BGF#4
Type: Small
SeyCCAT strategic objective: 2
Lead Project Partner: Sheena Talma
Partners:
Kalsey Belle – Project Assistant (CV attached)
April Burt – Scientific Advisor – Oxford University – UK (CV attached)
Dr. Murray Duncan – Scientific advisor – Stanford University – USA (CV attached)
Dr. Jessica Glass – Scientific Advisor – NRF-SAIAB – South Africa (CV attached)
Dr. Nathalie Bodin –Science Advisor -SOS – Seychelles (CV attached)
Dr. Sian Morgan – Mentor – USA
Pavitray Pillay – Mentor – WWF-SASSI –- South Africa
Summary:
Seychelles, like many other large ocean states, is highly dependent on fisheries and tourism to fuel economic development. However, with increased pressure on fish stocks, there is a growing concern that this resource is dwindling beyond repair. Whilst numerous fishery laws and regulations exist in Seychelles, top-down management strategies are difficult to implement if not in addendum with awareness-raising campaigns and buy-in from end-users. To overcome this, sustainability awareness initiatives have been developed in many countries that inform consumers/end-users to drive bottom-up resource management through influencing resource demand.
Specific examples include The Ocean Wise initiative (Canada, https://seafood.ocean.org/), goodfish (Australia, https://goodfish.org.au/), seafood watch (USA, https://www.seafoodwatch.org and WWF-SASSI (South Africa, http://wwfsassi.co.za/). These sustainability awareness initiatives use traffic light systems to rate specific fishery species’ sustainability that consumers use to inform their purchasing/consumption choices (see http://wwfsassi.co.za/sassi-list/ for an example of labelling output). These initiatives have proved successful in shifting consumer demand away from vulnerable to less vulnerable species, influencing market demand and prices and ensuring fishers maintain profitability and livelihoods. Despite challenges of its implementation in industrial fisheries and across large geographic extent, these initiatives have proven to be successful. Hence, the small-scale fishery/tourist sector existing in Seychelles appears on face value to be ideally suited to this kind of initiative.
Nevertheless, before any such initiative is implemented in Seychelles, its feasibility needs to be assessed. Although similar projects have been implemented across the globe, each of these labelling systems, despite following a similar trend, are uniquely designed for the country(ies) or states in which they have been introduced. Hence the focus of this project is to conduct a feasibility study on the concept for the introduction of a Seychelles Sustainable Seafood Initiative (SeySSI) labelling system.
Prior to implementation of the SeySSI labelling, it is important to understand the fishery climate and to adapt the system (using the WWF-SASSI template) to one that will effectively work within the Seychelles context. Furthermore, available science for the species in question needs to be established/obtained to enable the appropriate sustainability labelling.
To understand the needs required and the appetite for the introduction of a ‘traffic light’ sustainability labelling system in Seychelles, a Feasibility Study is required. This will be done in three steps:
- Quantify the seafood market demand of hotel and restaurant users’
- Identify the appropriate target group
- Gauge the appetite for this kind of conservation effort with fishers, hotels and end-users
SeyCCAT funds: SCR 99,931
Co-financing: SCR 251,400
Duration: 12 months
Project Application Form: Coming soon!
Environment and social management Plan: Coming soon!