The Council of Ministers of the EU is expected to adopt a decision in the near future empowering the European Commission, acting on behalf of the European Union, to open negotiations on the conclusion of a sustainable fisheries partnership agreement and a protocol with the Republic of Ghana.
At its meeting on Wednesday 8 February, the Committee of member states’ permanent representatives to the EU, Coreper, is likely to give its backing to the legislative acts authorising the Commission to negotiate the EU’s first fisheries agreement with Ghana.
Ghana’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is located on the migration routes of the main Atlantic tuna species (skipjack, albacore and bigeye). With the development of seiners in the 1990s, recording catches of between 60,000 and 80,000 tonnes, Ghana has become one of the main players in the tropical tuna fishing industry, operating in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean off the Spanish coast.
Ghana is one of a number of third countries which has tightened measures to address illegal fishing following criticism from the EU (see EUROPE 11457). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)