Category Archives: Seychelles

By Shaun HurrellHeader image: With its pole-to pole migration, the Arctic Tern is a symbol of BirdLifes international collaboration Agami/Shutterstock

Every organisation has milestone moments that mark when its ideas first took flight, and BirdLife is no exception. Some may live on as golden anecdotes in the memories of long-term staff who have seen action on the frontline of conservation, but others may now only be documented in old newspapers and history books but even the foreword of the Handbook of the Birds of the World, a full 62 pages that narrate the growth of BirdLife from a council of experts to everybodys global partnership, doesnt quite capture all of BirdLifes history.

Last issue we told the story of how BirdLife was born exactly one century ago. Back then, the visionary conservationists that came together to found the International Committee for Bird Preservation (ICBP) may not have quite imagined the international movement BirdLife would become and what it would achieve for birds, habitats and people. BirdLifes conservation work today can be split into four pillars: species, sites, systems and society key approaches to preserving nature that have been the heart and soul of our conservation work since 1922.

Underlying these are the principles that conservation action must be informed by scientific insight, and that birds see no borders thus international collaboration is key to their protection. And so over the years BirdLife has perfected the art of local-to-global impact with a suite of extraordinary projects and programmes that work towards a vision of a world in harmony with nature.

Some flagship achievements stand out in this ever-evolving story, including BirdLifes first land acquisition in Seychelles, the formation of the European Unions Natura 2000 network (which was in significant part based on BirdLifes inventories of Important Bird & Biodiversity Areas, or IBAs), the launch of the Preventing Extinctions Programme and its pivotal projects to save species, the creation of the Albatross Task Force as a response to seabirds drowning in fishing gear, and the establishment of completely new NGOs such as Asity Madagascar, Burung Indonesia, SAVE Brasil and NatureLife Cambodia, thanks to our capacity building work. It would be impossible to mention all of BirdLifes top moments, so here are just a few that really capture the aforementioned principles, or the spirit of the organisation.

Read more:

The Spirit of BirdLife - BirdLife International

Satellite images capture twin Cyclonic Storm over the Indian Ocean

Monday, May 09: Last week, as a cyclonic circulation started to take shape near the Andaman Sea, meteorologists began to warn the potential impacts on the eastern coast of India. On Sunday, the system intensified into a Severe Cyclonic Storm! Still, the threat to the coast appears minimal as it is expected to weaken into a deep depression by Wednesday while recurving along and off the Odisha coast.

Meanwhile, its twin has emerged over the southern parts of the Indian Ocean over the weekend. The storm has been named Cyclone Karim, based on the suggestion from the East African country Seychelles. The cyclone is currently a category two hurricane with a wind speed of 112 kmph gusting at nearly 140 kmph.

On the other hand, Cyclone Asani has remained a Severe Cyclonic Storm on Monday with wind speeds of 100-110 kmph gusting to 120 kmph, as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD). It lies roughly 500 km southeast of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and is expected to move towards the Odisha coast by Tuesday. By Wednesday, it will recurve and move along the Odisha coast while weakening into a cyclonic storm.

Twin tropical cyclones spinning in opposite directions north and south of the equator are not new!

Cyclone Fani formed over the Bay of Bengal in April 2019 along with Tropical Cyclone Lorna over the southern Indian Ocean. While Fani turned into an extremely severe cyclonic storm with a maximum wind speed of 250 kmph, Lorna was a Category 1 hurricane and could attain a maximum of 70 kmph.

Such twin tropical cyclones resemble mirror images of each other, spinning at roughly the same longitude but in opposite directions, as seen in the satellite images. Such events are also common in the western Pacific Ocean. They don't happen in the eastern Pacific or Atlantic Basins because tropical cyclones do not occur in lower latitudes south of the equator there.

Winds around low-pressure systems spin clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere but counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere due to the Coriolis effect a force caused by Earth's rotation that deflects winds to the left in the Southern Hemisphere and to the right in the Northern Hemisphere.

Similar to 2019, the instigator of this pair of cyclones was the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), a disturbance near the tropics that moves east around the globe every 30 to 50 days. Westerly winds over the equator line on the Indian Ocean have been strong past several days, likely due to MJO. Such strong westerly winds over the equator line can sometimes induce cyclonic circulations and lead to the simultaneous formation of cyclones over the Northern hemisphere and Southern hemisphere, called Twin Cyclones.

"We usually see the twin cyclones develop following the passage of the convectively-active phase of the MJO," explains Dr Michael Ventrice, an atmospheric scientist at The Weather Company, an IBM Business. Ventrice said the MJO primes the environment for tropical cyclone development thanks to large gyres of low-pressure left behind from enhanced thunderstorms near the equator and enhanced areas of spin north and south of the equator from low-level westerly winds.

When these twin storms are close to each other, i.e., within 1000 km, they even interact with each other. However, Asani and Karim are unlikely to interact because the distance between them is more than 2800 km.

The Indian Ocean has a year-round Cyclone Season. The tropical cyclone season in the northern Indian Ocean, which includes the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, is quite unusual, with two peaks one from April to June and the second from September to December. However, the cyclone season over the southwest Indian Ocean basin peaks between November and April, making Karim quite an exception.

**

For weather, science, and COVID-19 updates on the go, download The Weather Channel App (on Android and iOS store). It's free!

Originally posted here:

Twin Cyclones Asani and Karim Form Over Indian Ocean; Satellite Images Capture Twins on Opposite Sides of Equator | The Weather Channel - Articles...

Each year, we index the best, brightest openings, but for the 26th edition of Conde Nast Travelers Hot List, weve upped the ante: This time, editors at all seven worldwide editions had a hand in scouting and selecting the entries. At its heart, this is still a hotel lista whopping 96 made the cut this year, which is a true testament to the industrys resilience. Because (almost) no hotel is an island, weve widened the lens to include the restaurants, culture, transportation, and cruises you need to know, and the destinations that are reinventing themselves. We mean it when we say this may be the hottest Hot List yet. Here, the best new hotel openings in the world.

Click here to see the entire Hot List 2022, including the best new restaurants, bars, museums, cruises, destinations, and transportation.

BOTSWANA

Wilderness Safaris DumaTau, Linyanti

KENYA

Eden Nairobi

MOROCCO

Fairmont Taghazout Bay

MOZAMBIQUE

Sussurro

SEYCHELLES

Mango House Seychelles, LXR Hotels and Resorts, Mah

SOUTH AFRICA

Sterrekopje Farm, Franschhoek

CHINA

LUX* Chongzuo, Guangxi

INDIA

Raffles Udaipur

Karan Mahal, Srinagar

Aramness Gir National Park, Gujarat

Six Senses Fort Barwara

SUJN Sher Bagh, Ranthambore

JAPAN

Arashiyama Mansion MAMA, Kyoto

Shinsho-an, Kyoto

Roku Kyoto, LXR Hotels & Resorts, Kyoto

The Shinmonzen, Kyoto

MALDIVES

The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands

Joali Being, Bodufushi Island

Patina Maldives, Fari Islands

SOUTH KOREA

Josun Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Seoul Gangnam

THAILAND

The Standard, Hua Hin

Silky Oaks Lodge, Mossman

The Tasman, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hobart

COSTA RICA

Hacienda AltaGracia, Auberge Resorts Collection, Perez Zeledon

GUATEMALA

Villa Bokh, Antigua

AUSTRIA

Hotel Motto Vienna

FRANCE

Bulgari Hotel Paris

Htel Madame Rve, Paris

The Maybourne Riviera, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin

Saint James Paris

Cheval Blanc Paris

Airelles Chteau de Versailles, Le Grand Contrle

Le Moulin de Lourmarin

GREECE

Kalesma Mykonos

The Rooster, Antiparos

MarBella Elix, Igoumenitsa

ICELAND

The Reykjavik Edition

ITALY

Soho House Rome

Borgo Santandrea, Amalfi

Villa Igiea, a Rocco Forte Hotel, Palermo

Ca di Dio, Venice

Il Tornabuoni, Florence

Hotel Castello di Reschio, Lisciano Niccone

MONTENEGRO

One&Only Portonovi

NETHERLANDS

Hotel me, Rotterdam

PORTUGAL

The Ivens, Lisbon

SPAIN

Six Senses Ibiza, San Juan Bautista

OKU Ibiza, Sant Antoni de Portmany

Can Ferrereta, Santany

Cristine Bedfor Guest Houses, Mahn

SWITZERLAND

The Woodward, Geneva

Glebe House, Colyton, England

NoMad London

The Harper, Langham, England

Beaverbrook Town House, London

The Pig in the South Downs, Arundel, England

ISRAEL

Six Senses Shaharut

QATAR

Zulal Wellness Resort by Chiva-Som, Al Ruwais

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

25hours Hotel One Central, Dubai

Anantara World Islands Dubai Resort

Baja Club Hotel, La Paz

Conrad Tulum Riviera Maya

Habitas Bacalar

Casa Silencio, Oaxaca

BERMUDA

The St. Regis Bermuda Resort, St. George's

BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS

Moskito Island

Saba Rock, North Sound

Rosewood Le Guanahani St. Barth

The Newbury Boston

Read the original here:

Best New Hotel Openings in the World: Announcing the 2022 Hot List Winners - Cond Nast Traveler

The Indian Ocean has been a critical trade route for centuries, enabling the global shipping of spices, foods, metals, and now energy resources that fuel major economies. Of the ten countries that supply three-fourths of Chinas crude oil, nine rely on a safe, secure, and stable Indian Ocean to transport their goods. Japan, South Korea, Australia, and India also rely on Indian Ocean shipping lanes to receive critical energy resources, and other important commodities like coal and seafood are transported across the Indian Ocean region.

Darshana M. Baruah is a fellow with the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace where she leads the Indian Ocean Initiative. Her primary research focuses on maritime security in Asia and the role of the Indian Navy in a new security architecture.

Despite the Indian Oceans importance, there is limited understanding of the geography of the region and its key players. This shortcoming hinders our ability to fully assess its importance to global competition.

The Indian Ocean is often split among the South Asian, African, and Middle Eastern regions, but these artificial divisions emphasize the landmasses and push the maritime domain to the periphery. Further, they move the concerns and priorities of island nations, which otherwise would act as important regional players, under the challenges of their continental counterparts. Under this framework, Sri Lanka and Maldives are considered part of South Asia, while Mauritius and Seychelles are considered part of Africa. Though these regional divisions suggest these nations have major differences in economic goals and security needs, they are united on issues such as climate change, the importance of multilateralism, and the pursuit of sustainable development by promoting the blue economy.

Caroline Duckworth is a James C. Gaither Junior Fellow in the Carnegie South Asia Program.

But now, to fully monitor and absorb key developments in this strategic maritime domain, the Indian Ocean must be viewed as a single region. To address the artificial division of the Indian Ocean and facilitate study of the region, the Carnegie Endowments Indian Ocean Initiative has launched a digital, interactive map that aims to modernize our foundational understanding of the region. The first phase of the map features layers on maritime boundaries, trade, disputes, shipping routes, and regional players.

The tool has exposed four key points that further support the need to consider the region holistically:

The Indian Ocean is home to three chokepoints critical to energy shipping: the Strait of Malacca, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb. The Mozambique Channel is not classified as a chokepoint, but it is a key trading route where backups can occur, so weve labeled it as such. The maps shipping routes layer demonstrates the importance of these chokepoints to international trade and how disruption of one can have drastic impacts on transportation through another.

Consider, for instance, the blockage of Egypts Suez Canal for six days by the ship Ever Given in March 2021. While the canal was blocked, some ships considered re-routing around the Cape of Good Hope. But such an endeavor would have been expensive and dangerous (the area is notorious for shipwrecks), and it would have added approximately ten days to the voyage. Most ships chose to simply wait for the Suez Canal to reopen rather than attempt the alternate route. This decision, too, came at a pricedelayed deliveries of cargo resulted in late fees of up to $30,000 a day per container.

Approximately 1 million barrels of oil pass through the Suez Canal per day. Imagine, instead, that a similar crisis had occurred in the Strait of Hormuz, which transported 21 million barrels of oil each day in 2018, or the Strait of Malacca, which transported 16 million barrels of petroleum and other liquids each day in 2016. Such an event could severely alter global trade as countries who rely on these flows seek new sources or routes for their supplies.

These chokepoints are also important militarily. The ability to protect or disrupt shipping lanes through these zones will provide significant strategic advantages to regional players. A nations ability to keep sea lines of communications (SLOCs, or maritime routes for trade and military deployments) free and open during peacetime also allows them to disrupt these zones during conflict. Take the U.S. Navys ability to disrupt Japans SLOCs during World War II, which granted it a significant competitive advantage. Conceptualizing the Indian Ocean as a single region instead of in silos will allow navies to better formulate a cohesive Indian Ocean strategy spanning from the coast of Africa to the western coast of Australia.

While China is often considered the primary trading partner for the Indian Oceans island nations, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) frequently outpaces China, India, and the United States in both exports from and imports to these countries. The UAE is both the primary importing and exporting country for Seychelles, and it ranks in the top five importers or exporters for every Indian Ocean island nation. Middle Eastern countries, European countries, African countries, and South Asian countries also all have historical and trading ties to these important islands, and new players like Qatar and Turkey are likely to join the fray. Considering the region holistically allows researchers and policymakers to better identify the frequency with which smaller players are engaging in the Indian Ocean. Put simply, China is not the only player beginning to understand the importance of the Indian Ocean islands.

The Indian Oceans fifteen ongoing territorial disputes reflect the regions complicated colonial legacy. For example, France has multiple disputes lodged with Comoros and Madagascar in the Western Indian Ocean over the control of small islands. Similarly, Mauritius and the United Kingdom continue to debate the status of the Chagos Archipelago, despite a ruling from the International Court of Justice that ordered the islands returned to Mauritiuss control.

These sovereignty disputes with the West open the door for islands to deepen their relationship with China. While assertive in the South China Sea, China has no territorial disputes in the Indian Ocean region, seeking instead to balance Western influence. Each island involved in a dispute has grown its economic relationship with China in recent years, from free trade agreements to Belt and Road investments.

India, Australia, and France each have island territories in the Indian Ocean, making them natural partners in future collaborative projects. These countries share common objectives in both military and trade security and should consider how to best compete with other regional powers. The priorities of Indian Ocean countriessuch as maintaining the blue economy and combating climate changewill be essential to achieving their regional goals.

Examining the Indian Ocean as a single unit allows us to draw more connections across this vast area. This phase of the map focuses on creating a foundational understanding of the region by highlighting chokepoints, trading partners, shipping routes, and territorial disputes. The next phase of the map will visualize the military presence and capabilities in the Indian Ocean to underline the traditional and emerging players in the space. Through building and expanding on this project over the coming months, we hope to shift the understanding of the regions key players to a more accurate paradigm: the consideration of the Indian Ocean as one theater.

View the Carnegie Endowments Indian Ocean Initiative map here.

Continue reading here:

We're Thinking About the Indian Ocean All Wrong - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

VICTORIA, Seychelles--(BUSINESS WIRE)--KuCoin, a leading global cryptocurrency trading platform, announced its 21st Spotlight Token Sale with Aurigami (PLY) on April 29, 2022 (UTC). It allows qualified participants to acquire Aurigami (PLY) at the issue price of $0.005 by holding at least 100 KuCoin Token (KCS), the native token of the KuCoin Exchange.

Aurigami (PLY) is the decentralized lending protocol built on Aurora, an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) smart contract platform that creates a bridge between Ethereum and NEAR. Aurigami is one of the top protocols by TVL on Aurora, with approximately $800 million in liquidity. And it now offers core money market services such as deposit and collateralized lending for 8 largest assets in the Aurora ecosystem. In addition, Aurigami has attracted Blue-Chip venture capital firms such as DragonFly Capital, PolyChain Capital and Coinbase Ventures as investors in its private round.

Currently, KuCoin Spotlight has launched 20 projects with an impressive performance, including CLH, PDEX, CWAR, VR, and so on via Spotlight, with the highest ROI exceeding 924x. And to enroll more users in the 21st KuCoin Spotlight, KuCoin has launched the Spotlight Trial Fund to minimize the threshold of participation. 1,000 lucky participants will get the opportunity to gain a 100 KCS quota by joining the Spotlight Trial Fund activities.

Johnny Lyu, the CEO of KuCoin, said: As the home of crypto gems, KuCoin continues to find the next crypto gems for all classes of investors, and KuCoin Spotlight is a good place to provide promising crypto assets. Similar to our vision of lowering the barriers for users to enter the cryptocurrency world, Aurigami offers a simple way for everyone to access DeFi. We are thrilled to launch this incredible project on our Spotlight platform and provide our support for Aurigami.

Lucas Huang, Aurigamis co-founder added: Aurigami takes pride in enabling a seamless experience for users to lend, borrow, and earn interest. Our aspiration is to become the foundation of a thriving DeFi ecosystem on Aurora. KuCoin is one of the most trusted, established and user-friendly global exchanges, and we are delighted with the opportunity to launch our exclusive token sale on KuCoin Spotlight.

About KuCoin

Launched in September 2017, KuCoin is a global cryptocurrency exchange with its operational headquarters in Seychelles, offering over 600 digital assets and currently provides spot trading, Margin trading, P2P fiat trading, futures trading, staking, and lending to its 10 million users in 207 countries and regions around the world. In 2018, KuCoin secured $20 million in Round A funding from IDG Capital and Matrix Partners. According to CoinMarketCap, KuCoin is currently one of the top 5 crypto exchanges. Forbes also named KuCoin one of the Best Crypto Exchanges for 2021. In 2022, The Ascent named KuCoin the Best Crypto Exchanges and Apps for enthusiasts.

About KuCoin Spotlight

Spotlight is a KuCoin token launch platform that serves early-stage crypto projects and initial token distribution to provide users with the opportunity to participate in the early investment of preferred projects to gain considerable incomes with low thresholds. It has strict screening criteria to ensure that the listed projects and their native tokens are high quality. In addition to providing more promising crypto assets for investors, Spotlight supports early-stage crypto projects in crowd-funding, marketing exposure, as well as industrial influence for further development.

About Aurigami

Aurigami (PLY) is a decentralized, non-custodial, native money market on Aurora. Aurigami offers money market services such as deposit and collateralized lending, which enables users to effortlessly lend, borrow, and earn interests with their digital assets. Aurora is an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) on the NEAR Protocol blockchain. Aurigamis team has developed the most gas-efficient lending market through contract optimization and deploying a proprietary liquidation engine.

More Details about Aurigami:

Website: https://www.aurigami.finance/ Discord: https://t.co/BB0cXjaT2f Twitter: https://twitter.com/aurigami_PLY Telegram: https://t.co/wT05PqxCof

Link:

KuCoin Announces Aurigami (PLY) Token Sale on KuCoin Spotlight, the Favored Token Launchpad - Business Wire

British colonyEdit

The British Legislative Council authorized the establishment of a Board of Commissioners of Currency through the Paper Currency Ordinance of 1914, which was enacted by C. R. M. OBrien, the Governor of the Colony of the Seychelles on 10 August 1914.[6][2] In 1914, the government produced emergency issues of notes for 50, .1/-, .5/- and .10/-.

Standard issue notes began to be issued in 1918, with notes for 50 and .1/-, followed by .5/-, .10/- and .50/- in 1928. The 50 cent and 1 notes were issued until 1951 and phased out in favor of the coins. .20/- and .100/- notes were first introduced in 1968, whilst the .5/- note was replaced by a coin in 1972.[2]

In 1976, the Seychelles Monetary Authority took over the issuance of paper money, issuing notes for .10/-, .25/-, .50/- and .100/-. This series featured the first President of the Seychelles, Sir James Mancham and replaced all colonial notes issued prior to independence.

In 1979, there was a redesign, featuring a more socialist and modernized theme reminiscent of the Ren regime. This series was also issued by the Central Bank of Seychelles when it took over full responsibility in the same year.[7]

In 1989, a new series was introduced with better security features and colours.[2]

In 1998, another more high-tech series was introduced with a more practical, ergonomic design. This series later saw an additional .500/- note first introduced in 2005.[2]

On June 7, 2011, the Central Bank of Seychelles issued updated .50/-, .100/- and .500/- notes with improved security features. Each of the three banknotes has a holographic patch instead of a foil sailfish which currently appears on the notes.

Additional security upgrades include a 2.5-mm wide fluorescent security thread on the .50/- note, a 2.5-mm wide colour-shifting security thread on the .100/- note, and a 3-mm wide colour-shifting security thread on the .500/- note. The notes are also protected by De La Rues unique Gemini technology that fluoresces under ultraviolet light but appears normal in daylight.[8]

The colour schemes of the notes have been revised, with the notes being more green, red, and orange, respectively, than the notes currently in circulation. The new notes also carry the year of printing, as well as the signature of Pierre Laporte, the banks current governor. Existing notes remain legal tender and will be removed from circulation as they wear out.[9]

In December 2016, the Central Bank of Seychelles issued a new series of banknotes to commemorate 40 years of Seychelles' independence. The theme of this series is "Seychelles' Unique Biodiversity - the backbone of the economy".[10][1]

Go here to read the rest:

Seychellois rupee - Wikipedia

The East African country, known for its tropical vegetation and powder white sands is an idyllic location for a typical beach holiday.

However, Seychelles' new tourism promotion plan aims to offer more than the usual holiday resort package.

According to David Germain, Seychelles Tourism Regional Director for Africa and the Americas, the new government wants to diversify the tourism industry and entice international travellers with indigenous cultural experiences.

We have a story to tell visitors. Seychelles is not only about beaches so we are moving away from promoting only the natural beauty of the country. To add value to experiences, we are adding culture, reveals Germain.

The Seychelles recorded over 120 international tourist visits in 2020. Mah based travel agent, Amy Michel from Masons Travel expresses optimism over the development of niche cultural fusions.

Seychelles has 115 islands and every island has a different feel and something new to see, such as the diverse culture. It is a destination that people book three to six months in advance to experience more than beaches, she says.

The Seychelles tourism economy is the main income provider for the island's 90,000 people. The majority of the population are of Creole descent.

In support of building cultural tourism, the Seychelles National Institute for Culture, Heritage and the Arts received over $70,000 (64,000) in funding in 2021 from UNESCOs international Fund for Cultural Diversity. The money will be used to conduct research on the viability of shifting to a culture based economy.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Louis Sylvestre Radegonde, has formed a committee to develop strategies that will capitalise on culture.

I stand determined in supporting the recovery of tourism in Seychelles. More than ever, the tourism industry in Seychelles will be operating within a competitive environment," he stated.

"It is my aim therefore to apply a new perspective on tourism development with strong emphasis placed on quality products that reflect value for money. The need to re-evaluate product and pricing strategies will be core to the successful development and progression of tourism."

Go here to read the rest:

'We have a story to tell': There's more to the Seychelles than white sand beaches - Euronews

COLOMBO Mahalingam Kanapathi set off from his hometown of Beruwala in southwestern Sri Lanka in May 2021. Less than a month later, and nearly 3,000 kilometers (1,900 miles) away, the fishing boat he captained was seized by the coast guard of Seychelles.

Kanapathi was charged and tried for illegal fishing in Seychelles waters. He was convicted and ordered to pay a fine of 2.5 million Seychelles rupees, or about $174,000. Unable to do so, he was sentenced to two years in jail.

Kanapathis case is part of an increasingly common pattern of Sri Lankan fishermen, often from Beruwala, engaging in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in the waters of other countries and territories in the Indian Ocean. IUU fishing, as its known, is thought to account for about 20% of the worlds total fish catch, undermining efforts for sustainable fishing.

While the massive, distant-water industrial fleets like those of China and South Korea have come to epitomize IUU fishing, in Sri Lanka the practice largely the domain of traditional fishers. These fishers have from historical times engaged in whats known as island job, or dupath rassawa in the Sinhala language fishing in the shallow coastal waters off small islands. And the abundance of such islands throughout the western Indian Ocean from the British-administered Diego Garcia to Seychelles, Mauritius and the Maldives, to the Myanmar and Bangladesh islets in the Bay of Bengal gives the fishermen plenty of choice, says Anthony Thomas, a fisherman.

We know that it is illegal to fish in these foreign waters without a permit, but we can easily catch more fish than by fishing in Sri Lankan waters, so we often do this as the yield is worth the risk, says Thomas, who, like Kanapathi, is also from Beruwala, and who has also experienced being caught and jailed for illegal fishing in Seychelles. In Thomass case, though, he spent only a few weeks in custody. Our boat and the gear were confiscated, but the owner of the boat paid the fine and then Seychelles repatriated us, Thomas tells Mongabay.

Fishing in troubled waters

He says he knows other fishermen who go out every year to fish in other countries waters. The threat of a fine and a short stint in jail hasnt managed to deter the practice, prompting authorities in some of these jurisdictions, including Seychelles, to start imposing stiffer penalties. The court in Seychelles that sentenced Kanapathi, for instance, said previous sentencing patterns have not been sending the right signal back to their home state, allowing foreign fishers to continue treating Seychelles waters as an El Dorado for illegal fishing.

Diego Garcia, part of the British Indian Ocean Territory, sits inside the Chagos Marine Protected Area, one of the largest marine reserves in the world. Its a rich fisheries habitat that draws Sri Lankan vessels for illegal fishing: between 2010 and 2020, 91 of the 120 vessels seized there for illegal fishing were flying the Sri Lankan flag, according to official data from Diego Garcia. Most of them were from Beruwala, and their target was sharks.

There were more than 14,300 arrests in connection with illegal shark fishing in the area during that same period, according to a 2021 study.

The studys results also highlighted the grim reality that we have overfished the sharks in our waters, so the fishermen have to keep on going out to foreign waters, said Asha de Vos, a marine biologist who co-authored the study.

Series of arrests

According to Sri Lankas Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DFAR), 121 multi-day fishing boats flying the countrys flag were seized in foreign waters from 2019 to 2021. Of these, 31 were seized in the Maldives, 19 in Diego Garcia, 10 in Seychelles, four in Bangladesh, and three in Myanmar. Fifty-four vessels were apprehended in Indian waters.

The latest reported case occurred last November, when authorities in Myanmar seized a Sri Lankan vessel carrying seven fishermen.One of them was a 60-year-old with multiple ailments, and another was the father of a 5-month-old baby. In most of these cases, the fishermen tend to be the sole earners in their families, and their arrest has massive repercussions back home.

When we continue to fish, we often have closer contact with other boats, so if we found any approaching boat, we receive alerts, Thomas says of the informal network that helps the fishermen evade arrest. There are times when we abandon our gear and move to evade the coast guard.

But often they see the fishing effort as worth the risk, so the tradition continues even though they know its illegal, Thomas says.

EU ban on fish imports

In 2014, the European Union cited IUU fishing practices as the main reason for imposing a ban on imports of fish from Sri Lanka. This had a crippling effect on the islands seafood industry and associated livelihoods. The EU lifted the ban in 2016 after the Sri Lankan government initiated steps to curb IUU fishing, including imposing a vessel monitoring system (VMS) on multi-day boats that sail beyond Sri Lankan waters.

Sri Lanka has about 4,200 registered multi-day fishing boats, of which around 1,500 operate in international waters and all fitted with VMS equipment for easy vessel tracking. These high-seas vessels are all licensed to fish in international waters, but not in the waters of other jurisdictions typically defined as within 200 nautical miles (370 km) of those countries coast.

To get around the ban on IUU fishing in Sri Lankan waters, these vessels engage in IUU fishing in international waters, says Kalyani Hewapathirana, director of fishing operations at the DFAR.

She says her offices focus is to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing, whether inside Sri Lankan waters or outside. To that end, the country in 2011 ratified the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organizations agreement on port state measures (PSM), which went into force in 2016. Under the agreement, signatory countries must prevent vessels engaged in IUU fishing from using their ports or landing their catches.

The Sri Lankan government has also prepared and implemented a national plan of action, in line with the FAOs international plan of action, to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing, Hewapathirana tells Mongabay. Sri Lankan officials are also collaborating with their counterparts in Australia and taking steps to introduce VMS across the wider multi-day boat fleet, she says.

This means that Sri Lankan vessels in breach of international maritime law will have their license suspended. The VMS team also monitors cases of departing boats that stop transmitting signals a practice thats often associated with vessels attempting to engage in IUU fishing undetected.

Banner image of a Seychelles patrol vessel sailing alongside a Sri Lankan fishing boat taken into custody for illegal fishing, courtesy of the Seychelles Peoples Defence Force.

Read more:

Sri Lanka grapples with the problem of its fishers plundering waters abroad - Mongabay.com

Subscriber picks is a weekly curation of the best from The Straits Times - where we bring you exclusive reports, in-depth analyses, and the latest happenings in Singapore and beyond.

Planning a trip to Malaysia over the long weekend?

We have a travel guide for you - from the best (and worst) time to travel,the documents to prepare, to the hotel rates in Johor Baru.

As business picks up for some sectors, is there enough manpower to power the recovery? Many workers have left Singapore for what they see as greener pastures during the pandemic. "After 1 years under a lockdown state in Singapore and a restricted environment, I didn't feel I had the same opportunities as when I'd moved there in March 2019," said one worker who is leaving for Dubai.

What else is driving this change? And can local workers fill the gap?

Talk about epic trips. A group of Singaporeans sailed home from the Seychelles over two months on a catamaran. Read about their journey, which was far from smooth sailing.

Have a good long weekend.

Original post:

Subscriber picks: Heading to JB this long weekend? | Rise and fall of a crime boss linked to scam syndicate - The Straits Times

Apr 13 2022Reviewed by Alex Smith

Stingrays have had to overcome a number of challenges, primarily due to overfishing. Researchers from the Save Our Seas Foundation DArros Research Centre (SOSF-DRC) and the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity have been trying to find out more regarding the lives of stingrays in Seychelles.

Their office is the newly safeguarded DArros Island and St Joseph Atoll. Here, soft white sands result in shades of deep blue and turquoise. Beneath the waves, this pristine ecosystem is considered to be the residence of biodiverse coral reefs.

In a new study reported in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, the researchers plunged into the significance of this altered habitat for susceptible stingrays. Sixty individuals from three species of stingray that reside in St Joseph Atoll year-round were monitored for a year on average. Environmental factors, like the temperatures and tides, were recorded during this time.

St Joseph Atoll is known to be the ideal place for such research. Comprising a deeper enclosed lagoon, a shallow uninterrupted reef flat, and two significant habitat types, it is a significant nursery area for the three study species: the porcupine whipray, the mangrove whiprayand the cowtail stingray. Sea-grass beds, thatare dispersed over the reef flats, are at times exposed and sometimes covered by water.

A method known as passive acoustic telemetry was utilized by scientists to follow the movements of stingrays. Around 20 stingrays were tagged from each species along with acoustic transmitters. Around 40 underwater tracking stations were distributed throughout the lagoon and reef-flat habitats. These stations tend to pick up the special sound pulses that have been emitted by each transmitter.

They discovered that stingrays prefer the shallows safety. However, environmental extremes like very low tides or specifically high or low water temperatures drive these rays into deeper waters, where they are subjected to threats from bigger and predatory sharks. The conditions here tend to be highly stable, but, it is also likely that their favored habitat will alter as the climate changes and extremes becomea more regular occurrence.

The changes that happened have been noticed at DArros Island and St Joseph Atoll. Following severe coral bleaching that happened throughout the Western Indian Ocean, these flexible reefs are displaying signs of recovery.

For marine life, the Seychellois celebrate sanctuaries. In March 2020, via the Seychelles Marine Spatial Plan initiative, the government designated the waters encircling DArros Island and St Joseph Atoll as zone 1 and zone 2 equivalent marine protected areas.

This safety identifies the significance of DArros and St Joseph for threatened species and the wider ecosystem, which Chantel Elston, the papers lead author, and an SOSF project leader, has experienced firsthand.

Stingrays are really important for keeping oceans healthy, especially in tropical places like Seychelles. This research helps to present further evidence that the isolated St Joseph Atoll provides suitable habitat for threatened stingrays and that the newly announced marine protected area will have real conservation benefits.

Chantel Elston, Study Lead Author and Project Leader, Save Our SEAS Foundation

Studies like this help to protect vulnerable groups like stingrays more effectively. As Helena Sims, SOSF Seychelles Ambassador, explains, When you know what the priority habitats for vulnerable species are and how and when they move around, management plans can be developed for their conservation.

Also, when marine management is concerned, the Seychellois are aheadof the game. This last batch of marine protected area designations implies that 30% of Seychelles waters are currently protected, a decade ahead of the international target.

That the people of Seychelles are endowed with a pristine environment is not debated. In fact, the right to live in a healthy environment and the duty of citizens to protect, preserve and improve the environment and its cultural heritage are embodied in the Republics constitution.

Helena Sims, Seychelles Ambassador, Save Our SEAS Foundation

There is a very powerful conservation ethic, with the government concentrated on making ecological investments for the next generations.

The beauty of the nation has captured the heart of the Save Our Seas Foundations Founder, Abdulmohsen Abdulmalik Al-Sheikh.

I am constantly amazed by the abundant natural wonder in Seychelles and what this new research has revealed about the behavior of rays at DArros is no exception. Their intricate lives are fascinating and highlight the importance of sites like St Joseph for safeguarding the natural heritage of Seychelles.

Abdulmohsen Abdulmalik Al-Sheikh, Founder, Save Our Seas Foundation

Since 2004 the SOSF-DRC has been on a mission to conserve and display the ecological integrity of DArros Island and St Joseph Atoll through research, tracking, restoration and education.

Elston, C., et al. (2022) Stingray Habitat Use Is Dynamically Influenced by Temperature and Tides. Frontiers in Marine Science. doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.754404.

Source: https://saveourseas.com/

Excerpt from:

Researchers Attempt to Know More About the Lives of Stingrays in Seychelles - AZoCleantech