fish and folk threatened by
liberalization in the seychelles
friends of the earth united states
Fishing is a key industry in the
Seychelles , particularly because of the
country's extremely large Economic
Exclusive Zone. Fourteen percent of the
population works in the fish sector, over
half of them in the tuna cannery owned by
Indian Ocean Tuna Ltd (in turn partly owned
by the US food giant Heinz).
The Seychelles earns a considerable
amount of foreign income by selling fishing
licenses for its waters. The EU, in
particular, pays the Seychelles 2.3 million
euros per year for fishing access, and
contributes another 3.48 million euros
through general expenditures. The EU is
also the largest importer of canned tuna
from the country. This lucrative
partnership is made possible by
preferential treatment from the EU, which
allows duty-free imports so long as certain
Rules of Origin are adhered to.
Liberalization of the global fisheries
sector through NAMA (see page 7) would
devastate the Seychelles'economy, as the
country would lose its desperately needed
preferential treatment and probably Indian
Ocean Tuna as well. If tariffs go, the
country also stands to lose 70% of its
total customs revenue and could experience
increased dumping of fish on local markets.
The Seychelles might try to compensate by
selling more fishing licenses to foreign
fleets, leading to further exploitation of
its already fragile marine resources.
