Spain wants EU-Mauritania fishery accord reworked: source

Spain wants its EU partners to look again at a recently concluded fishing accord with Mauritania because it is not working and harms the interests of its fishermen, EU sources said Friday.

In July, the European Union signed a new deal with Mauritania after months of tough negotiations, promising 113 million euros ($147 million) funding for the west African country’s important fishing industry.

In a document circulated ahead of an EU fishery ministers’ meeting on Tuesday, Spain said the amount paid was more than under the previous accord while “the fishing possibilities do not increase proportionally.

“On the contrary, new limits and conditions may seriously hinder European fishing activities in Mauritanian waters,” said the document seen by AFP.

It said most EU member states and “practically the whole fisheries sector concerned have expressed serious doubts” while Spain viewed some of its provisions to be “very difficult to implement.”

A European source said that after the difficulties in agreeing the July accord it would be “very difficult to get anything more” and on balance the deal was positive for EU fishermen.

“The Commission ought to have done better but that does not mean you can throw over the whole thing after such long and difficult negotiations,” the source said, adding that Spain was unlikely to get its way.