Press Release: EU and Kiribati initial new fisheries partnership agreement

The European Commission, on behalf of the European Union, and Kiribati have initialled a 6-year fisheries partnership agreement (FPA). The new agreement, which provides fishing possibilities exclusively on tuna, will come into force on 16 September 2006. The new protocol will continue to provide fishing possibilities for 16 vessels. The annual EU financial contribution will amount to € 478,000, representing the same amount of compensation as under the current protocol: € 416,000 compensation for a reference tonnage of 6,400 tonnes of tuna catches per year, plus a specific allocation of € 62,400 to support the application of Kiribati's national fisheries policy. The contribution by vessel owners will amount, as now, to € 35 per tonne, and the EU’s to € 65.