Brussels, 11/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 11 April, the European Commission announced that the EU had signed a new partnership agreement with Côte d'Ivoire in the field of fisheries. This new agreement has a duration of six years, starting when the current protocol expires on 30 June. It will give 25 tuna seiners (as opposed to 34 at the moment) and 15 surface longliners (four more than currently) from France, Spain and Portugal fishing rights of 7000 tonnes of tuna a year (from 9000 tonnes under the current protocol). These new arrangements eliminate fishing possibilities for deep-sea species (those which live close to the ocean floor) currently afforded to Community trawlers. This modification was made due to the lack of data on catches of these species and the lack of interest shown by the countries of the EU in this type of catch. The financial contribution paid by the EU to the Côte d'Ivoire authorities falls from €1,065 million to €595,000 a year, due to the reduction in fishing possibilities granted to EU vessels. Furthermore, the parties agreed to draw up implementation rules for the satellite vessel monitoring system (VMS) in the Côte d'Ivoire waters. (lc)