A financial agreement to produce a marine aquaculture (mariculture) master plan for Seychelles has been signed.

The mariculture master plan project is being funded with a grant of R5.2 million from the African Development Bank (AfDB), with a contribution of R350,000 from the Seychelles government.

The plan will be prepared within 18 months.

The Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) is the executive agency for the project whereas Enviro-Fish Africa (Pty) Ltd has been chosen as the consultant.

The agreement to develop the plan was signed on Friday by acting chief executive of the SFA Finley Racombo and Fred Formanek, an executive of Advance Africa Management Services of South Africa – the project executing branch of Enviro-Fish Africa (Pty) Ltd.

The assessment of marine aquaculture in Seychelles was undertaken in 2007 under the aegis of Recomap (Regional Coastal Management Programme) of the Indian Ocean Commission.

In 2009, a scoping study was conducted to define marine aquaculture opportunities and to assess whether the country required a master plan to drive such initiative.

The bio-physical component of the study identified 16 sites around the inner islands with a total surface area of 52 square kilometres.

Based on conservative production criteria, it has been calculated that using just 10% of this area, could potentially yield around 15,000 tons of fish a year.

Speaking to Seychelles Nation after the signing, Prof Thomas Hecht, also from Advance Africa Management Services, said that fish farming will be mainly for grouper species, tropical yellowtail and bourgeois.

He said it will involve a hatchery with brood stock.  The fish will be kept in cages until they reach a certain size when they can be released in the environment.

Even if only half of the production level is reached, the contribution to the national economy will still be significant, he noted.

According to the SFA, stakeholder and private sector support for the development  of marine aquaculture, and indeed, long-term sustainability, will be greatly  enhanced through promoting and facilitating business and employment opportunities.

Once large scale aquaculture projects are functioning and the necessary infrastructure and markets are developed, there will be opportunities for small to medium scale operators to enter the sector either as producers or service providers.