EC Renews Agreement With Guinea-Bissau

The European Union has added a new one year protocol to the fisheries agreement with Guinea Bissau.

This protocol maintains the conditions of the current one - fishing possibilities for 4,400 gross register tonnage (GRT) for shrimp trawlers, 4,400 GRT for fin-fish and cephalopod trawlers, 23 tuna seiners and longliners, and 14 pole-and-line vessels.

The EU financial counterpart amounts to €4,550,000 for the right to fish and €2,950,000 for the support of the fisheries sector in Guinea Bissau.

A new clause was added to allow for the suspension of the protocol if there is a breach of human rights and democratic principles. This fisheries agreement allows vessels mainly from Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and France to fish in the Guinea-Bissau waters.

The last FPA ran from 16 June 2007 to the 15 June 2011 and was set up with a financial contribution of € 7,000,000, out of which 35 per cent was dedicated to the support of the fisheries policy of Guinea-Bissau.