The EU and the Union of the Comoros initialled a new 3-year Protocol to the EU-Comoros Fisheries Partnership Agreement, which will be activated from 1 January 2014, when the current protocol expires.
The agreement will allow the European fleet to continue its fishing activities in a strategic area of the Indian Ocean, enabling it to follow the migration of tuna and other highly migratory species throughout the western Indian Ocean.
The Protocol provides the EU with fishing opportunities for 42 purse seiners and 20 long-line vessels, based on a reference tonnage of 6,000 tonnes. In return, the EU will pay the Comoros, for each year, an annual compensation of 600,000, out of which 300,000 is earmarked to support the fisheries policy of the Comoros. Furthermore, the European vessel owners’ contribution will be increased, which is fully in line with the reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy, where industry has been called to pay a fair and commensurate level of fees for the resource it exploits.
This Protocol will reinforce cooperation between the two parties, especially in their fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) and will continue the EU sectoral support towards better governance of fisheries as a result of improved technical and human capacity building in the Comorian administration.
2010-2013 The Scottish White Fish Producers’ Association