The AFPMAR would like to set out its proposals for making better use of the French glass eel fishery, an important activity for small-scale coastal fisheries in the Bay of Biscay (glass eel sieving is practised by a quarter of the small-scale fishing fleet in the Bay of Biscay) and an important activity for inland fisheries. Glass eel production supplies a direct consumption market (mainly Spanish), but is also necessary to supply fish farms located mainly in Holland, Germany and Denmark. Without this production, it would not be possible to restock areas with high under-densities of eel or areas that could not be colonised naturally.
However, since the introduction of Eel Regulation 1100/2007, this highly regulated small-scale fishing activity has been unable to obtain fair remuneration for its production. In order to correct the economic imbalance within the European eel industry, AFPMAR is making proposals within the existing strictly regulatory framework, which can be downloaded below: