Brussels, 15/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 15 July the European Parliament's Fisheries Committee recommended approval of the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the protocol setting out the fishing opportunities and financial contribution provided for in the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Guinea-Bissau (report by João Ferreira).
The new protocol was agreed between the parties on 10 February 2012 and was to apply for three years, from 16 June 2012 to 15 June 2015. Owing to the coup d'état in the Republic of Guinea-Bissau on 12 April 2012, however, the EU suspended the procedures required for this new protocol to be signed. In May 2014, elections were held in the country and a new protocol implementing the Fisheries Agreement between the EU and Guinea-Bissau was finally signed on 24 November 2014, covering a three-year period.
The financial contribution stands at €9.2 million per year, corresponding to €6.2 million for access to fishery resources in the Guinea-Bissau exclusive economic zone, and €3 million in support for the development of Guinea-Bissau's fisheries sector. The fishing opportunities granted to EU fleets are: 3,700 GRT (gross registered tonnage) for freezer trawlers (shrimp) and 3,500 GRT for freezer trawlers (fin-fish and cephalopod); 28 freezer tuna seiners and longliners and 12 pole-and-line tuna vessels. (Lionel Changeur)