Brussels, 13/05/2008 (Agence Europe) - With 503 votes in favour, 71 against and 33 abstentions, the European Parliament approved, with a number of amendments, the proposal amending the protocol to the fisheries partnership agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Seychelles. The modifications proposed by the European Commission aim to bring the clauses of the protocol into line with the actual catches made in the two years in which the agreement has been in force. Changes made to the agreement are minor and correspond to the conclusions of the joint committee provided for in the current protocol.
Amendments negotiated involve: - increasing the reference tonnage from 55,000 tonnes to 63,000 tonnes to take account of the average level of catches over the past three years; - the annual financial contribution increases from €4,125,000 in the current protocol to €5,355,000 in the amended protocol; - and increasing the fee paid by ship owners from €25 to €35 per tonne. Fishing opportunities remain unchanged with licenses for: 40 tuna seiners - French (17), Spanish (22) and Italian (1); and 12 surface longliners - French (5), Spanish (2) and Portuguese (5).
With adoption of the report by Josu Ortuondo Larrea (ALDE, Spain), the EP calls for: - improvement and modernisation of port infrastructure in the Seychelles, which is “currently highly congested”; - the possibility of abolishing the special landing fee for tuna, which does not exist in any other port in the world; - and on the Commission to determine, each year, whether those member states whose vessels operate under the protocol to the agreement have complied with reporting requirements (where they have not, the Commission shall refuse their requests for fishing licences for the following year). (L.C.)