First results.

The Scientific Committee in charge of setting quantitative options for defining the glass eel quota to be fished for the next season had questioned professional fishermen on their impressions of the abundance of these fry in various estuaries along the Atlantic coast.

The results of the questionnaire sent out provided qualitative information on the abundance of these fry runs along the Atlantic coast, as summarized in the figure below.

In accordance with the observations made, the scientific committee considered that the level of recruitment during the 2023 – 2024 season was higher than that of 2022-2023, with a level of between 6.3 and 12.3. This is a very wide range, the upper limit of which is at the level of the indicator defining the 2001 – 2002 or 2002 – 2003 season.

However, based on observations gathered from catches and fishing effort (from fishing logbooks sent to wholesalers), the Scientific Committee’s vision appears very pessimistic and well below what is felt in the field.

Two examples illustrate this point of view:

On the Adour, a fishery that has been monitored precisely for several decades, we note in particular that the level of catches per trip during the fishing season 2023 – 2024 is quite unusual and at the level of the highest values recorded in the late 80s.

For the Loire estuary, data collected as part of the INDICANG project make it possible to estimate average catches per trip during the 2002 – 2003, 2003 – 2004 and 2004 – 2005 fishing seasons. The estimated values are 1.4 kg; 2.5 kg and 2.17 kg respectively.

For the 2023-2024 season, the average catch per trip is estimated at 5.3 kg (estimate based on the analysis of 1259 trips for 6.7 tons of catch). This is 2.5 times higher than in the early 2000s.

These observations tend to suggest that the Scientific Committee’s view of the relative abundance index of estuarine recruitment is more than pessimistic for the last season, given that abundances are at least at the level of the 90s (relative level between 14.3 and 31.2, with an average of 22.6).

Another observation also seems to be confirmed, namely the lengthening of the period during which glass eel runs are substantial. This can be seen in the catches per trip of inland fishermen who are not affected by the constraints imposed on marine fishermen in terms of fishing time.

Of course, it’s too early to declare victory, especially as efforts have not been sufficient to restore habitats and ecological continuity between ecosystems, but it’s more than an exaggeration, as so many so-called environmental NGOs do, and as the EU’s DG Fisheries also does, without any credible assessment, to say that Eel Management Plans and the considerable ongoing efforts of professional fishermen in France and Europe, have achieved little or nothing.