Brussels, 14/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - A report published on 7 February stipulates that the current protocol to the fishing agreement between the EU and Mauritania is partially effective, but the option of concluding a new agreement is “feasible and relevant if the contribution of the EU is better suited than the current protocol”.
A number of fishing agreements allowing EU fishing vessels to access the fishing zones of Mauritania have followed on in succession since 1987. The current fishing partnership agreement (FPA) between the EU and Mauritania has been in place since 2006. The third protocol has been applied (provisionally) since 16 December 2012 for a period of two years. In order to allow the European Commission to negotiate a new protocol on behalf of the EU before the current one expires, an independent ex post and ex ante assessment has been carried out. This report presents the results.
The fisheries sector in Mauritania. Mauritania has some of the worlds most fish-abundant waters, due to its strong upwelling coastal currents and a large continental shelf favouring the development of fisheries resources. The catch of EU vessels represents on average 30% of the total catch of small pelagics. The catch of EU vessels is not landed and marketed in Mauritania. The small pelagics are transshipped within the sheltered waters of Nouadhibou for onward shipping to the Gulf of Guinea (Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire and Cameroon in particular) as well as to Russia and its neighbouring countries. Demersals enter into the distribution cycle of the Spanish market. About 22,000 tonnes of Mauritania marine resources enter the European market every year.
Existing protocol. The current protocol has been in provisional application since 16 December 2012. It was approved by the European Parliament on 8 October 2013 and by the Council on 15 November 2013. The current protocol is structured around access to nine categories of fishing for highly-migratory species (tunas and associated species), crustacea, demersal fish, small pelagics and cephalopods (without, for now, fishing possibilities being allocated for the latter) with an annual total authorised catch of 326,700 tonnes for around 135 fishing vessels each year at most. The financial contribution of the EU is €70 million. The historically significant cephalopod fishery made catches of around 25,000 tonnes between 1994 and 2012. However, because of the fragility of the status of octopus stocks and because of the willingness of Mauritania to reserve this fishery for its national fleet, the parties have decided not to renew the fishing opportunities for the fishing category targeting cephalopods under the framework of the current fisheries protocol.
Rate of utilisation of less than 50% of current catch possibilities. The report shows that the rate of utilisation of the fishing opportunities during the first months was “low to moderate”, depending on the fishing categories, both in terms of use of licences and in terms of catches. Around 150,000 tonnes of fish had been caught in 11 months, or just under half of the annual volume of authorised catches, fixed at 326,700 tonnes. However, the adaptations of these technical conditions made over the course of several meetings of the Joint Committee up to the end of September 2013 “could improve the attractiveness of the protocol”. For example, the EU shrimp vessels, which had not applied for licences since January 2013, have finally sought 13 licences for the months of November and December 2013. The freezer trawlers of the small pelagic fishery have, for the first 11 months of implementation of the protocol, captured the equivalent of 42% of the authorised annual catch volume (129,000 tonnes compared to 285,000 tonnes). For tuna vessels, the rate of utilisation is very high since their catch should exceed 22,000 tonnes at the end of the year.
For EU vessel owners, the EEZ of Mauritania is economically interesting. All the segments, except for fresh fish counted as small pelagics, show substantial gross operating surplus. The FPA generates altogether around 1500 jobs. In terms of public investment, the FPA appears to be “less interesting”, as each euro of financial compensation generates €0.80 in direct added value in the capture sector and a total added value of around €1.7, but of which only 0.9 returns to the EU. Every euro originating from public funds invested by the EU provides a turnover of around €2.12 if the amount of the financial contribution is taken into account.
The report concludes that the option of a new fisheries agreement is feasible, as long as the number of fishing opportunities is better estimated for vessels targeting hake, for example. The total volume of reference for tuna seiners should be “revised upwards”. Opening up fishing opportunities for octopus is “feasibly possible”, if Mauritania considers that a surplus of this resources available. (LC/transl.fl)