A majority of French people (86%) support the allocation of larger fishing quotas to small-scale fishers and to environmentally-friendly practices, according to the results of a YouGov poll published on Wednesday 17 September by the NGO Oceana.
The French fisheries ministry is currently testing a pilot project that increases the weighting of environmental and socio-economic criteria on a small share (less than 2%) of national quotas, while reducing the weighting of past catch history. Current practice in France is to allocate fishing quotas to the fleet predominantly on the basis of past catch history, “largely disregarding social and environmental criteria”, according to Oceana.
Respondents to the survey (https://aeur.eu/f/igv ) stressed the importance of protecting local jobs (82%), providing fresh, local produce (82%) and minimising the impact on the ocean (80%).
Vera Coelho, from Oceana Europe, believes that if the pilot project is extended, it will lead to a fairer system, in line with the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The survey shows that 85% of French people want to reduce quotas for industrial vessels and 86% believe that destructive fishing methods are incompatible with a healthy ocean. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)