Subject: Transparency of the fishing activities of third-country vessels in Senegal
In November 2021, Parliament endorsed the renewal of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement with Senegal. This strengthens and modernises the satellite monitoring systems of fishing vessels and the use of electronic catch records, bolsters the fight against illegal fishing and improves scientific know-how and data collection in the field. This renewal will reinforce transparency and better control the pressure exerted by third-country fleets on Senegal’s fishing waters and those of other coastal countries. Despite these improvements, in recent weeks there have been growing complaints from local fishers about the murky activities of Chinese vessels working under the guise of a joint enterprise. Senegalese fishers have reported a significant drop in the quantity and quality of their catches as a result of the operation of these vessels.
In light of this:
1. Are these priorities already among the objectives of the multiannual plan to be drawn up under Article 5(2) of the agreement?
2. Will the quality of data provided on third-country fleet activity be monitored specifically?
3. How might this affect the revision of the fishing opportunities provided for in Article 8 of the agreement?
Answer given by Mr Sinkevičius on behalf of the European Commission (4 March 2022)
The first Joint Committee under the current Protocol of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the EU and Senegal, that took place in January 2020, approved the multiannual programme of the sectoral support referred to in Article 5(2) of the Protocol.
This sectoral support programme includes several actions to improve the control, monitoring and surveillance of fishing activities in Senegal's Exclusive Economic Zone.
These actions are aimed at the European fleet as well as the national fleet and the fleet of third countries carrying out their fishing activities in Senegalese waters. They reinforce the capacities already existing and supported in the framework of previous multiannual sectoral support programmes.
With regard to the quality of the data provided by the third country fleet, it is Senegal’s responsibility to carry out its monitoring. The sectoral support programme reinforces the capacity of the Senegalese fisheries administration and improves the tools available to the Senegalese fisheries administration to monitor properly the data provided by the various fishing fleets.
In accordance with Article 8 of the Protocol, the Joint Committee may adjust the fishing opportunities, insofar as the recommendations and resolutions adopted by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and the opinions of the Fishery Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF) confirm that such an adjustment guarantees the sustainable management of the fish species covered by the Protocol, subject to validation by the Scientific Working Group.