Brussels, 02/02/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament has approved, with some amendments, the new tuna fisheries partnership agreement between the EU and Gabon (see EUROPE 9250). In adopting the report by Stavros Arnaoutakis (PES, Greece) on the proposal, the EP insisted that the EU financial contribution be used for the development of coastal populations dependent on fisheries and for the creation of small local freezing and processing industries. The European Commission has been asked to evaluate whether member states whose vessels operate under this protocol have complied with reporting requirements. Vessels that do not comply with the requirement to report catches should not benefit from financial support from the EU, the EP says. The following fishing possibilities are offered by this six-year agreement (from 3 December 2005 to 2 December 2011): 24 freezer tuna seiners (12 Spanish and 12 French) and 16 surface longliners (13 Spanish and 3 Portuguese). The EU financial contribution to Gabon is €860,000 per year, €715,000 of which is for 11,000 tonnes of tuna per year. The fee to be paid by shipowners is €35 per tonne of tuna declared caught (compared with €25 under the previous protocol). (lc)