The EU says it won't renew a fishing agreement with Senegal criticized by many in the country

DAKAR, Senegal -- The European Union will not renew a fishing agreement with Senegal that has been criticized by many Senegalese, the EU delegation in the West African country announced Tuesday.

The decision comes after the EU identified Senegal as a “non-cooperating country" in the fight against illegal fishing earlier this year, citing "failures in monitoring, control and surveillance systems" on Senegalese ships in extraterritorial waters as well as on foreign vessels in the port of Dakar, the capital.

“Awaiting encouraging developments, the agreement between the EU and Senegal will not be renewed,” the statement said. European vessels will have to leave Senegalese waters when the agreement expires on Sunday, and Senegal will no longer receive any financial contribution under the agreement.

There was no immediate response from Senegal's government.

The current agreement signed in 2019 allows European vessels to fish in Senegalese waters but has been criticized in the country where fishing stocks have been depleting for more than a decade due to overfishing.

One in six people in Senegal work in the fisheries sector, according to the United States Agency for International Development.

But many local fishermen say they can’t compete with the foreign industrial trawlers and barely catch enough fish to make a living.

The EU has said the agreement's impact on overfishing is minimal. It has said catches by European vessels represent less than 1% of the total catches declared by all fleets in Senegalese waters over the last five years.

The renegotiation of the EU-Senegal fishing agreement was a key campaign promise of Senegal's President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who was elected in March. In May, he announced an audit of the fishing sector and of the EU-Senegal agreement. The results have not been released.