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Minister Miguel Arias Cañete in Mauritania. (Photo: Magrama)
Visit to Mauritania to try and boost fisheries pact
SPAIN
Wednesday, May 30, 2012, 03:20 (GMT + 9)
The Minister of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Magrama), Miguel Arias Cañete, travelled to Mauritania to try and boost the renewal of the fisheries agreement between the African country and the European Union (EU).
The European Commission (EC) is negotiating the protocol on which the activity of 60 Spanish vessels fishing in Mauritanian fishing grounds depend.
Out of these, 26 vessels are from Galicia: 24 cephalopod ships, mostly based in the port of Marín, and 2 hake vessels, newspaper Faro de Vigo reported.
The Spanish minister met with officials from Mauritania in order to try to facilitate the negotiation process they have with Brussels.
Arias Cañete expressed Spain’s desire to renew the agreement “under technical and financial conditions allowing the viability and profitability” of the activities of the Spanish fleet in Mauritanian waters and also at ports of the Canary Islands, Europa Press reported.
He also supported the idea of “leaving the door open to the possibility of obtaining licenses for the cephalopod fleet if the scientific reports prove there is a sufficient recovery of the resource.”
The minister expressed his hope that his meeting with the Mauritanian authorities can contribute to the progress of the discussions on the renewal of the protocol, “which should set a date that is as close as possible to the sixth round of negotiations.”
In addition, he stressed the need for the protocol that may eventually be signed to be provisionally implemented so that the fleet would not be forced to leave the Mauritanian fishing zone upon completion of the current agreement.
The current agreement, which expires on 31 July, offers licenses for 110 community boats and an economic compensation of EUR 76.25 million per year to the African country.
If the pact is not signed, the Spanish fleet should endure an “even harder” blow than that caused by the cessation of the agreement on fisheries between the EU and Morocco, industry sources warned.
Meanwhile, Magrama paid a total of EUR 1.425 million during the first quarter of 2012 to ship owners and crew members affected by the stoppage of the southern hake fishery (Iberian) and that of the Norwegian lobster.
In late 2011, the European and Mauritanian negotiators attended the last formal round of discussions to sign a new agreement but their attempts were unsuccessful.
At the moment, the date for a new meeting is unknown.
Related article:
– Concern about ‘little progress’ in negotiations with Mauritania
By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com
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