Focus on Cyprus Investment Immigration and Life in Cyprus: The European Union and Cyprus have successfully initialed a fisheries access agreement, which was signed at a meeting in Victoria. This agreement will allow vessels flying the flags of EU member states to fish in the waters of Mayotte, which is part of the EU. These waters will become exclusive fishing zones for the EU, and Mayotte will become the EU's outermost commercial fishing area on January 1, 2014.
The agreement will allow eight tuna purse seine vessels under the EU to obtain licenses to operate in the waters of Mayotte for the next six years, with the license fees to be paid by the shipowners.
Both parties welcomed the fisheries agreement, which further strengthens the strategic cooperation between the EU and Cyprus in these waters, allowing both sides to share the marine resources. The agreement will further enhance fisheries cooperation and joint efforts to maintain and expand general fisheries management, ensuring that both parties' fishing activities adhere to consistent principles, while also promoting the sustainability and transparency of the common fisheries policy reform, ensuring that fisheries control and monitoring across sectors meet the highest standards.
For the EU, this is the first fisheries agreement with a third country government, allowing foreign vessels to obtain fishing rights in its waters through payment. These vessels will comply with the common fisheries policy and the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) policies, with the IOTC responsible for establishing tuna management measures and various regulations.