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Tuna producers partner with local firm on a recycling project |26 May 2022

Tuna producers partner with local firm on a recycling project

Partners in a souvenir photograph after the signing

Two producers of frozen tuna – Opagac (Spain) and Orthongel (France) – have partnered with local firm Brikole Ltd to carry out a waste management and recycling system of exhausted fishing nets and other fishing gear in Seychelles.

Representatives of the two foreign producers of frozen tuna on May 19 signed separate memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with Brikole Ltd to formalise the partnership.

These collaborative agreements were signed by Dr Julio Morón, managing director of Opagac; Xavier Leduc, president of Orthongel; Michel Coujon, managing director of Orthongel and Kyle de Bouter, co-founder of Brikole.

The signing took place at Maison Collet in the presence of the consultant to the Minister for Fisheries and the Blue Economy, Philippe Michaud; the chief executive of the Seychelles Fishing Authority, Nichol Elizabeth; Rossetta Alcindor, co-founder of Brikole and Lyderic Chetty, managing director at Seaward Agency Ltd.

The occasion is one that has been planned and anticipated by all parties in these past months as they share the same goals and believe that through cooperation the exhausted fishing nets challenge can be resolved.

Through a circular economic lens, the aim of Brikole Ltd is to provide a sustainable and long-term solution for exhausted fishing gear generated by the industrial tuna fishing industry.

Both Opagac and Orthongel wish to limit the impact of fishing on the environment and so want to address the issue of end-of-life fishing nets in Seychelles through sustainable business operations, which will be supported locally by Brikole.

These two agreements of cooperation will allow Brikole to have control of selected exhausted fishing gear from the tuna fishing industry, which are then to be shipped to vetted recycling facilities outside of Seychelles. This would be the first phase whereby the net repair yard would be cleared, followed by a second phase with the construction of a local recycling facility. Here the nets will be processed, maximising the economic value from a previously unwanted material.

It will be an endeavor that will add value to the local economy by transforming waste into resources, initiating a new industry in the country.

Their operations and practices will serve as a showcase of what can be done with after use fishing nets and other gear such as FADs, buoys, floats and ropes by transforming it through a waste management system using sustainable and circular processes and business model.

Brikole, a newly established circular business came about as an outcome and objective of the ReNeT Project, which is being project managed by Sustainability for Seychelles. The three founding partners of Brikole are Francesca Adrienne, Rosetta Alcindor and Kyle de Bouter.

Dr Morón points out that “this is a groundbreaking project to which Opagac companies are proud to contribute by the donation of the exhausted fishing nets for effective recycling, generating value added in Seychelles. This confirms the compromise of the tuna industry with sustainable practices and compromise with local economic development”.

On the same line, Xavier Leduc confirmed this cooperation with innovative startup involved in the circular and blue economy of the Seychelles fits perfectly into the development objectives and policies of the French and Italian boat owners member of Orthongel.

The MoU was signed in the absence of Miss Adrienne, who initiated and designed a framework and programme for the ReNet Project, which led to the founding of Brikole Ltd. The team and the other parties present acknowledged her work which had brought everyone together for this momentous occasion.

From the very beginning of the project conception Opagac had been committed in supporting the project and any entrepreneurial activities that were being developed to address the issue of the exhausted fishing gear. These MoUs are the culmination of the initial discussions and deliberations from all parties involved.

 

Press release from Brikole Pty Ltd

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