Brussels, 06/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 6 April, the European Parliament (EP) approved the decision on a new fisheries partnership agreement between the EU and the Comoros (see EUROPE 10267 on the adoption of the agreement by the EU Council of Ministers). The current fisheries agreement expired in December 2010. The new protocol will run from 2011 to 2013, after the report by Luis Manuel Capoulas Santos (S&D, Spain) on the EU-Comoros fisheries agreement was passed by a very wide majority.
Under the new protocol, the annual financial contribution by the EU of €1,845,750 over the three-year period is based on: - an annual reference tonnage set at 4,850 tonnes for 70 vessels (45 tuna seiners and 25 surface longliners), 12 more than in the previous protocol, thus amounting to €315,250 per year; - support for the development of the Comoros sectoral fisheries policy amounting to €300,000 per year. EU seining in Comorian waters essentially targets yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albarares) and skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis), which represent only 1.1% of their Indian Ocean tuna catch. The total value of catches in Comorian waters for the period 2005-2009 amounted to €13.7 million, that is, approximately €2.7 million per year.
The new protocol still requires EU vessels operating under it to employ a certain minimum number of Comorian staff and includes an exclusivity clause on the species to be fished. Newly added revision and suspension clauses were aimed at allowing the EU a degree of flexibility in the event of major political change, irregularities or human rights violations in the Union of the Comoros. (L.C./transl.rt)