operational since September 2019.
“The facility has shown its potential and is bringing results for this stage of the process. What we are trying to build and really look forward to, is to have a successful Aquaculture future for Seychelles” said Ambassador Degert.
The EU Ambassador and Principal Secretary for Fisheries, Mr. Roy Clarisse then symbolically cut the ribbon to signify the handing over of a new 9m catamaran, that was procured with financial support from the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) through the long-term technical assistance to support the Economic Partnership Programme (EPA) implementation in Seychelles. The 20,000 Euro vessel will be used to service the experimental marine cages that are operated as a component of the Aquaculture department’s on-going research program. It will also be used as a dive monitoring vessel to enable the department to monitor / regulate marine aquaculture installations (e.g. marine cage farms, pearl long lines etc).
The Deputy CEO of SFA, Mr. Ashik Hassan said that “This vessel is an essential additional resource that will help the department meet its strategic goals and as aquaculture in Seychelles further develops, it will also assist us to ensure compliance in the sector.”
