Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 6 • Number 1 • 20th January 2006

EU-Cape Verde Fisheries Agreement Signed

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The European Commission on 21 December announced the signing of a new five-year fisheries partnership agreement (FPA) between the EU and Cape Verde that will in September 2006 replace the previous agreement that ended last June. Under the agreement, the quantity of fishing access for the European fishing fleet to Cape Verde’s tuna stocks will be reduced by 29 percent while the private sector will bear a higher percentage of the financial costs of access. While in the previous agreement the EU had paid 75 Euro and the private-sector European fishing fleet 25 Euro per tonnes of fish taken from Cape Verde’s water, under the new agreement the EU will way 65 Euro and the private sector 35 Euro per tonne fished. As the agreement provides for 5,000 tonnes of fishing — down from the previous agreement’s 7,000 tonnes — the total amount that will be handed over from the EU to Cape Verde on the basis of the quantity of fish taken will be 325,000 Euro, of which 248,000 Euro will be earmarked for the implementation of the country’s sustainable fisheries management policy. In addition, the agreement provides for an additional 60,000 Euros to be given to the government of Cape Verde to assist in the implementation of policy. In order to ensure that these funds are used to support the sustainability of fishing in the area, a joint committee will meet annually to determine how these funds are used, for example, to strengthen scientific research and the development of the small-scale fishing fleet.

The agreement also prohibits EU boats from fishing within 12 miles from the shoreline in order to improve protection of local fishermen, and also includes measures to promote of fish landings in Cape Verde harbours. The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU pointed to the fact that while EU fishing effort had been reduced, the financial contribution had been reduced even further. The agreed payments would be insufficient to promote sustainable fishing, they added, running counter to the stated aim of the FPAs to transform access agreement from the simple ‘buying’ of fishing rights into investment in the promotion of sustainable fisheries.

ICTSD Reporting; “The EU and Cape Verde conclude a fisheries partnership agreement,” EU PRESS RELEASE, 21 December 2005; “The EU and Cape Verde conclude an FPA,” AGRITRADE, December 2005.