Seychelles has published its 2025 FiTI Annual Report, reinforcing its role in fisheries transparency as the first FiTI Compliant country. The report, ‘Transparency of Fisheries Management’, evaluates data from the 2024 calendar year. The report confirms that Seychelles continues to meet the vast majority of international transparency requirements across 12 key areas of fisheries governance.
National authorities have progressively expanded the amount of fisheries information available online, primarily through the Ministry of Fisheries, Agriculture and Blue Economy and SFA. The publications include fisheries laws, regulations and policy documents, signed foreign fishing access agreements, lists of licensed vessels and licence fee payments, catch, landing and discard data disaggregated by fishing sector and flag state, stock assessment reports and schedules, fisheries law enforcement statistics, fuel subsidy values and information on beneficial ownership transparency.
Electronic logbooks now cover nearly 100 percent of vessels in the industrial longline and purse-seine fleets, significantly improving the accuracy of large-scale fisheries data.
While the country has reached high levels of transparency, the report highlights several areas where information is still incomplete or unavailable.
Detailed data on development-aid-funded fisheries and marine conservation projects have not been fully disclosed online. Similarly, information on non-fuel subsidies, including ice subsidies, insurance schemes, import rebates and social security benefits, has yet to be comprehensively compiled and published.
Employment and wage data in the fisheries sector also remain inconsistent. Although aggregate employment figures are published, they underreport the number of people engaged in small-scale and informal fisheries.
In addition, a National Plan of Action to combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing, drafted in 2024, has not yet been published pending Cabinet approval.
In response to the 2024 assessment, Seychelles’ National Multi-Stakeholder Group (NMSG) issued 13 new recommendations to further strengthen transparency.
Among them are calls to, Publish complete information and evaluations on fisheries and marine conservation projects funded through development aid, Collate and disclose comprehensive wage data for fisheries workers, Publish a full list of all government financial transfers and subsidies to the fishing sector, Improve consistency in vessel licensing data, Strengthen reporting requirements for fish processors, Archive vessel registries and past fisheries regulations, Amend catch logbooks in the semi-industrial sector to include discard data.
Since 2020, the MSG has issued 77 recommendations. According to the report, 60 percent have been completed, 21 percent are in progress, and 19 percent remain open.
By achieving compliant status, Seychelles sets a global benchmark for fisheries transparency. This progress highlights the importance of sustained political commitment, institutional cooperation, and stakeholder engagement in strengthening governance in the fisheries sector, which is crucial for economic development and food security. Officials say transparency will remain a work in progress, with further improvements planned in data quality, accessibility and stakeholder participation.
The outgoing NMSG Chairperson, Mr. Philippe Michaud, officially presented the latest FiTI Annual Report to the Minister for Fisheries, Agriculture and Blue Economy, Mr. Wallace Cosgrow. This was during a short ceremony at the Ministry’s conference room on Tuesday 10th February 2026.
In his remarks, Mr. Michaud highlighted the importance of accuracy in data collection and publication, acknowledging that verification processes can sometimes result in delays. He noted that the possible introduction of preliminary reports could offer early insights while full verification is being finalised.
Representing the Seychelles Fisheries Authority (SFA), Deputy Chief Executive Officer Mr. Aubrey Lesperance outlined ongoing initiatives to digitise records and establish a centralised database, measures aimed at accelerating the release of fisheries data. He also thanked Mr. Michaud for his leadership and commitment in the establishment and governance of FiTi.
The ceremony also served as the first meeting of the NMSG for the year 2026. During the meeting, the members also welcomed the new chairperson of the group, Secretary of State Mr. Alain de Comarmond. The meeting was also attended by FiTi Executive Director Mr. Sven Biermann, and Principal Secretary for Fisheries Mr. Roy Clarisse.
