Initially scheduled for November 1, the launch of the sea urchin fishing season will take place on December 1. This modification, taken by the prefect of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region to protect the species, will last three years.
Sea urchin, white wine, sun. This year, we will have to wait before we can enjoy the traditional Mediterranean triptych.
Faced with the scarcity of this shell, the prefect of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region took a stopped pushing back a month the beginning of the sea urchin fishing season in the Alpes-Maritimes and the Var. It now begins on December 1 – and no longer on November 1 – and will end on April 15, 2022.
This modification of the duration of sea urchin fishing, whether professional or leisure, is taken for a period of three years, at the end of which “an assessment of its effects on the resource [en oursins, ndlr]“ will be carried out, indicates the Var prefecture in a press release released Friday, October 8.
#Peach | ⚠️ The sea urchin fishing period is changing.
✅In the #Where and the Alpes-Maritimes, it is now authorized from December 1 (and no longer from November 1) to preserve the resource.
📄 The press release from the prefecture ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/He1Xcfrevy– Préfet du Var (@ Prefet83) October 8, 2021
In addition, the prefecture details the maximum quantities authorized for recreational fishing. In spearfishing or on foot: four dozen sea urchins per fisherman per day.
If this fishing is carried out on board a pleasure boat: four dozen sea urchins per fisherman and per day with a maximum of ten dozen sea urchins per boat and per day, beyond two people on board.
If these quotas are not respected, a maximum fine of €22,500 is foreseen. Note that the minimum size for catching sea urchins at sea is 5cm in diameter, excluding spines, according to the decree of January 28, 2013.
Sea urchins, an endangered species
If, in the cold waters of northern Europe, the sea urchin can quickly become an invasive species, it is in decline on our Mediterranean coasts, notes the association Planet Sea. In 2020, biologists from the Côte Bleue Marine Park observed a drop in the density of the sea urchin population for two years.
At issue: fishing and poaching, but also climate change and pollution. “It seems there is currently a lower quality of plankton, which is the combination of global warming, with a number of contaminants that are found in the water,” explained Frédéric Bachet, director of the Côte Bleue Marine Park.
This means that sea urchin larvae that feed on plankton will have difficulty completing their entire life cycle.
These shells are nevertheless essential to marine biodiversity, continues the Planète Mer association. They help regulate the presence of algae, which they feed on, and serve as food for certain fish.
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