AFTER harping about the likelihood of discovering oil or “black gold " in the offshore waters of Seychelles, prior to the 2006 presidential polls , President Michel has now said he will focus on tuna - l'Or Bleu or blue gold when attending the FAO meeting in Rome, recently.
It is time said Michel that we got a fairer price for our tuna or “l'Or Bleu". He is finally taking the advice of Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly.
Michel conveniently forgot that the tuna fished in Seychelles ' waters are all sold by European vessels, mainly French and Spanish, who have been licenced to operate here since over 20 years. Hardly any Seychellois ship is fishing for tuna, though it has long been proven that purse seining is a profitable venture. The Government opted to borrow heavily from German banks and invest in tankers rather than purse seiners to exploit a resource that we possess in abundance.
An estimated 4 million tons of tuna are caught annually worldwide. Of the total 50% comes from the Pacific Ocean, where tuna is more plentiful. Some 15% of tuna is caught in the Indian Ocean.
In an average year, for which statistics are available - 2003 and 2004 the total tuna catch reported in the Western Indian Ocean by purse seiners licenced to operate in Seychelles' Exclusive Economic Zone ( EEZ) was just over 400,000 tons. Of that total 350,000 tons were unloaded in Port Victoria.
Government benefits from trade in fish and fish products, mostly canned tuna amounted to 22,500 tons worth R 400 million ($60 million), whereas revenue generated from industrial fishing activity totals on average R 200 million, according to figures released by the Seychelles Fishing Authority ( SFA).
Government holds 40% shares in the IOT cannery. When it was owned by the multinational, Heinz Foods, billings for utilities, notably water and electricity were paid to government in advance for a number of years.
Since two years, the IOT is owned - at least 60% by Lehman Brothers banking group. To date $ 230 million worth of bonds have been issued and transacted by Lehman Brothers. We can bet that any revenue from the IOT will be eaten up by loan repayments and the accompanying huge interest.