Seychelles publishes newly structured FiTI Report, enhancing stakeholder understanding of fisheries transparency
Seychelles continues to demonstrate global leadership in fisheries transparency with the publication of its 2025 FiTI Report. As the world’s first country to be declared a FiTI Compliant country, Seychelles has firmly established the systems and structures that facilitate public access to fisheries information, in accordance with the FiTI Standard. The latest report – jointly published by the Seychelles’ FiTI National Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) and the FiTI International Secretariat – shows that the country is currently maintaining its high level of transparency, and moving towards strengthening the credibility, quality, and usefulness of published fisheries information.
This year’s reporting process saw an exciting change in the outputs of the reporting cycle: instead of the previous two documents for an all-encompassing FiTI Report (Summary Section and Detailed Section), this year’s process produced a dedicated FiTI Report, which focused on the Secretariat’s transparency assessment as well as the National MSG’s recommendations, as well as a complementary fisheries information report.
According to Yannick Memee, FiTI’s Regional Coordinator for the Western Indian Ocean: “After the publication of 16 FiTI Reports in six countries, we have seen that the previous format, combining transparency assessment results with fisheries information as well as recommendations from a National MSG, often means that these FiTI Reports serve two stakeholder groups with diverging interests; those interested in understanding the level of transparency in fisheries management and those interested in obtaining fisheries information. It is therefore preferable to address these different interests in separate publications. Also, providing comprehensive fisheries management information in a standalone report is not necessary for Seychelles, where advancements over the last few years (such as SFA’s Fisheries Information Management System) will eventually make the publication of an additional, somewhat overlapping fisheries information report unnecessary.”
The latest FiTI Report (assessing transparency of fisheries data for 2024) confirms that core transparency mechanisms remain in place. Key fisheries information is publicly available, institutional roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and multi-stakeholder oversight through the National Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) continues to function effectively. Digital tools play an increasingly important role, with electronic logbooks now covering nearly all industrial tuna fleets, improving the reliability of catch reporting. Planned upgrades to the Fisheries Information Management System (FIMS) are expected to further enhance public access to fisheries data through a more user-friendly and centralised platform.
A key message emerging from the report is that transparency challenges have evolved. While information is being disclosed, timeliness has become a growing concern. Much of the data covering 2024 only became publicly available towards the end of 2025, largely due to verification processes and reporting cycles. The report highlights that delayed disclosure can reduce the relevance of information for fishers, civil society, and the wider public, particularly in a context where expectations for near real-time information are increasing.
The report also reflects a stronger emphasis on data quality and consistency. It identifies issues such as potential under-reporting of octopus catches, inconsistencies between national statistics sources and assumptions used to estimate discards in small-scale fisheries. Addressing these challenges is critical to ensure that published data accurately reflects realities in the sector and supports informed decision-making.
Several transparency gaps remain particularly significant. Information on development-aid funded fisheries and marine conservation projects continues to be fragmented and, in some cases, outdated. Given the scale of donor funding in the sector, the report underlines the importance of improved disclosure to strengthen accountability and coordination.
Transparency around subsidies and public sector support also remains uneven. While fuel subsidies are relatively visible, other forms of support—such as insurance schemes, ice subsidies, rebates and social security benefits—are dispersed across institutions and not fully consolidated. The report further notes that transparency achieved in previous years has not always been maintained, highlighting the need to institutionalise disclosure practices.
Employment data represents another ongoing challenge. Fisheries employment, particularly in the informal and post-harvest segments, remains largely absent from publicly available statistics, limiting visibility of workers’ livelihoods within policy discussions.
Overall, the latest FiTI Report demonstrates a maturing transparency agenda in Seychelles. The National MSG is increasingly focused not only on publishing information, but on examining how transparency supports enforcement, labour standards, beneficial ownership disclosure and policy coherence. By building on the nation’s FiTI compliance status and openly addressing remaining gaps, Seychelles continues to set a strong example for transparent and accountable fisheries governance, both regionally and globally.
The report can be found here and on the Seychelles Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy website.