Through Gil Martin
Published on 11 May 21 at 12:36 p.m.
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The very active association France Nature Environment announces having lodged a complaint against 6 trawlers and the Agde auction for illegal sale of juvenile hake, “an overexploited species whose population is collapsing in the Mediterranean and whose fishing and sale in Europe are prohibited for specimens smaller than 20 cm”, recalls the FNE-LR.
Sold to Spanish wholesalers
The association explains that six trawlers recently violated this rule, as well as the Agde auction, by selling very small hake: “The fish, sold to Spanish wholesalers, measured between 10 and 12 centimeters”, reports the FNE- LR who lodged a complaint for these facts.
Controlled by the maritime gendarmerie
The association, which once again deplores a violation of the regulations, was able to rely on the work of the maritime gendarmerie: “During a check, the six trawlers and the Agde auction were fined for illegal sale of juvenile hake ”, confirms the FNE-LR.
“To discourage juvenile fishing, these fish must not be able to be sold in the market, even in the event of accidental catches. The auctions, in particular, must refuse them, ”recalls the association for the protection of the environment.
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Simon Popy: “Self-regulation by fishermen does not exist”
The president of FNE LR, Simon Popy, launches a spike as sharp as a hook: “Self-regulation of fishermen does not exist in a sector where competition is fierce” he asserts: “Only collective regulation and planned management makes it possible to sustainably manage the resource, like the bluefin tuna, for which the policy pushed by NGOs and fought in its time by the fishing world is now accepted by all as a success … Acts of cheating on the sale of hake do not promote the credibility of fishermen when they demand less constraints and supervision. They are however the first interested in the preservation of the resource. This example also shows that without control and without sanction, the rules are inoperative. That is why we are filing a complaint. “
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“Hake has now collapsed in the Mediterranean and must be subject to drastic protection measures to hope to restore its population”
Anchoix, sardines, mackerel … and hake
Simon Popy confirms that France Nature Environnement is “particularly concerned by the collapse of the marine ecosystem of the Gulf of Lion in the last 20 years”, referring to the “blue fish crisis” and the collapse of the terrible declines in populations of anchovies, sardines and mackerel in the French Mediterranean. With the consequence, a pressure which was strongly transferred to hake, a groundfish in its turn overfished.
–EU plans to cut quotas by -30%
“In the case of hake, fishing is very clearly identified as the pressure factor to be reduced urgently”, insists the association, recalling that hake is one of the 8 species for which we know precisely the state of stocks in the Gulf of Lion. “According to this assessment, the hake is now collapsed and must be the subject of drastic protection measures to hope to restore its population. Fishing for this species must be reduced by 30% by 2025 as provided for in the multiannual fisheries management plan for the Western European Mediterranean voted by the EU ”.
According to these recommendations, the survival of the species will require a reduction in the number of days of authorized hake fishing and occasional closures of certain areas to protect juveniles.
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