President Ramkalawan welcomes back SMA students and Seychelles Coast Guard crew from the second Fish Aggregating Devices (FAD) clean-up expedition
The President of the Republic, Mr. Wavel Ramkalawan accompanied by the Designated Minister, Minister for Fisheries and the Blue Economy, Mr. Jean-François Ferrari, welcomed six students from the Seychelles Maritime Academy (SMA), their lecturer, and other members of the team from the Seychelles Coast Guards who took part in the second Fish Aggregating Devices (FAD) clean-up expedition.
The students boarded the coast guard boat Saya de Malha in March and during their 3 weeks voyage they have physically collected and removed debris washed up in the reef, lagoons, and on the shores of outer islands. They had the opportunity to visit and look for FADs around Aldabra, Assumption, Cosmoledo, Astove, Farquhar, Cerf, and Providence.
Greeting them at the Fishing Port Berth #4, Victoria, President Ramkalawan who is also the Patron of the Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF), congratulated them for embarking on this journey and that the expedition has been successful. He personally thanked them for serving their country and helping the Government in its effort to protect, keep the oceans clean and promote sustainable fishing.
The initial report indicates that 114 FADs were collected in this expedition, where more than half were found on Aldabra. The Minister for Fisheries and the Blue Economy, Mr. Ferrari has described the activity as a complete success given that they were able to retrieve such a significant amount of FADs. He also took the opportunity to thank the Seychelles Coast Guard, Seychelles Maritime Academy, and all stakeholders who participated in the exercise.
The FADs have been removed from the vessel and stored in an SFA storage facility, where businesses that deal with recycling can see how they can be Reused and Recycled as much as possible.
The first expedition to tackle Fish Aggregating Devices (FAD) was undertaken in October 2022.
Source : State House – Office of the President of the Republic of Seychelles
