19-Year Fisheries Partnership With the European Union, Arguing the Agreement No Longer Serves the Country's Economic Interests

The decision, formalized on June 29, 2026, follows a June 2025 Council of Ministers meeting where the government announced it would seek to renegotiate the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA). In a January speech, government spokesperson Charles Edgard Mombo said the cancellation reflects Gabon's firm commitment to strengthening its sovereignty over its fishery resources and promoting a renewed, balanced, sustainable, and mutually beneficial cooperation framework. The SFPA, established in 2007 and implemented through three protocols lasting between three and six years, allowed up to 27 EU purse seiners, six pole-and-line tuna vessels, and four exploratory crustacean trawlers to fish in Gabonese waters under its latest 2021–2026 protocol. An independent evaluation commissioned by the European Commission found the EU paid Gabon an average of €2.6 million ($3 million) annually between 2021 and 2024 in exchange for access to 32,000 tons of tuna.