A fisheries agreement, giving access to fishing vessels of the European Union to Mozambican waters, took effect as from January 1st.
According to a press release from the Maputo delegation of the European Commission, the agreement lasts for three years, and Mozambique will be paid 4.09 million Euros (about 5.11 million US dollars) in “compensation funds†a year.
The agreement grants the European Union a quota of 8,000 tons of tuna and similar species, and 1,000 tons a year of deep-water prawns (“gambaâ€) as well.
The EU release says that the agreement lays a heavy stress on economic, financial, technical and scientific cooperation in the fisheries sector, in order to guarantee the conservation and sustainable exploitation of Mozambican resources.
The “compensation funds†will be used to develop fisheries training and research, to build up the institutions of the sector, and to monitor marine fisheries.