Mozambique said it will sign an agreement with the European Union in January which will allow EU purse seiners to catch tuna and shrimp off the east African country's coast for the next three years.
"All the details of the accord have been defined and it is up to the EU to determine how its members will take advantage of this opportunity," told the nation's fisheries minister, Cadmiel Muthemba. Under the agreement Brussels will pay the former Portuguese colony three million euros (3.5 million dollars) each year in exchange for granting fishing quotas to EU member states in its territorial waters. Muthemba said the money will be used to develop fishing infrastructure, such as a tuna port, in Mozambique.
In return EU vessels will be allowed to catch 200,000 tons of tuna.
The EU, which is grappling with the problem of dwindling fish stocks in its own waters, has now bought fishing rights from 15 African countries.
Environmentalist groups argue the deals will deplete fish stocks vital to poor African coastal communities, but the EU insists that the cash the agreements provide will help promote sustainable fishing in the region.