Seychelles Fishing Authority shortens lobster season to 2 months due to fishers harvesting undersized ones

As fishers are harvesting lobsters that are below the legal minimum landing size, the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) will shorten the fishing season for the species from three to two months, a top official said. "Data collected through research in 2021 has shown a change in the lobster sizes fishermen is bringing in during the open season. This means that we have to make some changes this year," said the chief executive officer, Nichol Elizabeth. According to SFA, the size of 7.5 cm is considered as the size of maturity for lobsters, hence capturing them before they reach this minimum size, deprived them of the opportunity to reproduce to replenish the stock. Lobster harvesting season in Seychelles, a group of 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean, is open for three months every two years. "What we have found in our data is that the size of lobsters being caught was worrying and although we will still open the season, we will not do so for three months, but only two ...