Council Regulation (EC) No 1316/2006 of 22 May 2006 on the conclusion of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters concerning the provisional application of the Protocol amending the Protocol setting out the fishing opportunities and the financial contribution provided for in the Agreement on cooperation in the sea fisheries sector between the European Community and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania for the period 1 August 2001 to 31 July 2006

The Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters concerning the provisional application of the Protocol amending the Protocol setting out the fishing opportunities and the financial contribution provided for in the Agreement on cooperation in the sea fisheries sector between the European Community and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania for the period 1 August 2001 to 31 July 2006 is hereby approved on behalf of the Community.

Following the amendments set out in the Exchange of Letters, the new fishing opportunities for the ‘pole-and-line tuna vessel and surface longliner’ category (Datasheet No 8 of the Protocol) and for the ‘pelagic freezer trawler’ category (Datasheet No 9) shall be allocated among the Member States as follows: Fishing categoryMember StateTonnage/number of vessels which may be used Pole-and-line tuna vessels Surface longliners (vessels) Spain20 + 3 = 23Portugal3 + 0 = 3France8 + 1 = 9Pelagic species (vessels)15 + 10 = 25 The temporary suspension of five (5) fishing licences for the cephalopod fishing category shall take effect as from 1 January 2005. The future reactivation of those five (5) licences shall be decided by common accord in a Joint Committee meeting held between the Commission and the Mauritanian authorities on the basis of the state of resources. If licence applications from Member States do not cover all the fishing opportunities laid down by the Protocol, the Commission may take into consideration licence applications from any other Member State.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.