Brussels, 19/07/2007 (Agence Europe) - In the evening of Wednesday 18 July, the European Commission decided not to accept France's request for the anchovy fishery in the Bay of Biscay to be re-opened. France, which has launched a €15 million aid plan (in part financed by the European Fisheries Fund) for its fishermen affected by this decision, had called for a “limited” re-opening of the fishery, with a three-month quota of between 3,000 and 4,000 tonnes. The Commission rejected France's arguments for the resumption of fishing activity, and held scrupulously to the conclusions delivered by the Commission's Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee on Fisheries (STECF) at the end of June.
The Commission notes that the STECF estimate for the quantity of adults in the stock was 30,000 tonnes, higher than last spring's 18,640 tonne estimate, “but still well below the level at which commercial fishing can safely resume”. Given the depleted state of the stock and the short life span of anchovy, “it is paramount that each adult be given the chance to contribute to the rebuilding of the stock,” the Commission says, in justification of its refusal to re-open the fishery. The anchovy fishery in the Bay of Biscay, which has been closed since July 2006, will, then, remain closed at least until the end of the year.
Having held unsuccessful negotiations with Spain on re-opening the fishery, the French authorities sent their final proposals to the Commission on Friday of last week: the opening of a 3,000-4,000 tonne anchovy quota for the period from August until the end of October to help sustain the ports which are dependent on this species. France argues that the biomass - the number of adults in the stock - below which the species would really be endangered is somewhere around 21,000 tonnes. Since STECF estimates the biomass at 30,000 tonnes, there is no scientific reason for a small quota not to be allocated to anchovy fishermen, the French say. The Commission, however, was persuaded by the concerns of its scientists over the low recruitment rate of one-year old anchovy (to ensure the reproduction of the species in future years).
In a press release published on Wednesday evening, the French Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry said the Commission decision was “difficult to understand”. France, particularly unhappy at the constant pressure exerted by Spain against resumption of the fishery, “condemns what it believes is the unfair management of this fishery and intends to have publicly verified the way in which total authorised catches of species of fish for which the experts recommend, as they have done with anchovy, the closure of the fishery”. This is the case with some species, such as monkfish, langoustine and hake, fished by the Spanish fleet.
French Minister Michel Barnier announced that €15 million, from national and European budgets, would be made available to: - compensate fishermen and boat owners, who will have to give up their activity during the closure of the anchovy fishery; - launch an “exit plan”, to allow those professionals who wish it to remove vessels from the fleet; - launch a recovery and modernisation plan for the anchovy fleet. Just under one hundred French vessels along the Atlantic coast make their living from anchovy. Spain has a fleet of 200 fishing anchovy in the Bay of Biscay. Spain has also decided to compensate its fishermen (€40 per fisherman per day laid-up).
France has asked the Commission to draw up “as quickly as possible, a real Community anchovy management plan”. “This plan will ensure the protection needed for the resource and sustain the sustainable pursuit of this fishery in the Bay of Biscay. France will bring forward detailed proposals in the near future,” Mr Barnier said. (lc)