Gran Kaz supports Alphonse Foundation’s Telemetry Array Project

Gran Kaz has donated a sum of SCR100,000 to the Alphonse Foundation to support a project aimed at collecting data on the movement patterns of Giant Trevally (Karang) and Milkfish (Libin).

To date, there is very limited data available on the movement patterns and populations of these fish. In order to change this dynamic, Alphonse foundation will be conducting a pilot study on St. Francois Atoll, where these two species are frequently captured in recreational catch and release, which is one of the main activities for hotel guests on the Alphonse Group.

With the use of acoustic tags implanted in the abdominal cavity of the fish, they will be able to collect data that will help to estimate the fish movements, whether the amount of movement differs by fish size or age, which will help them to understand if a fishery might target a specific life stage of the fish. This in turn will allow them to define how large an area needs to be protected to ensure these fish aren’t overfished. In addition, obtaining capture rates can be a proxy for population size, catch ability and fishery capacity.

Overfishing is a major concern in our small island state where fishing is one of our main resources and exports. Recently this issue has also been on the agenda of many global environmental forums as well. Depleting marine resources as a result of illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing by large international fishing vessels is an increasing worry to many countries whose livelihoods and economies depend upon this resource.

Furthermore, the devastating results on fragile marine ecosystems of these unregulated activities, can be crippling to a country like ours where such major focus is placed on the blue economy and eco-tourism.

Director of the Alphonse Island Group, Mr. Keith Rose-Innes explained to us that “the importance of monitoring their movement patterns is to know how and when these fish migrate, if they do at all, how they can be affected when in other countries, what areas they are in when they spawn etc.”

He went on further to clarify that unlike the Trevally which is widely consumed in Seychelles, “Milkfish are the fish that have made Seychelles famous for fly fishing. Its scientific name is Chanos Chanos and very little is known about its migration patterns. They are not eaten in Seychelles but are an extremely valuable fish for sustainable ecosystems. They are eaten in other countries so they are vulnerable to human pressure.” 

At Gran Kaz we recognise the importance of this project in the greater sphere of environmental conservation as well as economic impact, and we are happy to be able to contribute towards assisting to maintain local livelihoods. Without which human ecosystems will also be threatened.