MOMBASA, Kenya -- Fishing rights sold to the European Union could devastate Africa's marine ecologies and ruin the livelihoods of many of the continent's small-scale fishermen, an international conservation group warned Thursday.

"The deals, covering several years, will cause a serious ecological disaster and deplete already dwindling fish stocks in the African continent," Andrew Mwangura of Ecoterra International said in a statement released in the Kenyan Port city of Mombasa.

"It hurts to note that among the people of the sea, African artisanal fishermen and fish workers are not only the most numerous, but the poorest and marginalized socially, politically and economically", the statement added.

The EU currently has fishing agreements with 15 countries in Africa and the Indian Ocean, including Mozambique and Angola.

Many African coastal communities are dependent on fish as a source of food.

Last week, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) warned of an impending ecological disaster off the coast of Mozambique, which recently signed a four million-dollar deal with the EU.

Under the agreement, 10 EU vessels will be allowed to catch up to 1,000 tons of shrimp a year for three years, while 49 EU fishing vessels will also be allowed to fish for tuna with no limits on the catch.

Rare species of endangered turtles have been washed ashore in recent days after being caught in trawler nets of ships harvesting tuna and shrimp operating in Mozambique's waters.

"This is a serious violation of human and animal rights and it is time the EU stopped fleecing poor African countries," Mwangura said. "We call upon all men and women of goodwill to influence the cancellation of EU deals on the continent, especially one with Mozambique."

WWF warned that with time, fish stocks in Africa will diminish and fishing zones will be destroyed by national and foreign industrial trawlers and industrial and urban pollution. (AFP)