An ex ante evaluation was carried out in accordance with both the EU Financial Regulation and its Rules of Application and the European Commission's Better Regulation Guidelines and “Toolbox”. A wide range of stakeholders in both the EU and The Gambia were consulted, the former largely using questionnaires with responses provided by email, and the latter through a field mission to The Gambia. Different options were evaluated related to species to be covered by an agreement, with options evaluated against DAC evaluation criteria.