Agreements that allow the European Union to pay African nations for the right to fish in their waters need to ensure better protection of stocks and more benefits to local communities, the World Wildlife Fund said on Tuesday.
The WWF said recent EU deals with a number of African nations were much better than previous agreements, but still needed changes to ensure European fishermen did not undermine local fishing communities or harm fish stocks.
The environmental campaign group also said a study it commissioned into four such agreements cast doubt on the economic benefits for the European bloc of such deals.
”While there have been some improvements … it seems questionable whether the current agreements really embrace the idea of sustainability,” said Julie Cator, of WWF’s fisheries campaign. The EU has agreements with 20 African nations who receive payments in return for allowing a limited number of boats from EU
waters to fish their waters. Such agreements have become increasingly important to European fishermen seeking new grounds after overfishing has reduced stocks
in their waters.
While recognising that the EU has introduced more controls in its latest agreements to limit harm to fish stocks, the WWF complained it was not enough to limit catches by European boats.
The group also said despite the positive signal sent by the Europeans’ spending more money to help local fishing communities in Africa the help given to European boats created unfair competition for local fishermen.
”The agreements more often have negative effects on the local communities than contribute to sustainable development in the region,” said the report. – Sapa-AP