produits de la mer - n°200 - Avril-mai 2020 - 18

News ❘ IN-DEPTH

Pêche durable ?
Le verre à moitié plein
L'Ifremer a livré son verdict sur
l'état écologique des poissons
pêchés en France métropolitaine
en 2019 : « Près de la moitié des
volumes provient de populations
exploitées durablement. » C'est
49 %, contre 15 % il y a 20 ans.
Dans le vert, en bon état (43 %
des débarquements), la pression
de pêche et la biomasse sont
compatibles avec l'objectif de
rendement maximal durable. Par
exemple : anchois du golfe de
Gascogne, baudroie du golfe et
de mer Celtique, coquille SaintJacques de Manche, merlu... De
plus, 6 % des volumes viennent
de stocks reconstituables (bar
de Manche mer du Nord) ou en
reconstitution (thon rouge de
Méditerranée).
Dans le rouge : 28 % des
débarques viennent de
populations surpêchées,
dégradées ou effondrées.
Surpêchées (23 %) : la biomasse
est bonne, mais la pression de
pêche fait prendre des risques
(églefin de mer Celtique, sardine
du golfe de Gascogne, maquereau
d'Atlantique). Dégradées (3 %) : la
biomasse est trop faible (chinchard
d'Atlantique, merlan de Mancheest mer du Nord). Et effondrées
(2 %) : l'Ifremer cite le cabillaud
de mer du Nord et mer Celtique et
le merlan de mer Celtique.
Enfin, la situation est mal connue
pour 23 % des stocks. Cela
se décompose entre 6 % de
stocks étudiés, mais leur seuil de
durabilité n'est pas fixé : sardine
en Manche, roussette, raie ou
grondin rouge. Et 17 % ne sont
pas suivis : vanneaux, coques,
buccins, congre, dorade grise,
maigre... Côté Atlantique, ces
stocks méconnus ne dépassent
pas 20 % des captures, mais en
Méditerranée c'est plus de 60 % !

❘ 18 ❘

PRODUITS DE LA MER N°200 APRIL-MAY 2020

Brexit: the power struggle continues
The post-Brexit negotiations
have started, with each side
holding positions which are
far apart on post-2020 fisheries.

fisheries agreement by July 1st? The
goal seems hard to achieve, but
it was made clear in the negotiations
which started on 2nd of March between
the European Union (EU) and the UK.
The transitional agreement provides for a
standstill until the 31st of December 2020.
With a blunder at the outset: French fishermen's access to Guernsey waters was
suspended in the aftermath of Brexit on
the 1st of February. But the political mobilization allowed a return to order within
a few days.
Mobilisation is also needed to encourage the European negotiators, led by
Michel Barnier, who have received their
negotiating mandate. Defining the future
conditions of access to British waters is no
easy task as the initial positions are so far
apart. The EU wants reciprocal and sustainable access to the waters, with a stable distribution of quotas. While Boris
Johnson and UK Fisheries Minister George
Eustice strongly reiterate their wish to
act as an independent coastal state, as
Norway, Iceland or the Faroe Islands do, by
negotiating fishing opportunities annually
and setting their own quotas. They have
promised this to their fishermen, eager
to regain control of their waters teeming
with fish.
Equally firmly, Michel Barnier points
out that "the fisheries agreement is an
inseparable part of the trade agreement".
British access to the European free trade
area, where the United Kingdom exports
70 to 75% of its seafood products, is
conditional on obtaining the fisheries
agreement. If the compromise on fisheries is not reached by the 1st of July, to
apply from 1st of January 2021, negotiations will be extended by one or even
two years.
In the meantime, one political declaration follows another. Fishing is «an
absolute priority» in the negotiations,
points out the French Minister for Foreign
Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian. MEP Pierre

L.F.

[À SUIVRE DANS PDM]

60 %

On the 1st of February,
Cotentin boats were
excluded from Guernsey
waters, where they
make up to 60% of their
catches.

1/3
of the sales of the
Lorient fish auction
depend on the catches
of Scapêche in British
waters.

Karleskind, who took over the chairmanship of the European Parliament's Fisheries
Committee on 19th of February following Britain's Chris Davies, made numerous visits (Boulogne-sur-Mer, Belgium,
the Netherlands and Ireland..) to advocate unity. So far the nine countries which
make up Eufa, the European coalition, are
united.
Solène LE ROUX

[ Scapêche, Scotland and Lorient ]
◗ The economic protagonists bring their
weight to bear on the negotiators, such as
Scapêche, Intermarché's fishing fleet. "70% of its
catches are made in British waters," recalls its
president, Sylvain Pruvost. "Behind that, there are
processing and distribution activities, men and
women, a real savoir-faire and an economic
dynamism for the regions." Its 8,000 tons of
black scabbardfish, ling, saithe, hake, etc.,
landed in Scotland and repatriated to Lorient
by cargo ships and lorries, account for more
than a third of the auction sales. Which overall
depends 50% on British waters.

produits de la mer - n°200 - Avril-mai 2020

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