A new three-year fisheries protocol with the EU came into effect in mid-January 2011 (after being approved by the EU's council of ministers in December), which provides for an increased financial contribution to Seychelles but a lower allowable catch-reflecting pressures on stocks and the reality of Somalia-based piracy, which has made fishing in the region more costly and dangerous. The EU will pay Seychelles EUR3.4m (US$4m) a year for the rights to catch 52,000 tonnes of tuna, down from EUR4.1m for 63,000 tonnes under the previous deal. Any fish caught above the limit will be charged at EUR65/tonne. However, the EU has increased its development grant, designed to boost the sustainability and development of Seychelles' fishing, to EUR2.2m a year from EUR1.2m previously, thus raising the total payment by 5% to EUR5.6m a year. Seychelles will also earn EUR1.3m a year in ship owner licence fees. The deal allows for 48 purse seiners and 12 surface longliners (mainly Spanish and French).

Tuna caught in Seychelles' exclusive economic zone (EEZ) accounts for about 25% of the total Indian Ocean catch made by European vessels and is used to supply processing plants in Seychelles, Mauritius, Madagascar and Kenya. The latest data show that the Thai-owned company, Indian Ocean Tuna, produced 23,358 tonnes of canned product in the first three quarters of 2010, fractionally lower than a year earlier. However, full-year output is likely to exceed the 2009 level because a two-week maintenance closure in December 2009 was not repeated in 2010. The IMF expects tuna exports to have generated US$213m in 2010 (down from US$221m in 2009) to remain Seychelles' largest goods export earner by a large margin. According to the National Statistics Bureau however, total marine exports reached SRs2.5bn (US$205.6m) in 2010, down from SRs3bn (US$215.9m) in 2009.

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