Gabon opens talks with EU to reshape fisheries deal

Gabon moves to reopen fisheries negotiations with the European Union

Libreville has authorised the launch of talks on a new sustainable fisheries partnership agreement and its implementing protocol, more than a year after it denounced the previous deal. The decision, taken on 18 September, sets the stage for a broad renegotiation that goes well beyond the simple question of European vessels accessing Gabonese waters.

Why the previous accord collapsed

The earlier partnership was terminated by Gabon on 4 June 2025, and its protocol expired on 28 June 2026. Since then, the European framework has been considered suspended, leaving EU ships without a legal basis to fish in Gabonese waters. An old exclusivity clause also blocks any workaround through individual authorisations.

A financial model under scrutiny

The first sticking point will be money. The previous protocol was built on a reference capacity of 32,000 tonnes, used to calculate the European contribution, but that volume was never guaranteed. The EU paid €1.6 million per year for access to the resource, plus an annual €1 million envelope for sector development.

Actual results fell far short of the theoretical figures. Between 2022 and 2024, European vessels caught an average of 10,604 tonnes per year. Of the 27 authorisations planned for purse seiners, only 54% were used on average. The six licences reserved for pole-and-line tuna vessels were never used at all.

This gap between declared rights and real use is expected to weigh on the next partnership. The number of vessels, the price per tonne of access and the way the European contribution is calculated are all likely to be renegotiated.

From access rights to local value creation

The bigger question is whether Gabon can turn fishing activity into genuine local economic value. The previous protocol required that at least 30% of catches be transshipped in a Gabonese port, subject to acceptable economic and commercial conditions. When a vessel transshipped in Gabon, its by-catches also had to be fully landed there.

In practice, these provisions were rarely used. European vessels seldom called at Gabonese port infrastructure, and their catches were mainly landed and processed in Côte d’Ivoire. A European evaluation estimated that Gabon captured only 23% of the added value generated by the scheme, while 47% benefited other actors, notably in Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, through port activities, onboard jobs and processing.

The next agreement will therefore have to decide whether Gabon simply continues to monetise access to its resource or seeks to build a value chain more firmly rooted on its territory. The issues of landings, port infrastructure, processing and national employment become as important as the amount of financial compensation.

Sector funding and technical shortcomings

Financing the sector is another potential friction point. Of the €5 million in sector support planned over five years, only €2 million had been transferred at the time of the evaluation carried out between December 2024 and May 2025. Just over 20% of the multi-year envelope had been used. Some infrastructure remained unfinished, while the indicators used measured the delivery of outputs rather than their real economic effects.

The negotiations will also have to fix several technical weaknesses. The previous scheme required the embarkation of qualified Gabonese sailors, but no list meeting the required criteria was ever sent to European shipowners. As a result, the compensation due for failure to embark was never applied.

Catch monitoring must also be strengthened. The electronic reporting system was not fully operational, and methodological differences between the two parties produced gaps in the available data. Under these conditions, transparency on actual catch volumes becomes essential to assess the value of the partnership.

The European evaluation recommends reconsidering the six unused licences for pole-and-line tuna vessels and adjusting the number of authorisations for purse seiners.

What the next deal must deliver

The upcoming negotiation will not be limited to a sum paid by Brussels in exchange for access to Gabonese waters. It must define the terms of a partnership where every tonne caught can be linked to identifiable benefits for the Gabonese economy, in terms of revenue, jobs, landings, processing and infrastructure development.

For both Libreville and Brussels, the challenge now is to draw the consequences of the previous agreement. The future partnership will be judged less on its theoretical commitments than on its ability to produce verifiable results. For Gabon, the renegotiation opens an important phase in which its fishery resource becomes not just a question of access, but a potential instrument of economic sovereignty and local value creation.

By Claire Mvondo — Security and State Policy Expert