Louise Sallé 9:32 a.m., February 12, 2023
According to the French Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea (Ifremer), fish volumes have improved in the space of twenty years.
Half of French fishing today comes from sustainable exploitation, which is twice as much as in the early 2000s. But for five years, this progress has stagnated when we should go further, according to the scientists.
Better in French fishing?
While the volumes of fish are particularly monitored because of overfishing in the world, Ifremer was optimistic in its latest report.
Half of French fishing today comes from sustainable exploitation, twice as much as in the 2000s. But according to scientists, this is still insufficient.
Firstly because the European Union has set an objective which has never been achieved.
It aimed for 100% of the population of fish caught sustainably in 2020 and we are still far from it.
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Species sensitive to global warming
"Progress continues, but it's slow because when you reduce fishing, it takes time for populations to recover. It's a slow process. The increase is not as continuous as what we were hoping for", explains Alain Biseau, fisheries biologist at Ifremer.
The quantity of cod and hake in particular remains particularly fragile.
"For example, for cod, it was overfishing that led to this. This species is very fragile, very sensitive to global warming, to warming waters. Hake in the Mediterranean is largely because it is very overfished. There were no regulations other than the minimum size until recent years, but we are still far from finding levels of hake in good condition. It is not yet for tomorrow", adds he.
In France, nearly a quarter of fished populations are still overfished.
But Ifremer remains optimistic.
For researchers, it doesn't take much to improve.