Article 1 
The signature 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 is hereby approved on behalf of the Community, subject to the conclusion of the said Agreement. The text of the Agreement is attached to this Decision.
Article 2 
The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the persons empowered to sign the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters on behalf of the Community subject to its conclusion.
Article 3 
The Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters shall be applied on a provisional basis by the Community as from 1 January 2005.
Article 4 
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 category Member State Tonnage/Number of vessels which may be used Pole-and-line tuna vessels Surface longliners (vessels) Spain 20 + 3 = 23 Portugal 3 + 0 = 3 France 8 + 1 = 9 Pelagic species (vessels) 15 + 10 = 25 The temporary suspension of five fishing licences for the cephalopod fishing category shall take effect as from 1 January 2005. The future reactivation of those five 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.