The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has expressed its regret at the absence of a new fishing agreement between the European Union and Mauritania before the current one expires, set for 15 November. As sources from the department have pointed out, the Government will continue to pressure the European Commission (EC) to maintain the arrangements and conversations necessary in order to close a new deal, even once the official deadline has been exceeded.
The head of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, stated on the social network X his disappointment that the agreement between the EC and Mauritania "has expired" and called on the Community Executive to "continue with the contacts" in order to reach a new protocol "as soon as possible". Planas specified that, "temporarily", Spain has alternative fishing grounds for the fleet that is required to leave Mauritanian waters.
Ministry sources detail that those alternative fishing grounds are located in Portugal and Guinea Bissau, to where most of the Spanish boats will head while the EC tries to close a new understanding with Mauritania out of time. The goal, they emphasize, is to reach an agreement "with the utmost speed" so that the European fleet, "especially the Spanish one", can return to the Mauritanian fishing grounds as soon as possible, considered "strategic for the EU and for Spain".
According to Ministry data, around thirty Spanish vessels benefit from this agreement. Most are shellfish boats (18), followed by frozen purse seine tuna seiners (7) and by non-frozen trawler vessels and bottom longliners (4). Depending on the years, some frozen trawler and some vessel dedicated to demersal fishing and pole-and-line tuna fishing have also operated in Mauritanian waters.
Among the boats fishing this year, the shellfish boats have as home ports Huelva (12) and Las Palmas (6), while the non-frozen trawlers and bottom longliners operate from Marín (3) and Las Palmas (1). Demersal fishing vessels rely on Burela (1) and Algeciras (1), and frozen purse seine tuna seiners have their base in Bermeo (1) and A Coruña (1).
The same sources recall that Spain is among the member states which, together with the current Irish Presidency of the EU, have pressed for the EC to intensify its negotiating efforts. About a month ago, Planas and the ministers of Portugal, the Netherlands and Latvia sent a letter to the Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis, in which they insisted on the urgency of reaching an agreement and on the need that, if it was not achieved within the expected timeframe, the EC should be prepared to offer alternatives to the Community fleet.
The Ministry emphasizes that the bilateral relationship between the EU and Mauritania has “strategic importance for all the member states,” both on the economic level and on the security level. For this reason, it has reiterated to the EC the relevance of maintaining an agreement “that strengthens Europe’s influence in Africa,” particularly in Mauritania, considered the EU’s last major fishing ground, key to supporting a productive sector that “guarantees food security and supply” to Community markets.
In addition, Spain argues that negotiations be strengthened “at the highest level,” with the direct participation of the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, with the aim of preventing the vessels that currently operate under a Community flag from being re-flagged under other flags, which would entail a reduction in European productive capacity. The sources warn that this shift of fleets to other flags “has an evident negative effect on the global sustainability of world fishing.”