the concern of fishmongers after a month without fishing in the Bay of Gacogne

To protect dolphins in the Bay of Biscay, 450 French boats will have to stay docked for a month. An interruption which impacts fishermen, but also the downstream sector. In Lorient, the fishmongers are worried. Reporting.

In southern Brittany, the interruption of fishing, decided for a month in the Bay of Biscay to protect dolphins, angers fishermen. But it also plunges the world of fish trading into deep disarray.

“This closure will result in 8,000 tonnes less seafood and represent a loss of 60 million euros in turnover for the fish tradealready weakened by Brexit, warned Frédéric Toulliou, president of the French fish trade union (UMF) and the inter-professional association France Filière Pêche.

READ : The Bay of Biscay closed for a month. “There is nothing worse for a fisherman than staying at the dock”

On the stalls, there are shortages of hake, sole, sea bass…

In Lorient, Eric Guivarch is one of those professionals very worried about the fish trading activity in the coming weeks, and even beyond.

“We still have fish for the start of the week, since the boats all just returned before the interruption” explains the director of the Laffray company. But very quickly, there will be a slowdown in supplies coming from the Bay of Biscay. With the key, shortcomings for certain species which will become rarer on the stalls.

And the fishmonger details the species concerned: hake, sole, sea bass too. And if there is less fish, prices may increase a little.

While hake represents nearly 70% of his local intake, the wholesaler estimates the drop in volumes of this fish between 30 and 40 tonnes over 1 month, which will impact the activity of his company specializing in filleting and its 37 employees.

“Potentially, this represents 15 to 20% of the salaried activity on the chain which will be impacted. We are the downstream of the sector, we suffer. On land, we employ a lot of people so that this fishing is valued, distributed to the greatest number in France abroad. And now, the question is how our customers will react to the drop in certain contributions.”

“Of course, there are products that can be found in deep sea trawling, there is langoustine which will always be present, underlines Eric Guivarch. We will also find supplies in the Channel ports which remain in normal fishing mode. But there will be an impact.”

“We have export customers in particular. They are not going to stay without buying fish, so they will perhaps turn away from Brittany for a month, wonders the Lorient fishmonger. And how will they come back in March That’s the big question. Especially since they know that this story will happen again next year since the ban will be renewed in 2025 and 2026. For us, it’s sudden, brutal, radical.”

The minister promises compensation

To compensate, the Minister of Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu promised this January 19 compensation varying “between 80 and 85% of turnover for all boats” affected by the ban.

He also promised to support the rest of the sector, in particular with aid to fishmongers who will go “up to 75% of their losses”.

(With Yoann Etienne)