Third South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Governance and Shared Growth Project (SWIOFish3)

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The development objective of the Third South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Governance and Shared Growth Project for Seychelles is to improve management of marine areas and fisheries in targeted zones and strengthen fisheries value chains in the Seychelles. The project comprises of four components. The first component, expansion of sustainable‐use marine protected areas will support the Government of the Seychelles (GOS) in implementing its pledge to protect an increasing share of its maritime space. The second component, improved governance of priority fisheries will have a greater focus on fisheries management at a national level. It consists of four sub-components: (i) support the finalization and the implementation of the Mahé Plateau and the Praslin fisheries management plans, the most important fisheries management instruments of the country; (ii) consolidate the existing fisheries and marine environment statistics by developing a fisheries information management system and providing targeted training to government statisticians; (iii) reinforce the country’s capacity to manage its fisheries sector through a review and update of the fisheries institutional framework, the drafting of a fisheries sector policy note, assessing the current public support to the sector, and capacity building and ad‐hoc technical assistance for the relevant public entities; and (iv) approximately 10 percent of the Blue Bond proceeds will be channeled through the blue grants fund to contribute to the management of these fisheries. The third component, sustainable development of the blue economy will help finance the sustainable development of the Seychelles blue economy and support increased value addition in the aquaculture, industrial, semi-industrial, and artisanal fishing and processing sectors. It consists of four sub-components: (i) facilitate the expansion of seafood value chains and promote synergies with other value chains, including through targeted studies, capacity building to fishers and operators, and investments in initiatives led by artisanal fishers; (ii) strengthen the enabling environment for local investments in the aquaculture sector; (iii) finance studies and technical assistance to improve the planning and decision‐making mechanisms related to investments in the blue economy; and (iv) augment the Seychelles’ ability to export its seafood products by investing in its sanitary and phytosanitary monitoring capacity. The fourth component will support the coordination and implementation of the project, through a project implementation unit (PIU).