Madar (Nouakchott) - Fisheries ministers from Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and Latvia have asked EU Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans Costas Kadis to consider extending the current fishing protocol between the European Union and Mauritania, which expires on November 14, according to a statement issued by Spain's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on Thursday, October 15, 2026.
According to the statement, Spanish minister Luis Planas and his three counterparts sent a letter to the commissioner this week, stressing that reaching a deal remains the first goal and urging him to "speed up the ongoing negotiations" to conclude one before November 15, so that EU vessels can keep fishing in Mauritanian waters.
If no agreement is reached by then, the four countries asked the Commission to examine extending the current protocol through the tacit renewal mechanism provided for in the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement, to avoid negative socio-economic effects on the sector.
The Spanish ministry said the protocol gives fishing opportunities to vessels from 10 EU member states, which catch just over 280,000 tonnes of shrimp, demersal fish, small pelagics and tuna in Mauritanian waters, making it, given the variety of its fisheries, the EU's most important agreement with a third country. Four rounds of negotiations have been held since January without an agreement being announced.
No official Mauritanian or EU response to the extension request has been made public so far.
