The European Parliament has given its final approval to the Application Protocol to the Fisheries Agreement between the EU and Mauritius.
The new deal between the EU and Mauritius will see Euro 660,000 paid annually to catch 5,500 tons of tuna each year.
Under this arrangement, the license works out to cost Euro 120 per ton or Euro 3,600 per fishing day, based on an output of 30 tons of tuna catch per day.
The previous deal between the EU and Mauritius, an island country situated in the Indian Ocean, expired in 2007 and allowed the EU to catch a higher volume of 6,000 tons. Despite the smaller allotted catch in the new proposal, the EU says it has raised its financial contribution “substantially,†by an additional Euro 365,000 each year.
The deal would give 41 tuna seiners and 45 longliners access to fish in Mauritian waters. Out of the 41 seiners, 22 will be flying the Spanish flag.
According to the EU, the actual tonnage and number of vessels could be revised depending on the state of the tuna stock, but the fee would also be changed to match.
Now finally for the first time since 2007, the two parties have to reach a new agreement, which would end the private access agreements of European tuna fleet.