Madar (Tunis) - Tunisia has obtained an agreement in principle to raise its quota for deep-water red shrimp in the Mediterranean following technical negotiations with the European Union in Rome, the Tunisian embassy in Italy announced on Friday, October 30, 2026, according to Tunisian news site Webdo.
According to the embassy statement, the agreement was reached on the sidelines of the 49th session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), held in Rome from October 26 to 30, after a series of negotiations and technical meetings involving representatives of the relevant sectors and ministries on both sides.
The statement did not give the additional volume granted, the total quota or a timetable. Tunisia's giant red shrimp quota had been set at 36 tonnes for 2026.
The GFCM, which operates under the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), announced on October 30 new binding decisions on managing fish stocks in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, including a recommendation on the long-term management of giant red shrimp and blue and red shrimp stocks in the Strait of Sicily. It did not mention Tunisia's new quota; its decisions take effect 120 days after notification.
The announcement follows tensions over the volumes caught and exported by Tunisian operators. In early October, Italian authorities asked importers to suspend purchases of Tunisian red shrimp until the end of the year, citing a quota overrun, while Tunisia argued that the cap was based on outdated data that no longer reflected the growth of its deep-water fishing fleet.
