(ANSAmed) – MADRID, MARCH 13 – Spain and Portugal have reached an ”preliminary agreement ‘ on allowing fishing boats of the Canary Islands to fish in the waters of the island of Madeira again, limiting the negative impact of the suspension of the fisheries agreement between the European Union and Morocco.
The announcement was made by Spain’s Minister for Agriculture, Food and Environment, Miguel Arias Canete, in Senate. While outlining his ministry’s programme for this term, Canete referred to the option of renewing the agreement that has allowed the Canary Islands’ boats to fish in the waters of the Azores in the past years. The freeze of the deal between the EU and Morocco has affected around thirty fishing boats of the Canary Islands and Andalusia, which had to abandon the waters of the North African country. The most recent fishing agreement signed by Spain and Portugal in 2008 gave 38 fishing boats of the Canary Islands access to the Azores and 38 Portuguese boats were allowed to fish in the waters of the Spanish archipelago.
The Spanish minister has promised to re-launch the mixed Spanish-Portuguese commission, which met for the last time in 2007. (ANSAmed).
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