📷 Photo: European Commission, Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE)
VICTORIA, Seychelles — The European Union and Seychelles on Monday signed a new four-year protocol to their Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement in Brussels, ending a five-month stand-down that had frozen EU tuna operations in Seychelles waters and bringing 55,000 tonnes a year of licensed catch back into the framework.
The deal was initialled in Brussels by Costas Kadis, the European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, and Wallace Cosgrow, Seychelles’ Minister for Fisheries, Agriculture and the Blue Economy, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE) confirmed.
Under the protocol, up to 30 EU purse seiners and 8 surface longliners will be able to obtain licences and resume fishing for tuna and other highly migratory species inside Seychelles’ Exclusive Economic Zone. The total EU contribution over the four-year life of the deal amounts to €23 million, of which €3 million is earmarked each year for support to Seychelles’ sustainable fisheries sector.
EU shipowners will also pay Seychelles €90 per tonne in licence and capture fees, plus a separate contribution dedicated to environmental management and the observation of marine ecosystems in Seychelles waters, the Commission said in its communique. The reference tonnage for the four-year period rises to 55,000 tonnes, 5,000 tonnes higher than the previous protocol, in line with the Council of the European Union’s negotiating mandate authorising the talks.
Fishing activities had been suspended since the previous protocol expired on 23 February 2026, a gap that the Spanish government publicly flagged in April as a threat to a fleet that accounts for more than a fifth of Spain’s total catch. Spain’s official La Moncloa newsroom noted at the time that the new framework introduces a minimum of two Seychellois crew on each EU tuna purse seiner and aligns seafarer wages with International Labour Organisation standards.
Seychelles’ Ministry of Fisheries and the Blue Economy said the new text will consolidate and strengthen the partnership and that it was designed to apply provisionally from the moment of signature, pending ratification by both parties. On the EU side, ratification requires the consent of the European Parliament, which approved the previous protocol in November 2020.
The agreement is the most valuable tuna protocol the EU holds in financial terms and in fishing opportunities, and the renewed text preserves the framework’s link to scientific advice from the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, the regional body that regulates tuna stocks across the Western Indian Ocean.
For Seychelles, the protocol matters well beyond the headline figure. The Indian Ocean tuna stock supports the country’s industrial canning operation at Indian Ocean Tuna Limited, the joint venture in which Thai Union holds a 60 per cent stake and the Government of Seychelles 40 per cent, and which produces around 1.5 million cans a day for European brands including John West, Petit Navire and Mareblu. The renewed deal also preserves a second, smaller channel of revenue tied to the licensing of foreign fleets.
Cosgrow said the new arrangement reflects Seychelles’ intention to keep a tight link between access to its waters, scientific advice, and the country’s blue-economy strategy. The protocol runs from 2026 to 2030 and is the third implementing protocol under the umbrella Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement first signed in 2020.
Sources cited: European Commission DG MARE, European Union and Seychelles renew agreement granting EU fishing vessels access to Seychelles’ waters, 27 July 2026; Council of the European Union, Proposal for a Council Decision on the signing and provisional application of the SFPA Protocol 2026-2030, document 9200/26, 13 May 2026; Government of Spain, La Moncloa, The European Union and the Seychelles have agreed a key protocol for the Spanish tuna fleet, 10 April 2026; Seychelles Ministry of Fisheries and the Blue Economy, Conclusion of negotiations between EU and Seychelles, 1 April 2026; European Parliament, Resolution on the EU-Seychelles Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement and Implementing Protocol 2020-2026, 12 November 2020.
