Brussels, 25/08/2005 (Agence Europe) -Nearly 6 years after their previous fishing agreement expired, the EU and Morocco managed to conclude a new agreement on fishing in Brussels at the end of July, which will cover a period of four years starting from 1 March 2006 (EUROPE 9000).
This new agreement, which is far less ambitious than its predecessor, will provide fishing possibilities for 119 EU vessels and an annual quota of 60,000 tonnes in small pelagic species (anchovies, sardines). The main beneficiaries of the agreement will be Spain and Portugal, but France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, the Netherlands and Poland will also benefit from it. According to a Community source, almost 4/5 of EU ships concerned by the agreement will be those involved in small-scale, non-industrial fishing. The new agreement significantly reduces the number of ships which will have access to Moroccan waters, given that up to 600 vessels held licences under the previous agreement. Another major difference on the previous agreement is that EU fishermen will not be allowed to land shrimps or cephalopods (cuttlefish, octopus), in order to protect these species, stocks of which have run very low.
The planned fishing possibilities are as follows:
Non-industrial fishing: pelagic (20 seiners), liners and pole-and-line vessels (20 boats), longliners (30 boats), pole-and-line tuna vessels (27 boats).
Demersal species: longliners, trawlers and netters (22 vessels).
Small pelagic species fishing: annual quota of 60,000 tonnes.
The cost of licences issued to the owners of boats authorised to fish in Moroccan waters will vary depending on the type of fishing involved. These licences will provide Morocco with additional annual revenue of over 3 million euros.
The financial compensation paid by the Union to Morocco in exchange for use of its fish resources has also been reduced considerably, from 500 million euros for the whole of the period 1995-1999 to 144 million over the period 2006-2009.
A considerable proportion of this sum, 56 million euros, will go to fund specific measures to help Morocco's small-scale fishing fleet and to promote sustainable fishing in the country's waters. These measures will help to: - modernise and restructure the Moroccan coastal fleet; -offset the negative consequences of banning the use of drift nets by the fleet in question (see EUROPE 9003 on the positive reaction of the WWF to the agreement's conclusion); -promote scientific research, training and fishing organisations; - modernise the structures dealing with the sales and promotion of fishing products; -improve the landing and handling of fishing products; -implement training programmes.
Cooperation in terms of scientific research will allow developments in the current stock situation in Moroccan waters. The EU and Morocco have also decided to set up economic, scientific, technical and commercial cooperation and to exchange knowledge and experience in the fisheries sector.