Overview
Status: Protocol in place
Type of agreement: Mixed
Protocol dates: 15 November 2021 - 14 November 2026
EU total financial contribution: €60,800,000 per year
The EU and Mauritania have a long-standing fisheries partnership, first agreed in 1987.
The sustainable fisheries partnership agreement (SFPA) between the EU and Mauritania was signed and started on 16 November 2024. It lasts for six years and renews automatically. This is a mixed agreement.
The current fisheries protocol covers the period from 15 November 2021 to 14 November 2026.
Financial details
EU financial contribution: €60,800,000 per year, with, on average, €3,300,000 per year dedicated to supporting the sustainable development of Mauritania's fisheries policy.
Fees for operators: see detail below.
Access to waters
Fishing access: Vessels from France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, the Netherlands, Ireland and Italy can fish, for up to a total of 280,050 tonnes a year, for shrimp, demersal fish, tuna and small pelagic fish, in Mauritanian waters.
Category 1: Fishing vessels specialising in crustaceans other than spiny lobster and crab (maximum 5,000 tonnes/year; maximum 18 vessels).
Fee: €450/t, annual advance fee of €1,500/vessel deducted from total fee due.
Category 2: Black hake non-freezer trawlers (maximum 6,000 tonnes/year; and maximum 4 vessels).
Fee: €100/t, annual advance fee of €1 000/vessel deducted from total fee due.
Category 2a: Black hake freezer trawlers (main target species: black hake, maximum 3,500 tonnes/year; secondary species: squid maximum 1,450 t/year and cuttlefish, maximum 600 t/year, 25% by-catch allowed for demersal fish other than black hake, and maximum 6 vessels).
Fees: black hake: €100/t, squid: €575/t, cuttlefish: €250/t and €90/t for by-catches; annual advance fee of €1 000/vessel deducted from total fee due.
Category 3: Vessels fishing for demersal species other than black hake with gear other than trawls (maximum 3, 000 t; maximum 6 vessels) .
Fee: €105/t, annual advance fee of €1,000/vessel deducted from total fee due.
Category 4: Tuna seiners (reference tonnage 14,000 tonnes; maximum 29 vessels).
Fee: €75/t in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd year; €80/t in the 4th and 5th year; Annual flat-rate advance fee of €1,750/vessel.
Category 5: Pole-and-line tuna vessels and surface long-liners (reference tonnage 7,000 tonnes; maximum 15 vessels).
Fee: €75/t in the 1st , 2nd and 3rd year; €80/t in the 4th and 5th year; Annual flat-rate advance fee of €2,500/pole-and-line vessel and of €3,500/surface long-liner.
Category 6: Pelagic freezer trawlers (maximum 225,000 tonnes; maximum 19 vessels).
Fees: €75/t for sardines and sardinellas; 140€/t for mackerels and horse-mackerels, €123/t other small pelagics annual advance fee of €5,000/ vessel deducted from total fee due.
Category 7: Non-freezer pelagic vessels (maximum 15,000 tonnes/year, deducted from category 6; maximum 2 vessels).
Fees: same as cat. 6, annual advance fee of €5,000/ vessel deducted from total fee due.
Category 8 – Cephalopods: no fishing opportunities granted under the current protocol.
Sectoral support
The EU provides an envelop of €16,500,000 for the whole period of the protocol 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
- fisheries support and management measures, including for small-scale fisheries
- fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance
- the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing
- the development and strengthening of scientific capacities in the field of fisheries and aquaculture
- the observation and management of the marine environment, to measures to protect fragile ecosystems contributing to healthy stocks and to the management of marine protected areas.
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 Mauritania as members. The EU and Mauritania work together within ICCAT to study and manage tuna stocks. The EU's tuna fleet fishes in compliance with ICCAT rules.
According to the agreement and its implementation protocol, the EU and Mauritania support scientific cooperation. They consult a Joint Scientific Committee (JSC) to enhance monitoring of marine life and address scientific issues related to the protocol.
Reports
Report of the 2024 meeting of the Joint Scientific Committee to the EU-Mauritania Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (in French) Please note: this is an updated version (dated 12/09/2023), it contains three additional annexes (5, 6, and 7).
Media
Euronews Ocean: Balancing profit and preservation: Mauritania pushes for sustainable fishing with EU support
In Mauritania and across North-West Africa, fish is essential. It provides food and jobs for countless people. But this natural resource is under threat. What must be done to protect it, and how can Europe play a part?
News
Coastal and marine ecosystems in the Black Sea are under growing pressure from global challenges, including pollution, climate change, and the environmental consequences of armed conflict.
In just five years, a small event organised by a local fisheries group on the shores of Estonia’s Lake Võrtsjärv has grown into a travelling celebration of fishing heritage, local traditions and community pride in one of the country’s least known regions.
The European Union has introduced new rules to protect the Dogger Bank, an emblematic Natura 2000 site in the waters of Germany and the Netherlands. Starting 18 November 2025, fishing with mobile bottom contacting gears will be prohibited in specific areas within the site.