Brussels, 07/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - The European Union and Greenland have reached agreement on a new fisheries protocol to implement the fisheries agreement between the two parties, the European Commission announced on Monday 6 February.
The new protocol will come into effect on 1 January 2013 and will run for a period of three years. Fishermen from 11 EU countries - Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom - will have access to Greenland waters with fishing opportunities for 85,765 tonnes of fish (compared with 91,700 tonnes under the current protocol). This tonnage is made up principally of capelin (60,000 tonnes), northern prawn (10,900 tonnes) and halibut (6,815 tonnes of Greenland halibut and 400 tonnes of Atlantic halibut), and also includes redfish (5,000 tonnes) and cod (2,200 tonnes). The EU will provide Greenland with annual financial compensation of €17.8 million, a sum which contains aid for the local fisheries sector. This amount includes a financial reserve amounting to €1.5 million, to be used if the EU is offered additional fishing opportunities by Greenland, based on scientific advice.
EU vessel owners will have to pay a licence fee in order to be authorised to fish in Greenland waters, as is the case at the moment. The new protocol, the Commission says, respects the sustainability of fish stocks, scientific advice and the interests of the industry.
A clause on respecting human rights has been brought into the new protocol. Furthermore, conditionality, in terms of implementation of sectoral policy, and the requirement of exclusivity in the EU fisheries have also been introduced. Exclusivity requires that fishing activities undertaken by EU vessels can only take place in Greenland waters under the EU-Greenland fisheries partnership agreement. (LC/transl.rt)