WWF Fact sheetWest African Marine Ecoregion (WAMER)
Dakar Sénégal, +221) 869 37 00
EU Fisheries ACCESS agreements
Reducing the Footprint of European Fleets on African Fisheries
Situation
Fisheries agreements generate substantial revenues for cash-strapped economies of Western African countries, but also create serious tension between governments, fishers’ organisations and industrial groups. Although there is an increasing scarcity of fish, revenue needs for basic national expenses such as education, health, and infrastructure continue to drive coastal states to sign fisheries agreements with foreign countries even though national, regional, and international fisheries experts recognise that many important fish stocks are overexploited. As supplies decrease, competition for limited resources continues to increase resulting in the overharvesting of fish stocks to near extinction.
In addition to being biologically untenable, the economic benefits from current fisheries agreements are not fairly shared between producer and extractor nations. A recent EU study found that each euro which is invested in fisheries agreements yields three euros to European fisheries sector. Furthermore, the extractor nations, generally poorer nations in Africa and Asia, have not allocated the fund from fisheries access agreements toward fisheries reform, further confounding the problem.
EU Fleets in WAMER
Fisheries agreement allow distant water fleet to fish demersals species (like groupers, deep sea shrimps) outside national costal area reserved to non-industrial fishers( 6 to 12 miles from the coast). In Senegal, 20% of the sea products catch is taken by the industrial fleet, while in Mauritania the opposite situation remain (80% of the catches is fished by industrial fishermen).
The fisheries agreements represent crucial social and economic instruments for all the countries in the WAMER sub-region. However, in addition to being unsustainable, disproportionate benefits accrue to European as a result of unbalanced negations and perverse subsidies. There is also significant illegal fishing at the national level.
After an unusual long negotiating period and process, the renewal of Senegal’s four year fisheries agreement with the European Union (EU) has been signed in July 2002 with a particular financial contribution to conservations purposes.
Mauritania also recently signed an agreement with the EU which will be renegotiated in a few years. The moment is ripe for WWF to take a more active role and help West African countries to develop and implement agreements that will satisfy the needs of all while maintaining a vibrant, sustainable fisheries sector.
WWF plays a significant role
More equitable financial arangements and the necessity for setting aside an amount for conservation measures has enabled European and African governments and fisheries practitioners to design more equitable and transparent agreements and to strengthen the sustainability of the fishing industry.
In order to negotiate more effectively, coastal states must establish consensus views on key parameters like quotas, allowable fishing methods, and pricing. Over the past two years, the WWF WAMER office has worked very closely with the Sub-regional Fisheries Commission (CSRP) to help broker such agreements. The commission operates at both technical and high political levels (ministerial). Some difficulties exist to ensure that the agreements are respected by both local and international fishers. As a result, the countries have agreed minimum conditions for fisheries agreements as well as allowable gear for the non industrial sector.
From now on …
The primary goal of WWF-WAMER is to help Senegal and the Gambia to negotiate equitable and sustainable fisheries agreements with the EU .To achieve this goal, the aimed key objectives is to establish equitable fisheries agreements with measures of biologic sustainability of the resources. Finally, WWF hopes to establish a transparency in the negotiation process and the full implementation of the fisheries agreements.
Perspectives
In order to promote responsible and sustainable fishing, WWF-WAMER will continue to put emphasis on the fact that research must be strengthened to facilitate stock evaluations, quota and season setting. WWF WAMER strongly believe that surveillance and enforcement must be strengthened . Local fishermen must be involved in the process, and the abilities of local players to effectively manage their fisheries resources must be strengthened both nationally and regionally.
Conclusion
The impact of fisheries agreements would be improved by more substantial involvement of civil society in the negotiation and monitoring of fisheries agreements. However, these negotiations tend to be far from transparent rendering them inaccessible to community fishing groups, civil institutions or the private sector. It is however clear that if the current systems of negotiation and surveillance are not improved, both the industrial and artisanal fishing sectors will further deteriorate. Already, industry professionals are reporting lowered yields; unpredictable fluctuations in the production, poor supply for fish processing units, and increasingly frequent conflicts between the different actors in the sector.
In short, the positive impacts of the fisheries agreement upon the national economies are very limited due to unbalanced economics and weak management.
The five fisheries agreements signed by the European Union with Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea Conakry, Guinea Bissau, and Cape Verde should be the last for all the WAMER countries. Marine resources is dramatically overexploited and will not recover without substantial reforms of access agreements between the EU and West African nations.
Photo 1:Senegal, Giovanni Paci, Italian journalist
Photo 2: Surveillance in Mauritania, WWF/Lyne Larochelle
Photo 3: Mauritania, Ndewa Mochtar Nech
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Published by the Communications Unit, WWF WARPO (WAMER West African Marine Ecoregion) Sacré-Coeur III, B. P. 22928, Dakar, Sénégal © WWF WAMER 2003 Tel.: +221 869 37 00 Fax: +221 869 37 02