EU-Ivory Coast Tuna Deal Gets Go Ahead From Parliament

Members of the European Parliament approved the four-year fisheries partnership agreement with Ivory Coast, allowing EU-flagged boats to fish for 6,100 tons of tuna and other species in the African nation’s EEZ for EUR 740,000 every year. The deal was provisionally applied in June. However, it required the approval of the Parliament to come into force, which was granted during the plenary session on October 1. The deal was adopted with 520 votes in favor, 97 against, and 12 abstentions, according to news sites.

The initial EU-Ivory Coast SFPA was established on July 1, 2007, and tacitly renewed every six years. The previous implementation protocol expired on July 31, 2024, and it took more than a year of negotiations to renew it. An EU statement read that the protocol is expected to enhance respect for international obligations, as it explicitly refers to the recommendations and resolutions of the RFMOs and other international agreements and legal instruments applicable to fisheries. According to the renewed partnership, 32 purse seiners and longliners flagged to Spain, France, and Portugal can operate in the African nation’s EEZ until 2029.