The evaluation report published on the website of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries on Thursday 5 January recommends that the Commission should be mandated to negotiate a new tuna agreement between the EU and Equatorial Guinea “in so far as this is deemed to be consistent with the global EU policy approach with regards to that country”.
The ex-ante evaluation argues that the option of negotiating and concluding a new agreement best meets the needs of stakeholders, with positive environmental, economic and social effects “that will fully materialise for Equatorial Guinea when the country has made progress in implementing its sectoral policy with the support of the EU”. It has clear advantages over the status quo (no existing protocol to the sustainable fisheries partnership agreement). The study says that, in the event of it not being possible to conclude a new agreement, the 1984 fisheries agreement should be terminated by one of the two parties.
From a European Union perspective, there is a need to establish a mechanism to supervise its fishing fleets in Equatorial Guinea waters and to ensure that access conditions are fair and non-discriminatory, the study states. As far as EU fleets are concerned, the fishing zone of Equatorial Guinea is clearly attractive for tuna purse seiners. It is less obvious whether the fishing zone is attractive for longline and pole-and-line fisheries, according to the evaluation.
Agreement dormant since 2001. The EU has had a fisheries agreement with Equatorial Guinea since 1984. This agreement, which has been inoperative since 2001 due to the lack of an implementation protocol, in principle, prohibits access of EU vessels to fishery resources in Equatorial Guinea waters (exclusivity clause). Several EU tuna seiners have, however, obtained licences to fish in Equatorial Guinean waters through private agreements concluded with the Equatorial Guinean ministry responsible for fisheries.
In 2014, the European Commission reminded member states of the need to respect the exclusivity clause of the 1984 agreement. Since then, EU vessels have not accessed the Equatorial Guinean fishing zone.
Catches of EU fishing vessels which were active in Equatorial Guinean waters averaged approximately 3,550 tonnes per year over the period 2008-2013. EU tuna seiner fishing activities took place overwhelmingly around Annobon Island. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)