An annual $200,000 fund for the sustainable management of the island nation's environment and ecosystem is part of the new European Union-Seychelles sustainable fisheries partnership agreement, a top official said.

"For the first time in the history of fisheries agreement that the European Union has with another country, Seychelles has managed to set up a fund dedicated to the management of the environment and monitoring of our ecosystem.

Money for the fund will come from EU tuna vessels owners themselves," Seychelles' Minister for Fisheries and Agriculture, Charles Bastienne, told the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Whilst the minister and members of the ruling party supported the statement and the agreement, members of the opposition said that the deal being given to Seychelles by EU through the agreement could have been better with more benefits for the island nation.

The chairperson of the International Affairs Committee in the National Assembly, Jean-Francois Ferrari, spoke strongly on the $200,000 trust fund which he said is nothing compared to the millions in damages to Seychelles' outer islands caused by FADs left in the sea by the tuna vessels.