The High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to the Seychelles H.E. Mr. Srimal Wickremasinghe conducted a courtesy call on the Designated Minister and the Minister for Fisheries and the Blue Economy Mr. Jean-Francois Ferarri, this morning (Tuesday 20th April, 2021) at the Ministry, after presenting his credentials to President Wavel Ramkalawan at State House.
Discussions between Minister Ferrari and the Sri Lankan High Commissioner focused mainly on the fisheries sector as both countries are active members of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC).
Both the Minister and the High Commissioner were in agreement to re-activate fisheries cooperation discussions between the two countries, with a particular focus on maritime surveillance and monitoring in an effort to eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing in their respective exclusive economic zones.
To achieve this objective, Minister Ferrari stated that there needs to be efficient exchange of information between Sri Lanka and Seychelles which can be facilitated with data collected from the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS). The exchange of information can ensure that both countries are aware of movements of their fishing vessels at all times.
This partnership will enable Seychelles and Sri Lanka to continue to be at the forefront in fisheries transparency and ensure compliance with international obligations such as those set by OECD.
Minister Ferrari also made a proposal that the CINEC management offers more fisheries related courses with a particular focus on modern fishing technologies both at the Seychelles Maritime Academy (SMA) as well as the CINEC campus in Colombo.
This is to encourage more Seychellois youths to join the fisheries sector in Seychelles not just as fishermen, but to take hold of equally important career opportunities in the fisheries value chain.
