The Spanish fleet will leave Mauritanian waters this Saturday with the prospect of million-dollar economic losses, because the agreement with the European Union (EU) expires and, even in the most optimistic scenario, it is uncertain when it can return to the fishing grounds.
The protocol, the most important in fisheries for the EU, expires this Saturday, and both parties continue to negotiate its renewal against the clock, but whatever the outcome, Community vessels must leave the Mauritanian coast, many without alternatives.
The agreement has offered nearly a hundred licenses for vessels from ten EU countries; Spain has had more than 50, which have been used by vessels from Andalusia, Galicia, the Canary Islands, and the Basque Country, and whose catches are crucial for the survival of fish markets like the one in Cadiz.
In exchange, the EU has compensated Mauritania with 60.8 million euros annually, and it is precisely now that Nouakchott's economic demands are an obstacle to a new agreement.
Furthermore, the ships that have remained there until the last moment will have to disembark the Mauritanian crew members, because the end of the protocol also leaves about a thousand local sailors unemployed.
Last-minute proposal from the European Commission
The European Commission (EC), according to industry sources, has presented Mauritania with a new proposal that increases the compensation, as well as the fees that shipowners will have to pay to fish in its waters.
For its part, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) "is working and urging the EC to strengthen contacts to reach an agreement before the 14th at 11:59 PM," as the Secretary General of Fisheries, Isabel Artime, told the press.
Both the MAPA and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are working towards an agreement, as are other departments of the EC, according to the Secretary General of the shipowners' association Cepesca, Javier Garat, and president of the European Europêche, who told EFE Agro.
In this regard, he stressed the diplomatic value of the pact with Mauritania, which, apart from fishing, has received funds for EU cooperation programs ranging between 800 million and one billion euros since 2021.
Scenarios and million-dollar losses
At the moment, there are two scenarios; the optimistic one, where reaching a new agreement would take months for its ratification and processing in the EU institutions, so it would not be applied until next spring, according to the sector.
The pessimist is that the virtual negotiations that continue this Friday do not reach port and that the renewal remains up in the air.
According to the National Association of Shellfishers (Anamar), based in Huelva, the 15 vessels of this type operating in Mauritania will lose more than five million per month, due to the lack of agreement, and 30 million in six months.
As for the fish market of the port of Cadiz, in 2025 it marketed catches for 13.2 million euros and 8.64 million in the first nine months of 2026 thanks to the agreement.
The owner of the Galician hake vessel "Fuente de Macenlle", María José de Pazo, is among those who see no alternatives for their vessels; she sells in Cadiz, where the last auction of Mauritanian goods will take place on Monday and a concentration is planned in front of the Government Sub-delegation.
"The impact is brutal," she stressed to EFE Agro, in addition to pointing out that there will be a decrease in supply for the Christmas campaign, when sales and fish income increase.
Are there alternatives?
Artime assured that there are alternative fishing grounds to place the fleet "both with and without an agreement."
However, shipowners question the options; in the case of hake vessels there are none, for Andalusian shellfishers there is Guinea-Bissau, but with the risk of depleting the fishing ground, and only tuna vessels are clearer about being able to operate with other agreements, according to Garat.
De Pazo criticized the lack of planning and the opacity of the EC: "EU shipowners are being pushed to change flags and sailors to not know if they will be able to pay their mortgages," she concluded.
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