Seychelles Expert Honored in USA

A Seychelles Fisheries Specialist, Dr. Ameer Ebrahim, was recently invited and honored at a United State event.

Dr. Ebrahim was invited to become a Global FishPath Network Member at a gathering that was held recently in Portland, Maine, USA.

The FishPath Network is a powerful community of recognized global experts focused on providing science-based, quantitative, participatory, and bottom-up approaches to collaborative fisheries sustainability, with a goal of improving small-scale, coastal fisheries globally. The FishPath Network provides a platform for exchanging knowledge and sharing lessons, with an aim to produce concrete products that directly support small-scale fisheries.

FishPath is an approach to setting fisheries on the path to sustainability. Its main element is a stakeholder engagement process guided by the online FishPath decision-support tool. FishPath was initiated by an expert working group and refined and expanded by The Nature Conservancy (TNC), with partners at USA NOAA Fisheries and Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

To date, the FishPath process has been applied in over 10 countries spanning 5 continents.

In Seychelles, FishPath is being applied to two specific fisheries; the spanner crab and lobster fishery, and is being led by Dr. Ebrahim through support by the FishPath Network. The aim of this process is to ensure that both these fisheries are sustainably managed through adoption of a bottom-up process and providing technical support to the local authorities.

IMAGE 2 – Members of the FishPath Network taken at the Network gathering in Portland, Maine, USA

Seychelles lies northeast of Madagascar, an archipelago of 115 islands with roughly 98,000 citizens. Seychelles is a melting pot of many cultures which have commingled and coexisted since the first settlement of the islands in 1770. The three main inhabited islands are Mahé, Praslin and La Digue and the official languages are English, French, and Seychellois Creole.

The islands reflect Seychelles’ grand diversity, like a great family, both large and small, each one with its own distinct character and personality. There are 115 islands scattered across 1,400,000 sq km of ocean with the islands falling into 2 categories: 41 “inner” granitic islands that form the backbone of Seychelles’ tourism offerings with their wide suite of services and amenities, most of which are readily accessible through a selection of day trips and excursions, and the remoter “outer” coral islands where at least an overnight stay is essential.