EC/Mauritania fisheries agreement: protocol for the period from 1st August 2001 to 31st July 2006

PURPOSE: to conclude an Agreement making amendments to the Protocol setting out the fishing opportunities and the financial contribution provided for in the Agreement on cooperation in the sea fisheries sector between the EC and Mauritania for the period 1 August 2001 to 31 July 2006.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Council Regulation 1316/2006/EC on the conclusion of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters concerning the provisional application of the Protocol amending the Protocol setting out the fishing opportunities and the financial contribution provided for in the Agreement on cooperation in the sea fisheries sector between the European Community and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania for the period 1 August 2001 to 31 July 2006.

CONTENT: The Protocol setting out the fishing opportunities and the financial contribution provided for in the Agreement on cooperation in the sea fisheries sector between the EC and Mauritania applies for the period 1 August 2001 to 31 July 2006. However, in view of the scientific opinions on the state of resources in the Mauritanian EEZ the two parties have decided to amend the existing fishing opportunities. The outcome of those amendments has been the subject of an Exchange of Letters and involves a temporary reduction in the fishing effort for cephalopods, the fixing of a second closed period of one month for demersal fishing, and an increase in the number of pole-and-line tuna vessels and surface longliners and pelagic freezer trawlers.

This Decision approves the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters mentioned above. Following the amendments set out in the Exchange of Letters, the new fishing opportunities for the ‘pole-and-line tuna vessel and surface longliner’ category and for the ‘pelagic freezer trawler’ category are allocated among the Member States in accordance with the terms of the Decision. The temporary suspension of five fishing licences for the cephalopod fishing category shall take effect as from 1 January 2005. The future reactivation of those five licences shall be decided by common accord in a Joint Committee meeting held between the Commission and the Mauritanian authorities on the basis of the state of resources.

If licence applications from Member States do not cover all the fishing opportunities laid down by the Protocol, the Commission may take into consideration licence applications from any other Member State.

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 08/09/2006.