Gabon has denounced the fishing agreement signed eight years ago with the European Union. He wants to renegotiate him. The reasons that give are an imbalance in the benefits and growing concerns about the exploitation of resources. In short, it has not generated the wealth and employment it promised for the country.
The collaboration agreement for sustainable fishing (APSC), signed in 2007, allows European ships to fish in gabonese waters in exchange for financial support to the fishing sector of Gabon. In June 2021, a new protocol was ratified that was supposed to improve the treaty. In it, the European Union promised to invest 17,000 million Franks CFA (about 26 million euros) to strengthen Gabon’s fishing governance, protect the marine environment and support the creation of employment and the activities of the fishing sector.
The intentions of the agreement and its protocol were good since it intended to contribute to the preservation of marine resources, to food and nutritional security and the diversification of the Gabonese economy. All this in line with the objectives of the Emerging Gabon Strategic Plan 2025 (PSGE2025). In addition, he responded to Gabon’s desire to strengthen the industrialization and competitiveness of his fishing sector, given the outstanding role of the tuna industry in his fishing area, in the Atlantic Ocean. In fact, the tonnage set in the agreement, which European ships could fish in gabonese waters, was 32,000 tons of tuna per year. This made the Central African country the second most important partner in the EU in tuna fishing, behind the Philippines.
The fishing fleets that have benefited the most from this agreement are the Spanish and the French. Spain is the first canned tuna producing country of the European Union, with around 223,000 tons per year, and the second worldwide, after Thailand. The agreement between Gabon and the European Union guaranteed fishing in the waters of the African country for 27 community tunas, of them 15 of Spanish flag. To this we must add five cane ships (vessels that are used for fishing with cane, pigeon or hook) and four drag. Which makes a total of 24 Spanish flag vessels operating in Gabon waters. There are no data from the exact tons of tuna fish by Spanish ships.
The president of Gabon, Brice Oligui Nguema, has denounced that the agreement with the European Union generates very insufficient economic benefits compared to the wealth that European ships take from their territorial waters. For the president, the agreement does not compensate neither the real value of the captures nor the costs assumed by Gabon in terms of surveillance and control. Nor the losses by added value due to the absence of local transformation. Finally, he has criticized the weakness of investments undertaken by the European Union in addition to local development, employment or reinforcement of national capacities. As well as the risks linked to the overexploitation of fishery resources, in the absence of shared transparency and scientific monitoring mechanisms.
For all these reasons, President Gabonese asks that a way to a possible renegotiation on rebalancing bases or explore new associations more aligned with Gabon’s priorities to open. The objective is to launch essential requirements for the country, such as the creation of essential infrastructure for the development of the fishing sector in the country. This would include modern landing areas, refrigeration stores, industrial treatment units and shipyards, among other elements. The objective of all this is to create a true national fishing industry that generates employment, added value and sovereignty.
What President Gabonese denounces is nothing new. EU’s fishing agreements with African countries have been accused, on different occasions, of being harmful. These pacts can allow overfishing and exhaustion of local fish populations. Intensive fishing practices can alter marine ecosystems, damaging biodiversity and compromising the health of the oceans. In addition, on many occasions, they are the cause of the displacement of local fishing communities and limit their access to marine resources, which affects their livelihoods and economies and drives many young people to migrate. Nor do they usually take into account the need for sustainability of long -term fisheries, which can lead to excessive use of resources and the degradation of the environment. Finally, they are accused of lack of transparency and responsibility in lack of adequate control and monitoring mechanisms, which hinders the identification and prevention of illegal fishing practices. For all that, for a long time, various groups of activists ask the EU to review their agreements and prioritize the sustainability and rights of local fishing communities.
It is said that the big fish eats the boy, but it seems that, now, the boy has begun to claim his rights. Gabon has taken a step in that regard, we will have to be attentive to see if he achieves his goal.
In the upper image, fishermen fix their networks in Libreville. Photography: Getty
