Letters to the editor
Tokyo Report: Tuna prices soar on falling supplies
Sir, I have read recently of the sharp prices in Tuna prices amid growing concerns about rapid falls in supplies, given tougher international restrictions on fishing and a series of business closures by financially troubled fishing firms.
However, while fresh tuna prices are going up and canned tuna prices are going down, we sit here in Seychelles and collect license fees instead of getting these boats to land their catch in Victoria, process locally and then export to Europe, USA and the Far East. Imagine the additional employment opportunities. Imagine Air Seychelles, Emirates & Qatar leaving with a fully loaded plane. Imagine the forex coming into Seychelles!
But no, you have people in government refusing to allow foreign vessels from Indonesia and Taiwan to come here because their boats are “dirty” or have no flushing toilets onboard. They also wants to “inspect” the boats before THEY will allow them to go fishing (even outside of our EEZ)!!! Imagine the cost (especially with fuel prices being so high) to bring in an empty boat into Victoria so that the Seychelles authorities can inspect and give them a thumbs-up! And then they may not, so do you think any owner is going to take that chance!
And yet, the same boats are fishing just outside our EEZ about 250 - 300 miles away, and landing their catches in Mauritius, Maldives and Sri Lanka. They would rather land here in Seychelles especially with the fuel prices being so high and our close proximity to the fishing stock. Other boats are simply unloading into collector vessels on the open ocean and these vessels then sail on to other ports for processing and export. Meanwhile, factory workers at Oceana and Sea Harvest twiddle their thumbs waiting for the 2 or 3 remaining tuna local long-liners to come in with a few tons of tuna (4-6 usually every 10 days). The other long-liners have figured out that it is better to do shark-finning as there is more money in it! And it is only now that SFA is looking at a 4-year plan to ban shark-finning (but the big shots are involved, so don’t count on a ban anytime soon)!
Here we are sitting on a God-given gold-mine and we are letting all the other countries around us take advantage of the situation. James Michel even signed an accord with the Mauritians to let them fish out here and take the fish back to Mauritius to be processed at their factory (into tuna loins mind you and not cans)! What is wrong with us my friend?
A frustrated fisherman
