Question 14058 — aquaculture and professional fishing

Summary

Ms Stéphanie Kerbarh draws the attention of the Minister of Agriculture and Food to the total allowable catches (TAC) for 2019 and 2020 relating to deep-sea fish stocks. Indeed, the specific characteristics of these species - slow growth, long life expectancy, but low fertility - make them particularly vulnerable to fishing activities. However, while the Council of European Ministers of fisheries will determine the TACs of these stocks at the meeting of 19 and 20 November 2018, the European Commission proposed to remove the TAC of one of these species, the bottom mostella (phycis blennoides). This proposal is based on the advice of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, according to which the removal of TACs for bottom-dwelling stocks would only generate a low risk of unsustainable exploitation, as double condition that said deletion does not have the effect of increasing fishing targeted at this species, and that the latter remains an incidental catch. However, France locally has fisheries specifically targeting this species. Furthermore, fisheries targeting species such as monkfish or langoustine generate substantial discharges of bottom-dwelling mostella. Under the terms of article 2 of the European regulation of December 11 2013 relating to the Common Fisheries Policy, the said policy ensures that fishing activities are environmentally sustainable, and applies the precautionary approach to fisheries management, so that stocks are restored or maintained above levels capable of obtaining the maximum sustainable yield. Therefore, it is essential that France takes a position to guarantee the preservation of stocks of deep-water fish, by setting TACs in accordance with scientific recommendations and the provisions of Article 2. Also, it asks it to indicate the measures that can be taken to avoid any increase in fishing activities on bottom-dwelling stocks of mostelle, so that these can be restored to levels allowing the maximum sustainable yield to be obtained, in accordance with the provisions of the common fisheries policy.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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