Overview
Status: Protocol in place
Type of agreement: Tuna
Protocol dates: 23 July 2024 – 22 July 2029
EU total financial contribution: €780,000 per year
The EU and Cabo Verde have had a fisheries partnership since 1990.
The fisheries partnership agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Cabo Verde entered into force on 20 March 2007 and is automatically renewed. The current fisheries protocol covers the period from 23 July 2024 to 22 July 2029.
Financial details
EU financial contribution: €780,000 per year, with €430,000 dedicated to supporting the sustainable development of Cabo Verde’s fisheries policy.
Fees for operators:
- First two years of application: €80 per tonne caught (for purse seiners) or €75/t (for longliners and pole-and-line vessels)
- Last three years of application: €85 per tonne caught (for purse seiners) or €80/t (for longliners and pole-and-line vessels).
Access to waters
Reference tonnage: 7,000 tonnes per year
Fishing access: Vessels from Spain, France, Portugal can fish for tuna in Cabo Verde waters.
| Fishing opportunities (number of vessels) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | France | Portugal | TOTAL | |
| Tuna seiners | 14 | 10 | - | 24 |
| Surface longliners | 17 | - | 5 | 22 |
| Pole and line | 6 | 3 | 1 | 10 |
Sectoral support
The EU provides an envelope of €430,000 per year to support the national strategy for sustainable fisheries. It should contribute to good ocean governance and the promotion of responsible and sustainable fisheries.
EU funding supports the following priorities
- strengthening the monitoring, control and surveillance of fishing activities
- strengthening scientific knowledge of fishery resources
- reinforcing the capacity for sanitary checks of fishery products
- supporting coastal communities (fishing activities, training, employment, fishers' safety and economic development), with a particular focus on measures aimed at women and young people
- strengthening international cooperation
- developing sustainable aquaculture
- supporting the blue economy
Scientific advice
Tuna-like species in the Atlantic Ocean are managed by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), which includes both the EU and Cabo Verde as contracting parties. The EU and Cabo Verde work together within ICCAT to evaluate and manage tuna stocks. The EU's tuna fleet fishes in compliance with ICCAT rules.
According to the agreement and its implementing protocol, the EU and Cabo Verde can hold scientific meetings to assess and recommend ways to manage fishery resources sustainably.
News
The Arctic Ocean is changing fast as warming drives ice loss and pushes sub-Arctic fish north, opening up potential fishing opportunities. In 2021, an international agreement set a 16-year moratorium on fishing to collect more information about its sustainability.
The European Union and the Cook Islands have signed a new protocol to the sustainable fisheries partnership agreement for a duration of 7 years (2025-2032).
On 4 December, the EU concluded an agreement with Norway and the UK on the management of jointly managed fish stocks in the North Sea for 2026.