The head of Russia’s Federal Agency for Fisheries Ilya Shestakov and Guinea’s Minister for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Industries Frederic Lois met that the International Fishery Forum and Exhibition in St Petersburg to sign a co-operation agreement on fisheries and aquaculture.
‘I hope that your participation in the Forum and Exhibition will serve to further the development of fishery co-operation, which began more than 35 years ago. For several reasons, the pace of co-operation decreased and was halted for a long period,’ Ilya Shestakov said.
‘The current reality is that there is a need for joint actions by states in the conservation and responsible exploitation of marine resources and management.’
Guinea will provide Russian fishing vessels with opportunities to fish in its waters. Access conditions, including catch species, fishing areas, the number and types of vessels, and arrangements for financial compensation in return for fishing rights are determined at annual sessions of the Russian-Guinea Joint Commission on Fisheries.
The two countries undertake to co-operate in combating IUU fishing, exchanging information on fisheries and aquaculture, carrying out fisheries and aquaculture research, development and implementation of scientific and technical programmes, and a range of other areas including marketing seafood products, shipbuilding and improving the quality of wild-caught and farmed fish products.
The agreement has a five-year duration, with the option of a further automatic five-year extension. This agreement also supersedes the 1981 agreement between the USSR and Guinea.
According to the Federal Agency for Fisheries, interaction between Russia and western African states is of great importance, and Russia already has agreements in place with Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone and Namibia, while progress is being made on reaching fisheries agreements with Angola, South Africa and Guniea-Conakry.
The eastern-central Atlantic’s highly productive pelagic resources of sardine, mackerel, horse mackerel and sardinella are important for the Russian fishing sector and according to the Agency, the Russian fleet has a catch potential of 300,000 tonnes in the central-eastern and south-eastern Atlantic regions.
