Mahé, Seychelles-based Ocean Basket has unveiled a plan to construct a new fish-processing plant within the country’s newly designated fish processing zone.
An environmental impact assessment for the project, which has been allocated 800 square meters of land, has been initiated, with public comment on the project now open, Ocean Basket Co-Owner Louis Bossy told the Seychelles News Agency. The new facility is expected to process 15 metric tons (MT) of fish and seafood products daily.
Ocean Basket currenty processes around 300 MT of bycatch per month, harvested from industrial tuna fishing vessels under a Seychelles law which requires other pelagic species caught in tuna nets be retained.
Bossy said Ocean Basket wants to increase its processing capacity, and the new fish-handling facility will also pave way for processing of other seafood, such as crab.
The new plant, which will be designed and built in compliance with European Union food safety standards, will benefit from ongoing government development of the factory’s location – such as the construction a 300-meter quay to facilitate fishing and landing access.
The Seychelles cabinet, led by Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan, approved the creation of the fish-processing zone in December 2020. It is being built at Ile Du Port, with a dedicated center close to the seafront, where seafood-handling factories are located.
The zone covers an area of approximately 90,000 square meters, or around 22 acres, and has been designed to accommodate the extension of the port north of the Ile Du Port Handling Services quay in support of activities related to the fish-processing zone.
Additionally, a federal government agency will manage a central container yard for investors such as Ocean Basket to store seafood products.
Previously, the Seychelles Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy approved the applications of seven seafood entities looking to establish fish-processing facilities within the fish-processing zone.
Construction of the Ocean Basket fish-processing plant is expected to reaffirm Seychelles’ fisheries sector as the second-most important sector of the nation’s economy, responsible for between 8 percent and 20 percent of the country’s gross domestic product and employing up to 17 percent of the Seychellois population.
Photo courtesy of Ocean Basket
