What is SWIOFish3: South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Governance and Shared Growth 3 (SWIOFish3) is a 6-year program aiming to improve management of marine areas and fisheries in targeted zones and strengthen fisheries value chains in Seychelles. Developed by the World Bank and owned by the Ministry of Fisheries and the Blue Economy, SWIOFIsh3 supports the Seychelles’ ambitions in marine conservation and long-term sustainable development.
What SWIOFish3 does: It provides robust scientific research, offers training to the community and government employees, brings additional financing to the public and private sectors, and helps develop management frameworks. In other words, SWIOFish3 supports activities that help to create a favorable business environment for the Seychelles’ Blue Economy with sustainable fisheries at its core.
Why 3? SWIOFish3 is part of a wider regional program supporting the South West Indian Ocean countries in sustainably developing their fisheries. Within the SWIOFish Program, the first project, SWIOFish1 (2015), promoted regional cooperation for sustainable management of the region’s fisheries. It also included national investments in the Comoros, Mozambique, and Tanzania.
The second project, SWIOFish2 (2017), supported regional cooperation with a specific focus on the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), the Indian Ocean Artisanal Fishers Federation, and the group of African and Indian Ocean Developing Island States. SWIOFish2 included national investments in Madagascar.
The Republic of Seychelles is already part of the regional components of the first two SWIOFish projects through its active role in the IOTC and other regional organizations.
Why fisheries value chain?: Value chain includes every service that creates value on the way towards the final product. In case of fisheries, it includes transportation, cold storage, packaging, processing, research, laboratory services and testing, marketing, distribution and more. All these links in the value chain offer commercial opportunities to the local community, yet they do not directly add pressure on the Seychelles’ marine environment. Developing the value chain of fisheries can help promote local entrepreneurship, generate more business, and create a full-circle domestic service industry for the needs of local and international fishers.
What are the accomplishments of the SWIOFish3? SWIOFish3 created a wealth of knowledge and lessons learned to inform the future development of the Blue Economy in Seychelles and beyond. It also piloted some brand-new fundraising approaches. For example, the world’s first Sovereign Blue Bond was issued by the government of Seychelles under the SWIOFish3 program in 2018. The Blue Bond raised US$15 million from investors, which was split between the Development Bank of Seychelles (DBS) and the Seychelles Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust (SeyCCAT). The DBS channeled its $12 million into the Blue Investment Fund to provide affordable loans to local entrepreneurs looking to develop services for the fisheries sector; SeyCCAT channeled its $3 million into a sister facility, the Blue Grants Fund, to offer grants to climate and marine conservation projects led by the community.
