Press Release: EU concludes most important Fisheries Partnership Agreement with Mauritania

The European Commission, on behalf of the European Union, and Mauritania have initialled a new fisheries partnership agreement to replace the current fisheries agreement due to end on 31 July 2006. It is the most important fisheries agreement concluded by the EU with a third country both in financial terms and as regards fishing opportunities for EU vessels. The new agreement will be in place for 6 years. A protocol, for a period of two years, renewable twice, will provide fishing possibilities for about 200 EU vessels on crustaceans (mainly shrimps), hake and other demersal species (living near the sea floor), cepaholopods, small pelagics (living mid-water) and tuna. Taking into account scientific assessments of the state of the stocks in Mauritanian waters, fishing effort by EU vessels on sensitive species, such as cephalopods and some other demersal species, will be substantially reduced compared to the current agreement. New possibilities will be available for small pelagic stocks, in particular for vessels able to land in Mauritanian ports which could increase the benefit for the local economy. Stricter control of fishing effort in Mauritanian waters will be applied, in particular for the small pelagic fisheries. The EU financial contribution will amount to € 86 million per year, as in the current agreement. The level of licence fees to be paid by shipowners operating under the agreement will be gradually increased amounting approximately to € 22 million per year. A greater part of the EU financial contribution will be devoted to supporting the implementation of a responsible and sustainable fisheries policy by Mauritania in its waters. This is in line with the approach on EU fisheries partnership agreements adopted under the 2002 reform of the Common Fisheries Policy which focuses on close co-operation with the partner countries to achieve sustainable fisheries in their waters. The new agreement and protocol will be applicable from 1 August 2006, pending final adoption by the EU institutions.

European Commission: DG Communication: MEMO/06/302 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/06/302&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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