The Joint EU-Morocco Commission of Fishing Professionals, which formalised its constitution last Friday in Dakhla (Morocco), has warned of the negative socio-economic impacts for both parties of an unfavourable decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in relation to the current fishing protocol between the EU and Morocco.
The current agreement has been in force since July 2014 and will expire on 14th July 2018. The CJEU is expected to issue its final ruling on 27th February this year.
The joint Commission met in Dakhla, with the European side represented by the fishing sectors of Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Poland and Lithuania. The EU industry has stressed that the current EU-Morocco fishing agreement not only guarantees respect for international law and human rights, but has been beneficial to both parties, and asks the CJEU to be consistent.
It also emphasised that a negative court ruling would create serious consequences for the relations between Europe and Morocco beyond the fishing interests, indicating that an unfavourable resolution would only serve to undermine the social impact resulted from the good relations between the Kingdom and Europe, as well as the economic development that goes with it, as the members of the Joint Commission have seen in the city of Dakhla.
According to Javier Garat, President of Europêche and co-chairman of the EU-Morocco Joint Commission of Fisheries Professionals, the fisheries agreement setting out the legal framework for the implementing protocol entered into force in February 2007, one year before Morocco’s accession to the Advanced Statute. This Statute sets out, among other objectives, the revitalisation of fisheries management under a framework of joint cooperation, which has allowed the European Commission to continuously monitor the application of the protocol and an ex-post assessment report which confirms its strict application.
According to this report, each euro invested by the EU within the framework of the protocol, generates €2.78 of added value for the EU fishing sector. As the Joint Commission has highlighted, it is also highly beneficial for the Moroccan fishing sector. This sector generates 2% of the Moroccan GDP, with fisheries products representing 9% of its exports.
‘This agreement has proven to be effective for the sustainable exploitation of fishery resources, it is vital for the activity of up to 126 European vessels and, quite contrary to what certain pressure groups with clear political interests wield, is clearly beneficial for the socio-economic development of the population of the different provinces of Morocco,’ Javier Garat said
‘The EU Attorney-General is not aware of the damage that an unfavourable decision can signify for the good relations that Morocco and the EU have built over many years,’ said Omar Akouri, president of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Maritime Federation of Morocco and co-president of the Joint Commission.
‘A negative judicial decision would create a paradox for Europe and would seriously damage the social fabric of the southern regions of Morocco, which is precisely what the denunciation of the agreement defends.’
The current protocol (2014-2018) of the EU-Morocco fishing agreement allows fishing on Moroccan fishing grounds to a maximum of 126 EU fishing vessels. In Morocco, the agreement has generated over 700 direct jobs for crew – 200 of them Moroccan fishermen working on EU vessels – and around 3500 jobs ashore. In these regions, fishing accounts for 40,000 jobs in terms of direct and indirect employment.
The EU economic contribution amounts to €30 million per year, of which €16 million corresponds to fishing access rights and €14 million to sectoral support which aims to promote sustainable fisheries development in Morocco. In addition, there are contributions by vessel owners in terms of license fees which amounts to €10 million.
66% of the EU financial package for sectoral support (€9.24 million) has been allocated to the Moroccan administrative regions of southern Dakhla-Oued Eddahab and Laâyoune-Sakia-El Hamra, respectively; including, for example, the new Dakhla fish auction, with an investment of €2.7 million.
This mixed agreement contains access to different species: small pelagic species, demersal species and highly migratory species. European vessels catch 83,000 tonnes annually, representing 5.6% of the total catches in the area, worth €80 million. The catches of Spain under this agreement represent an average of 7% (7314 tonnes) of different species. The rest of the European countries using the protocol fish around 75,686 tonnes (93%) of small pelagic species.
The Moroccan fleet totals 20,000 vessels which fish 87.9% of the total catches in its waters and the remaining 6.5% is caught by Russian vessels. It should be noted that Morocco also has agreed to a fisheries agreement with Russia for small pelagic species, renegotiated in 2016, as well as with Japan, for access for tuna longliners.
