The fishing agreement between Mauritania and Senegal, several times postponed, is in its final phase according to the Senegalese Minister of Fisheries and Maritime Economy, Oumar Gueye.
On June 20, the minister held a working meeting in Saint-Louis with his Mauritanian counterpart, Nany Ould Chrougha, in the presence of the members of the ministerial delegations of the two countries. A meeting sanctioned by a communiqué that invites the fisheries sectors in Senegal and Mauritania, to work to renew the fishing protocol.
“Our meeting augurs a very next signature,” said Oumar GUEYE, explaining that the decision to postpone the signature initially planned in May, had been reached by mutual agreement for “technical and organizational reasons.”
The Senegalese minister is now talking about a possible signing at the beginning of July, especially at the next African Union summit to be held in Nouakchott. But before that date, he said, a delegation will meet Monday, June 25 in Dakar to refine and draft the protocol.
For his part, the Mauritanian minister recalled the “social and political” nature of the protocol which, according to him, aims to “contribute to the supply of Saint-Louis”. And to add that the document will obey the “new strategy sustainable management of the resource” adopted by his country.
This new agreement will have to take over from the one that came to an end in 2015. On a visit in early February in Nouakchott, Senegalese President Maky Sall had announced that disputes related to the sharing of fisheries resources would be settled two months later.
By Diary N’diaye Bâ
