Brussels, 12/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 12 June, the Council of the EU adopted a decision authorising the European Commission to start negotiations on behalf of the EU to renew the protocol to the fisheries partnership agreement in place between the EU and Mozambique.
This agreement covers mainly tuna, but an assessment report commissioned by the European executive suggests that there could be fishing possibilities for trawlers targeting prawns (see EUROPE 11076). It also recommends that the protocol be renewed for a period of four or five years, in order to provide greater stability.
The partnership agreement in the fishing sector concluded between the EU and Mozambique covers the period from 1 February 2012 to 31 January 2015. It provides for a financial contribution of €980,000, €460,000 euros of which goes to support Mozambique's fisheries policy. This agreement authorises EU vessels, mainly from France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and the United Kingdom, to fish in the waters of Mozambique. It is part of the network of agreements on tuna fishing covering the Indian Ocean.
Regional fishing organisations. The Council of the EU has adopted a raft of decisions on the position to be adopted by the EU at the forthcoming meetings of the following regional fishing organisations: Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT), Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) and the South East Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (SEAFO). (LC)