If we only bought fish caught locally on our coasts, the shelves would be empty from Monday May 2. En spite of its large coastline, France imports two-thirds of its sea products. Transposed over a year, this proportion means that we have already swallowed everything that has been caught on our coasts: this is what reminds us of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), an international NGO that aims to promote sustainable aquaculture.
The French consume 33.5 kg of fish and shellfish every year. With a preference for salmon, tuna, or shrimp, which are not necessarily found in our fishing grounds. It should be noted that this overshoot day for local fish is coming earlier and earlier: it is coming three weeks earlier than ten years ago.
We are in the Top 5 of the biggest European consumers of seafood products, behind Portugal, Spain, Malta and Luxembourg. The notion of excess depends on the type of fish you buy. For example, we consume too much hake from the Mediterranean, cod from the North Sea, or sardines from the Bay of Biscay, according to the latest report from the IFrench research institute for the exploitation of the sea, Ifremer. But thanks to the quotas, there has been progress since 60% of the fish caught in France come from populations whose stocks are in good condition. It’s much better than 20 years ago.
The other problem is that overall, the European Union therefore sources more than half of the fish it consumes from Asia, Africa and other developing countries, countries in which the survival of most of local communities depends on fishing.
The development of aquaculture is the right solution to preserve resources. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is indeed counting on fish farms to sustain the world’s population because a third of the world’s wild fish stocks are overexploited and on the verge of collapse. This is three times more than 50 years ago, yet consumption continues to increase.
Aquaculture therefore appears to be an activity to be developed, taking care not to create pollution. Today, half of the fish and shellfish consumed in the world come from farming.