About Us
Background
The French eel industry is made up of 526 professional fishing companies that belong to two professional structures: the national maritime fishery (CNPMEM) and the freshwater fishery (CONAPPED), to which must be added the fish trade, transport and processing companies.
In the early 2000s, it represented nearly 100 million euros (value 2021) at its maximum, and on average during the period 1995-2005 a turnover of more than 50 million euros (value 2021) if we take into account the fishing of glass eels, yellow eels, silver eels, their trade and processing. This sector, as a result not only of the reduction in eel resources, but also of the constraints imposed by the Eel Regulation 1100/2007 from 2008 onwards, both in terms of fishing pressure (sharp reduction in the number of fishing companies, more than 50% after the introduction of the eel regulation) and the ban on exporting the fished or farmed eels outside the EU, has suffered a sharp reduction in its economic value, which can currently be estimated at less than 15 million euros at the most (2021 value).
Since the implementation of the Eel Regulation, which requires the definition and implementation of national management plans at the level of river basins (UGA), fishing for this species has been tightly controlled, particularly for glass eels, which are subject not only to constraints on the fishing season but also on quantities to be caught.
Thus a global catch quota for glass eel is defined by a scientific group independent of the fishing sector and is divided into two sub-quotas:
a quota for glass-eels consumption (40% of the total) and a quota for glass-eels restocking (60% of the total). The consumption quota is intended to supply either the Spanish market (mainly for consumption of glass eels) or the Dutch, German or Danish markets (for supply to farming and processing companies).
The ban on exports outside the EU by the French authorities, as recommended by the European Union, has had two very serious consequences for the social and economic balance sheet of this sector:
1 – Very significant increase in illegal fishing for glass eels supplying the Asian markets (particularly China) with prices of around 1,500 euros to the detriment of French glass eel fishing, which could only export its products within Europe at average prices five times lower, and strong demand for American eels, whose glass eels can reach average prices of more than 3,000 euros per kg from the fisherman for the Asian market;
2 – Almost total control of French fishing by the Dutch and German farming and processing industry, which sets the prices for consumption and even more so for restocking by imposing the SEG (Sustainable Eel Group) label, which, as far as glass eel fishing is concerned, is nothing more than a copy and paste of the French standard[1] in order to minimise the ecological footprint of this activity on other species and to improve the quality and survival of glass eels intended for restocking.
In this context of strong competition on the European eel market on the one hand, and the players in the European eel industry and NGOs militating for the ban on small-scale professional fishing in estuaries and freshwater on the other hand, the AFPMAR’s aim is to highlight the efforts made not only by the French fishing industry, but also by the fishmonger’s companies to ensure the traceability of the product and its quality through the strict application of the charter of good practices relating to professional glass eel fishing (1). To also promote the actions carried out by the industry to ensure the monitoring of exploited eel populations, to support any action aimed at protecting and restoring the habitats of this species and improving the ecological continuity necessary for the further expansion of the eel in the habitats that still exist, and finally to disseminate the work and actions carried out in particular by professional technical structures or by the Association for Eel restocking in France, known as ARA France
Finally, the aim of our association is to make people understand that our activities are an integral part of the richness of our regions and that eating local fish, caught in a responsible manner, which is notably the case for the eel certified by our brand, is not an anti-ecological behaviour, but a means of supporting the men and women who are the first witnesses of environmental degradation in our territories.
Aims
To this end, the AFPMAR has created a distinctive “Responsible Eel” brand, which it owns and which makes it possible to highlight the products and trades of small-scale maritime and river fishing on the one hand, and the numerous initiatives carried out by professional fishermen as part of the monitoring of this population and its restoration on the other hand.
Within this framework of actions, the AFPMAR association has not chosen the term “sustainable” because the sustainability of this activity is no longer solely dependent on the fishermen or, more broadly, on the actors in this Eel industry, but “responsible”, which implies 3 types of initiatives that summarise the philosophy of our association:
1 – Provide as many people as possible with quality local fish to help enhance the identity of our local territories and cooperate with all the stakeholders, including those in European countries who want to promote the value of European eel;
2- Ensure an environmental watch and a role as a whistleblower, which has been misused by certain non-governmental organisations whose sole aim is to eradicate professional fishing;
3 – Contribute to the management of resources and ecosystems by promoting the knowledge and know-how of the operators in this sector.
Brand's Logos
On the left sticker used for live or processed glass eel – on the right sticker used for live or processed yellow and silver eels