Tourists flocking to Seychelles despite shark attacks
The two recent horrific shark attacks has not had an effect on tourism in Seychelles. On the contrary August, when the two attacks occurred, saw a 32% in increase in tourism numbers over the same period last year. Eighteen thousand tourists visited Seychelles in August. This month shows almost a 40% increase in the average numbers of visitors to Seychelles in August over the last 5 years. Despite scary stories in British tabloids Europe remains Seychelles’ leading tourism market. 
Tuesday 23.8.2011: The government of Seychelles has reiterated in a Press Release today that it is against putting a bounty on sharks and the indiscriminate killing of sharks. It has reaffirmed the fact that it will apply internationally accepted best practices to address the problem based on advice from the shark experts. 
Press Release, Office of the President, 17.06.2011: The Seychelles Government has announced that it will soon declare new protected areas in the archipelago, which will result in half (50.59%) of all Seychelles land becoming protected under the law. The Cabinet has approved this week the designation of protected areas, which will amount to 15.72km2 of land, representing 3.53% of Seychelles land territory, which totals 45 500 hectares (excluding reclaimed area). 
With tuna stocks worldwide in decline, the growing international demand for tuna, including illegal, unregulated and unreported fisheries, has put the rich tuna stocks of the region under serious threat. 70 to 80% of the Indian Ocean Tuna, worth 2 to 3 billion US$ annually, is caught in the Western Indian Ocean sub-region. WWF and WIOMSA are announcing a call for the development of Concept Notes for innovative research projects regarding the ecological as well as socio-economic challenges facing the Tuna industry in the Western Indian Ocean sub-region.
People urged to take precautionary measure, By Jemina Robert TODAY 8 June 2011