On Wednesday 11 May, members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries approved the conclusion of the new fisheries agreement between the EU and Mauritania.
The report by Izaskun Bilbao (Renew Europe, Spain) on this agreement covering the period 2021-2026 was adopted with 23 votes in favour, one against and one abstention (see EUROPE 12801/36).
MEPs call on Mauritania to put an end to the overfishing of certain stocks of small pelagics, notably sardinella, and to their processing into fishmeal and fish oil. They also stress that fish should be used primarily for human consumption and not as raw material for the food industry, which increases wastewater pollution and jeopardises the food security of local populations.
They encourage fishing fleets to continue to distribute fish to people in need, by reserving 2% of their pelagic catches transhipped or landed at the end of a fishing trip for the ‘Société nationale de distribution de poisson’.
The Parliament is expected to approve the agreement in June. The new agreement and its protocol have been provisionally applied since November 2021. At present, this is the most important mixed fisheries agreement with a third country. The financial contribution from the EU will be €57.5 million per year for the first 2 years. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)