Data on production landed by French glass eel fisheries on the Atlantic and Channel coasts are now available.
| Marine Fishery | Inland Fishery | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quotas (kg) | Landings (kg) | % quota used | Quotas (kg) | Landings (kg) | % quota used | ||||||
| C | R | C | R | C | R | C | R | C | R | C | R |
| 22,620 | 33,930 | 21,794 | 23,903 | 96.4 | 70.5 | 3,380 | 5,070 | 3,341 | 4,122 | 99 | 81.3 |
C: consumption – R: Restocking
Once again this year, the percentage of the marine fishing quota allocated to restocking is low: 70.5%. This is not due to a lack of glass eels, whose abundance is once again confirmed in French estuaries (see next news item), but to a restocking market that is less and less in demand with very low prices, largely controlled by the farming sector (150 euros ex-fisherman).
While this price enables restocking promoters in Europe to obtain glass eels at a very low price (note that in France, the price granted to fishermen is 260 euros per kg), control by the farming sector (for the production of young eels whose traceability is not guaranteed) results in a very sharp drop in sales for the French glass eel industry, which cannot even, for several years now, to fully consume the restocking quota allocated to them by a scientific committee responsible for defining the annual glass eel catch quota in line with the French management plan.