Conditions are outlined for the renewal of the EU-Angola fishery agreement
14 November 2004
On May 19th 2004, during a visit to the Spanish Ministry of Fisheries, the Angolan Fisheries Minister remarked that: "It is likely that the EU-Angola fishery agreement, due to expire imminently, will be renewed?. In force since 2002, the agreement?s renewal would be conditional on a reduction in fishing effort in Angolan waters, and with greater control over vessel activity.
Angola’s intention to reduce fishery activity in its waters is based on recent scientific studies that highlight the need for such a measure. In order to learn more about the current resource situation, the Fishery Minister stated that a comparison should be made between the data collected by the Spanish research vessel and national surveys.
Another point highlighted, which would favour the agreement?s renewal, is the improvement in the control systems. This would allow Angola to receive information from the EU "within an appropriate amount of time.?
The current agreement, which will expire in July, allows EU vessels to fish for prawns, demersal, pelagic, and tuna species in exchange for an annual payment of Euro 15.5 million.
Editorial comment
The issue of reduced fisheries access is central to the renewal of the Angola-EU agreement. The available data show signs of over-fishing on deep-water shrimp, and recommendations have been made to reduce the number of vessels involved in this fishery. Notwithstanding this, in the previous EU-Angola fisheries protocol access to shrimp was increased and no effort limits were set.
Some initiatives have already been taken to improve the control systems. Some months ago, a new patrol vessel made her first trip in Angolan waters. The mission was a joint operation between the Angolan Ministry of Fisheries, Namibia's Ministry of Fisheries and the SADC-EU Monitoring, Control & Surveillance Programme (MSC programme). During that first patrol 19 vessels were boarded and six of them were impounded for serious infringements of SADC fisheries legislation. This shows the importance of regional level actions, SADC in this case, in addressing IUU fishing. Any new fisheries agreement protocol also needs to include provisions that are coherent with and supportive of the EU-SADC MCS programme and supportive of the development of Angolan control-and-surveillance capacity.
In the previous protocol, some monies were earmarked for the development of small-scale fishing. The main problems facing small-scale fisheries include the encroachment of national shrimp trawlers (i.e. vessels re-flagged from Asian or EU countries) in their fishing zone, and their unselective practices. It may therefore be desirable to propose similar measures to those included in the last EU-Guinea protocol, where all trawlers (and other industrial fishing activities), both EU and non-EU, may be excluded from the 12-miles zone.