Will Gabon’s new EU fisheries deal finally put national interests first?

Aimé Martial Massamba, Gabon’s Minister of Fisheries, Maritime Affairs, and Blue Economy, has been tasked with steering preparations for a fresh fisheries partnership with the European Union. Meeting on Friday, September 18, 2026, at the presidential palace in Port-Gentil, the Council of Ministers gave the green light to open negotiations aimed at sealing a new Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA) and its implementing protocol.

The Council also authorized the formal notification of Gabon’s position to the European Union, the creation of a national negotiating team, and a timetable for the various rounds of talks. The government says it is pursuing a partnership that is renewed, balanced, and mutually beneficial, while safeguarding Gabon’s sovereignty over its fishery resources and ensuring their sustainable exploitation.

Why is this negotiation happening now?

The decision follows Gabon’s denunciation on June 4, 2025, of the fisheries agreement that bound it to the European Union. The protocol signed in June 2021, which expired on June 28, 2026, had allowed up to 33 European vessels to fish for tuna species in Gabonese waters. In return, the EU paid Gabon around €1.6 million per year, supplemented by contributions from shipowners.

The renewal of the partnership comes as Libreville and Brussels have already begun exchanges on the future of their cooperation in the sector. In June 2026, the European Union said it was ready to negotiate a “new-generation” agreement and a new implementing protocol, taking into account the concerns raised by Gabon.

What does Gabon want to change?

The Gabonese government had announced its intention not to renew the agreement in its current form, arguing that it was unbalanced to Gabon’s disadvantage, both economically and in terms of local value addition from fishery resources.

It was against this backdrop that the European Union’s ambassador to Gabon, Cécile Abadie, gave an exclusive interview in which she called for prioritizing dialogue over confrontation, saying: “My wish is that we can sit around the table and discuss each of these points as quickly and as efficiently as possible.”

That statement reflects Brussels’ desire to keep the dialogue alive and pave the way for negotiating a new partnership.

What are the priorities on the table?

Minister Aimé Martial Massamba has made fishery sovereignty, the fight against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and the development of a sustainable blue economy among his department’s top priorities.

Nkili Akieme

By Emmanuel Mbarga — Reporter