Is Guinea-Bissau Gearing Up For Tighter Monitoring Of EU Vessels In Its EEZ?

The Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI) announced last week that it “embarked on a country mission to Guinea-Bissau to discuss enhancing the nation’s fisheries transparency by implementing the FiTI standard.” The Initiative stated that it held discussions in recent months with the Minister of Fisheries and Maritime Economy, Mário Musante, and his technical team in Bissau to deliver a proposal for a Memorandum of Understanding between both parties for a sustainable tuna fishery in its EEZ. The EU and Guinea-Bissau renewed their fishing partnership agreement in September last year, allowing boats from Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece, and France to fish in the tuna-rich Guinea-Bissau EEZ in the Atlantic Ocean for the next five years.

A FiTI statement read: “Discussions included ongoing dialogue on the advantages of improving sustainable fisheries governance in the country, as well as requests for these institutions and organizations to support the government and the Ministry of Fisheries throughout this process. These efforts will contribute to substantially improving fisheries governance in the country.”