Stage of Affairs: February 2006

Development trend: conditionally positive.

Within the regulation on the part of the Seychelles government on February 20, 2006, shark finning has been banned on all foreign vessels licensed to fish in Seychelles waters.

Seychellois-owned fishing boats are not affected by the regulation for now. A regulation for local fishermen will later be covered by a National Plan of Action on the conservation and sustainable use of sharks (NPOA-Sharks). This is currently being prepared by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MENR) and the SFA in collaboration with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Conservation Union (IUCN). The NPOA, which will ensure that sharks are fished in a manner which protects stocks for future generations, will be discussed with local fishing boat owner before it is finalized.

Source: www.nation.sc

Overview: www.nation.sc

Stage of affairs: April 2005

Development trend: positive.

The President of the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA): a law should be legislated which only allows catching sharks if the whole animal will be brought to the official “fishingport” in Victoria and will be commercialised completely. Finning itself should become illegal and contraventions will be punished.

Furthermore efforts should be done to attract experts knowing how to commercialise skin and other parts of the fish in order to export these parts. There would be a usableness for nearly every part of the shark, like it is practised successfully in other countries but which requires special knowledge.

Source: honorary consul of the Seychelles in Germany, Wolfgang Därr