Bissau, Guinea Bissau, 20 Nov – Guinea Bissau’s negotiations with the European Union (EU) for the revision of the fisheries agreement are due to begin December 11 and the financial compensation to be received must be renegotiated, Guinea’s minister of fisheries and the marine economy, Abdu Mané, said Saturday in Bissau.

“The agreement (with the EU) is the most important for the country and the amounts involved have fallen significantly since the 1998/99 military conflict,” said Abdu Mané, noting that almost a decade ago, the EU paid the equivalent of 12 million euros.

“Currently the EU pays just 7.2 million euros to fish in our waters, almost half of what it paid in 1998,” he said, declining to say how many EU ships operated in Guinea Bissau.

According to Mané, the revision of the amount of financial compensation must also take into account the efforts of the Guinean government to inspect its Economic Exclusion Zone, which have made it possible to capture some 40 fishing boats, some of which industrial, and “combat piracy.”

Meanwhile, the minister is due to arrive Monday in Havana, Cuba, to sign a cooperation agreement for aquaculture and traditional fishing, as part of the Mixed Cooperation Commission. (macauhub)