Indian Ocean states dependent on industry hit as trawlers avoid region
Straits Times 23 Jan 09;
VICTORIA (SEYCHELLES): Tuna catches in the south-western Indian Ocean fell by as much as 30 per cent last year as pirates blocked access to some of the world's richest tuna waters off Somalia, fisheries experts say.
European fleets said the Somali pirates, who are better known for their audacious hijackings of commercial vessels, including the Saudi supertanker Sirius Star, are threatening an industry worth up to US$6 billion (S$9 billion) across the Indian Ocean region.
France and Spain, which both base fleets in the Seychelles, would expect to haul in nearly two-thirds of their year's catch off Somalia between August and November, said the head of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, Mr Alejandro Anganuzzi.
'Instead, they had to look further east and probably caught 50 per cent of what they would usually catch,' he said.
Some 50 trawlers use the port at Seychelles' capital Victoria, through which up to 350,000 tonnes of tuna are handled each year. But catches have suffered for two consecutive years as stocks fell.
Fisheries experts said foreign currency earnings will have fallen as a result of the dwindling tuna catch, dashing hopes for an economic recovery in the debt-laden archipelago.
In the Seychelles, tuna and related industries - re-export of fuel to vessels, port services, electricity and water for vessels - account for up to 40 per cent of foreign earnings.
Somalia has said piracy is merely a symptom of rampant illegal fishing by vessels from Europe and Asia in its waters after the country's central government collapsed in 1991.
The Kenya-based Maritime Seafarers Assistance Programme said in 2006 that there were hundreds of illegal fishing boats in Somali waters at any one time, mainly chasing tuna.
Some pirates have told Reuters they turned to hijacking to stop foreign fishing vessels destroying their own small boats and equipment. But the ransoms earned simply increased their appetite for hunting other ships.
From August to November, the waters beyond Somalia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) hold some of the planet's richest stocks of yellowfin tuna.
Pirates attacked tuna boats at least three times last year, leading to one ransom of over US$1 million.
'The pirates' impact on the fishing off Somalia has been huge,' said one European skipper, on condition of anonymity. 'At least half our business is there. Now we cannot go there anymore. The last season was wrecked.'
The audacious attack on the fully laden Sirius Star, 450 nautical miles out to sea, alerted the world to the pirates' extended range of activity, using ocean-going 'mother-ships' to deploy smaller boats for an assault. Pirates freed the ship earlier this month for a US$3 million ransom.
'They are in the south, too. We've seen suspect boats on the same longitude as Tanzania's capital, Dar Es Salam. They were there long before the Sirius attack,' the skipper said.
'We have seen them in the waters of countries where we hold licences, including Kenya and the Seychelles,' he added.
The financial implications for the Seychelles are hard to fathom as the tuna industry is shrouded in secrecy. In Japan, top-quality fish can sell for up to US$100,000 each.
According to data seen by Reuters, French vessels averaged some 4,000 tonnes each last year compared to about 6,000 tonnes in 2006. But the financial ramifications go beyond the fleets.
The Seychelles is paid per tonne of fish landed for port facilities - an important source of foreign exchange for the archipelago - and reduced catches means fewer calls to port. 'The pirates' biggest impact is reducing supply, driving prices up,' said Mr Rondolph Payet, head of the Seychelles Fisheries Authority.
Meanwhile, Japan's ruling coalition yesterday approved plans to send naval ships to Somalia to protect Japanese vessels and nationals, an official said.
The decision by the coalition's anti-piracy task force is expected to pave the way for a Japanese mission some time in the coming months. The task force said that Japanese coastguards should be on board the navy ships to exercise police duties as the Japanese navy's role was limited strictly to self-defence.
A number of nations are sending ships to the area to fend off increasingly brazen pirate attacks, which have led some shipping companies to avoid the route via the Suez Canal and, at greater cost, sail around Africa instead.
China deployed two destroyers and a supply ship to the Gulf of Aden last month. Earlier this month, Task Force 150, a Bahrain-based 20-country multinational fleet that is supporting United States-led operations in Afghanistan, said it is spinning off some of its warships to create Task Force 151, which will concentrate on suppressing piracy.
The United Nations Security Council voted 15-0 last month to allow naval forces in the area to 'take all necessary measures' to fight pirates.
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BLOOMBERG
