Sustainable shellfish harvesting and the Morbihan Departmental Fisheries Committee, France

 

The community/organization and local perspectives on conservation and stewardship

 

In France, there is a fisheries committee in each maritime department that brings together all fishermen, and the committee is particularly responsible for managing the coastal zone (O-12 miles), in conjunction with a larger regional committee. In the committees, commissions are in charge of managing specific fisheries, for example, pêche à pied (fishing on foot at low tide), scallops, elvers (juvenile eels), cuttlefish, etc. Ten years ago, there were local committees that were abolished, but their former leaders, fishermen, are still active in the departmental framework. They are accompanied by salaried staff and work in collaboration with scientists who respond to their requests, for example for the evaluation of particular stocks. Our department is also a major oyster and mussel farming centre. They have their own organisation, but the two committees collaborate, have common offices and work together in particular for the protection of water quality.

 

The main concern of fishermen and shellfish farmers today is water quality. The coast is marked by very strong pressure from tourism, which increases the number of inhabitants, while the treatment capacities are insufficient for the growing coastal populations. There are often bans on fishing and selling shellfish due to water contamination. There is also pollution linked to agriculture (green algae) and episodes of toxic algae blooms in summer. This is linked to an estuary dam which has changed the circulation of water and populations of species such as eels. 

 

Stewardship experience: Protection of marine nearshore habitats and management of shellfish harvesting

 

The issue or problem being addressed

In the 1990s, the introduction of a farmed clam caused an explosion of this shellfish, leading to a veritable gold rush attracting hundreds of fishermen and outsiders who, in just a few years, depleted the resource. The State decided to create a status of professional fisherman by allocating licenses and in 2001, the management of licenses and resources was entrusted to the fisheries committee. This shellfish farming activity is also carried out in a very rich coastal zone (eelgrass) which serves as a food zone for thousands of birds. There is therefore an obligation to share the same zones. 

The major fear of fishermen is related to the degradation of the environment and the pressure of tourism. Fishing and shellfish farming are essential to maintain livelihoods throughout the year on the islands and the coast. Tourism unfortunately creates major social and environmental problems.

 

The activities

In order to benefit from a fishing license from the fisheries committee of their place of residence, the fisher must apply for it and justify a profitable and economically viable activity. If the license is granted, the fisherman will be limited geographically in order to avoid opportunistic behaviour that would deprive other already established fishermen of resources. It was therefore important to take a snapshot of the situation at a given moment in order to know which fishermen are active, the quantities being fished and the fishing areas through the fishing declarations made to the administration. This makes it possible to establish the history of each fisherman and then to (temporarily) freeze the fishing zones and the rights of each fisherman through the allocation of “stamps” for each species, in each fishing zone. In order to make these complex decisions, a balance had to be struck between established fishermen and first-time license applicants, particularly young people (the problem of the historical rights of fishermen and the sharing of resources). The distribution of resources among fishermen has always been difficult to arbitrate in time and space. This requires a clear, democratically accepted regulatory basis on areas, quantities, fishing methods and management measures. In addition, a legal guardian financed by the fishermen has been hired to ensure compliance with the regulations, but this is not enough to control all the areas and fishing activities on foot. In addition, there are controls carried out by the State services. The activity is governed by the deliberations of the fisheries committees, which set the conditions for the allocation of licenses, stamps, authorised gear, fishing areas, campaign dates, etc., and specific decisions which can be taken in response to situations that require timely reactions. 

 

The right to fish is annual and every fisherman must declare his catches in order to have the right to renew it. In Brittany, there must be 230 shellfish gatherers, of which about 150 are in Morbihan, so the number of gatherers has dropped significantly since the introduction of permits and licenses. If the fisherman has not declared his catches, several invitations to fulfill this obligation are sent to him before the fishing right is withdrawn. Today, the paper declaration is being replaced by digital declaration via the TELECAPECHE application on a smartphone or tablet. This makes it possible to gather the declared data on a server (area, species, quantity) and to consult them in real time while respecting the confidentiality of catches. Fishermen are of course the first to be attached to the protection of the environment, and they are the first to pay a high price for damage, so they are often allies of environmental associations. However, their approaches are not always the same. For example, the protection of eelgrass areas deprives them of areas rich in shellfish, and they believe that their harvesting has very little impact on eelgrass, since the disturbance they cause by their passage has little impact on its growth each year, apart from a slight delay. They were able to verify this with some experiments. The protection of birds can cause the same difficulties. The priorities of anglers are therefore not always those of environmentalists, even if their struggles often coincide. The committees can help with cooperation and coordination between these groups to avoid conflict.

 

The benefits/impacts including sustainability/environmental effects

The explosion of the clam stock and the rush on this ‘gold mine’ endangered the resource and the fragile environment (eelgrass). Awareness of this crisis has led to a positive reaction which has resulted in a balance between activities, even if not all the problems have been solved, in particular the impact of recreational fishing. 

At the beginning of the gold rush, many shellfish harvesters were marginalized people, without social status and protection. Now the number of these harvesters is lower but they have social protection, they can sell legally their products, manage their resource, and play their role in protecting the environment.

 

The success and significance of the activities

This example is only one of the cases of community management of this coastal area. There is also exemplary management of the scallop fishery, respecting the maerl beds (coralline red algae), and the elver (juvenile eel) fishery. Each time a fishery is well managed, the fishermen are eager to begin another management project, currently they are focused on cuttlefish.

 

Some lessons learned or words of wisdom

In this case, the decision-making process for fishing campaigns starts with the fishermen, who discuss and decide among themselves on the dates of the campaign in an area, the methods to be used, the desired quantities to be fished, etc. Once the idea is matured and accepted at the departmental level, it is passed on to a regional committee, who submit it to the advice of its council to be voted on. If the vote is favourable, the regional Prefect will issue a decree validating the provisions adopted which will apply to everyone. This method, which allows local fishers to actively participate in management and decision-making processes that directly impact their livelihoods, increases local understanding and cooperation with rules while also protecting the marine environment. This shows how fishers can play an important role in conservation as stewards of their local fishery systems, when they are able to actively participate.

 

 

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Fishery Facts

(Below are the applicable categories of fisheries, environment, species, gear type and livelihood role.)

 

Fishery characteristics:

In France, all fishermen or fisherwomen are members of the fishing committee, and shellfish harvesters are 12% of all the fishermen. All types of fishing are represented in Morbihan except beach seine. Women are quite numerous in this activity, representing 20% of active fishers. Like all fishers, they participate in fishery decision-making processes.

The environment where fishing takes place:

• Open Ocean
• Coastal – Estuarine
• Coastal – Nearshore

Main species targeted:

• Marine – Large pelagics (finfish) – e.g. tuna/sharks
• Marine – Small pelagics (finfish) – e.g. reef fishes/herring/mackerel/sardines
• Marine – Demersal finfish – e.g. cod/flatfish/grouper
• Molluscs (including bivalves and cephalopods – e.g. octopus/clams)
• Crustaceans (e.g. shrimp/prawn/lobster)

Gear types/ methods used:

• Beach harvest/gleaning (e.g. collection of shellfish/algae/mangrove crabs etc.)

Role of the fishery in local livelihoods:

• Full-time