RABAT, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Morocco and the European Union signed on Monday a new fisheries deal in Brussels, MAP official news agency reported.
According to the report, the agreement was signed by Fouad Yazough, the director general for bilateral relations at the Moroccan foreign ministry and Romanian ambassador Odobescu Luminita Teodora, on behalf of the Romanian EU presidency and Aguiar Machado Joao, director general of the European Commission's Directorate General for Maritime Affairs.
The two parties initiated this deal in July in Morocco before their respective legislative bodies voted in its favor.
The new agreement comes after the previous four-year deal expired on July 14, forcing some 120 European vessels to leave the Moroccan waters.
According to the new agreement, Morocco will get 52.2 million euros (61.1 million U.S. dollars) annually, up from 40 million euros in the previous deal, for allowing the EU vessels to fish in its waters.
The level of compulsory landings and fishing categories remain unchanged compared to the former deal, while the number of vessels concerned by the new agreement would reach 128.
The deal, which only concerns Morocco's Atlantic coasts, excludes the Mediterranean coast to preserve its overexploited resources.
It also excludes octopuses and shrimps to preserve these species.
