Fish and fishing are central to the way of life in Seychelles both culturally and economically. The extraordinary diversity of form and colour of the fish in our waters must be seen to be believed. Even within a few metres of our beaches and amongst the boulders of our rocky shores a great variety of species can be seen and enjoyed. A wonderful attraction and leisure activity for residents and visitors alike. Yet there is a distinct lack of readily accessible information on the fish that occur in Seychelles’ waters; their names, ecology, how to identify them and what research may have been undertaken on any particular species. It is remarkable, for example, how few people can name the fish that they eat beyond the handful of most commonly caught species.
The Seychelles Seatizens website (www.seatizens.sc) was launched in 2019 with the objective of addressing this shortfall in accessible information and offers utility to a wide variety of end users.
If you are a fish consumer who would like to know more about the fish you are eating it is simple to look them up on your smart phone or computer. Just go to www.seatizens.sc . You can search by Creole, English, French or scientific name. if you don’t know the species you can search by family e.g. “vyey/grouper” or “kakatwa/parrotfish”. Images of all the species on the database carrying that name or falling into that category will be presented for you to select the one that closest resembles the fish you have seen. Alternatively, you can use the species drop down menu and search by family name or by image by just clicking on headings or images respectively, i.e. no text typing required.
If you are fisherman, diver or snorkeler wanting to identify a species you can use the site. If you are a student seeking to research fish, a fishery or the marine ecosystem you can look up species, learn about their size, occurrence, seasonality, habitat preference and biology. You can furthermore utilise the references cited as a meta-database to read further on the subject. Wherever possible references include internet links direct to the source documents for easy access with a single click.
Seychelles Seatizens will soon pass 500 species of fish described on the site. Check it out!