Ex-post and ex-ante evaluation study of the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Seychelles and of its implementing protocol : final report : framework contract for better regulation related activities on the international dimension of the Common Fisheries Policy for the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries - MARE/2015/23 : specific ...

The subject of this evaluation is Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA) between the EU and the Seychelles and its implementing Protocol. The Agreement was concluded for a period of 6 years from 2 November 2007 and was automatically renewed in 2013 until 1 November 2019. The Protocol provides fishing possibilities for EU vessels fishing in the Seychelles' Exclusive Economic Zone for tuna and tuna-like species. The current Protocol entered into application on 18 January 2014 and will expire on 17 January 2020. The EU's FPA with Seychelles is one of two currently active tuna agreements in the Indian Ocean (the other is with Mauritius). The Protocol sets out the fishing opportunities and financial contributions provided for in the Fisheries Partnership Agreement. It grants fishing opportunities for 40 tuna purse seiners and 6 surface long liners, with a reference tonnage of 50,000 t/year. The annual EU public financial contribution to Seychelles in the first and second year amounted to EUR 5 350 000 per year, of which EUR 2 600 000 was dedicated to the support and implementation of Seychelles' sectoral fisheries policy. In the 3rd to 6th years, the annual contribution is EUR 5 000 000 per year, of which EUR 2 500 000 is to be dedicated to the support for implementation of the fisheries maritime policies. The EU-Seychelles FPA is mirrored by a fishing agreement between the Seychelles and the EU for access of a maximum of 8 purse seiners and 2 supply vessels flagged to Seychelles to the waters of Mayotte under EU jurisdiction (an EU outermost region since 2014). The so-called Seychelles-Mayotte agreement will expire on 5 June 2020