Yellow Fin Tuna in Seychelles: A niche Tourism market

The start of the south-east monsoon seems to have arrived in Seychelles with rougher seas and impressive fishing. On Praslin last week Sylva Antoine arrived from a 70mile fishing trip with a catch of some 30 yellow fin tunas each weighing between 30 to 40 kilos.

The fish kept on ice was fresh and had been clean and bled ready for use by the Praslin hoteliers. This impressive catch is not the first for Sylva Antoine and his team of fishermen. They seem to know the appropriate spot and continue to reel in big tunas for the tourism industry.

Bottom fishing is also good as a nice catch of red snapper and job fish was landed on Praslin at the same time as the yellow fin tune catch was being carted away to the hotel. The brightly coloured fish as fresh as it comes was again taken quickly to another hotel which pre-ordered the whole catch.

But fishing is for such professional fishermen as it is also the pastime for fishing enthusiasts. Ameer Ebrahim and Christian Mein took an afternoon trip at sea and with Silhouette Island very visible in the distance the caught and impressive sailfish in the small boat “Ti Mimi” in close proximity to Mahe.

Fishing remains a niche market for the Seychelles tourism industry as more and more Seychellois entrepreneurs join the industry with new boats, providing diversity and more options for the island’s tourism industry.