Libreville — The reopening of fisheries talks between Gabon and the European Union is not merely a matter of renewing access for European vessels to Gabonese waters. Behind the diplomatic language lies a deeper story: a previous partnership whose economic returns fell far short of expectations, and a Libreville determined to rewrite the terms of engagement. On 18 September, the government greenlit negotiations for a new Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement and its implementing protocol, setting the stage for a fundamental rethink of how marine resources are valued.

This return to the table comes more than a year after Gabon denounced the earlier accord on 4 June 2025. With its protocol expiring on 28 June 2026, the European framework is now effectively suspended. EU vessels no longer have a legal basis to fish in Gabonese waters, and the former exclusivity clause prevents individual authorisations from filling the gap.

For Libreville, the upcoming talks represent a chance to correct a partnership whose local economic benefits appeared limited relative to the scale of the resource at stake.

An economic model that fell short

Money will inevitably dominate the first round of discussions. The previous protocol was built on a reference capacity of 32,000 tonnes, used to calculate the European contribution — though it never guaranteed that volume of catches. The EU paid €1.6 million annually for access, plus an additional €1 million per year earmarked for sector development.

Actual results, however, lagged far behind the theoretical figures. Between 2022 and 2024, European vessels caught an average of 10,604 tonnes per year. Of the 27 authorisations available for purse seine tuna vessels, only 54% were used on average. The six licences reserved for pole-and-line tuna boats were never exploited at all.

This gap between permitted rights and actual use should logically shape the next partnership architecture. The number of vessels, the price per tonne of access, and the method for calculating the European contribution are all parameters likely to be reopened.

Yet the central issue probably lies elsewhere — in Gabon’s ability to turn fishing activity into genuine local economic value.

From access rights to value creation

The previous protocol required that at least 30% of catches could be transshipped in a Gabonese port, subject to acceptable economic and commercial conditions. When a vessel did transship in Gabon, its by-catches also had to be fully landed there.

In practice, these provisions were rarely used. European vessels seldom visited Gabonese port infrastructure, and their catches were mainly landed and processed in Côte d’Ivoire. The European assessment estimates that Gabon captured only 23% of the added value generated by the arrangement, while 47% benefited other actors — notably in Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal — through port activities, onboard employment, and processing.

The next agreement must therefore determine whether Gabon intends simply to continue monetising access to its resource, or to build a value chain anchored more firmly on its territory. The questions of landings, port infrastructure, processing, and national employment become as important as the financial compensation itself.

Sector financing is another potential friction point. Of the €5 million in sectoral support planned over five years, only €2 million had been transferred at the time of the evaluation conducted between December 2024 and May 2025. Just over 20% of the multi-year envelope had been consumed. Some infrastructure remained unfinished, while the indicators used measured the delivery of outputs rather than their real economic effects.

The next agreement must be measurable

Negotiators will also need to fix several technical weaknesses. The previous framework provided for the embarkation of qualified Gabonese sailors, but no list meeting the required criteria was ever transmitted to European shipowners. The compensation due for non-embarkation was therefore never applied.

Catch monitoring also requires strengthening. The electronic reporting system was not fully operational, and methodological differences between the two parties produced discrepancies in available data. Under these conditions, transparency on actual volumes fished becomes a decisive factor in assessing the partnership’s value.

The European evaluation recommends reconsidering the six licences never used for pole-and-line vessels and adjusting the number of authorisations for purse seiners.

The next negotiation will not be solely about an amount paid by Brussels in exchange for access to Gabonese waters. It must determine the conditions of a partnership where every tonne fished can be linked to identifiable benefits for the Gabonese economy — in revenue, jobs, landings, processing, and infrastructure development.

For Libreville and Brussels alike, the task now is to draw the consequences of the previous agreement. The future partnership will be judged less on its theoretical commitments than on its capacity to produce verifiable results. For Gabon, this renegotiation opens an important sequence in which fisheries resources become not just a question of access, but a potential instrument of economic sovereignty and local value creation.