“In the Loire basin, Côtiers Vendéens and Sèvre Niortaise, 200 fishermen catch glass eels. For several years, eel fry have been present, but Ciem experts advocate a total closure of fishing for the species in June 2022…”

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Read the full ouest-france.fr article in French here. Translated into English below

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The threat of a total closure of fishing hovers over the Loire-Atlantique civeliers

In the Loire basin, Côtiers Vendéens and Sèvre Niortaise, 200 fishermen catch glass eels. For several years, eel fry have been present, but Ciem experts advocate a total closure of fishing for the species in June 2022.

Mickaël Vallée, elver fisherman for 27 years, based in Cordemais.

“Scientists, we never see them in the field”

This year, the fishermen have benefited from an increase in quota – increased to 180 kg per fisherman – but in December the report of the experts of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (Ciem) dampened their ardor. They claim that the species is threatened and advocate a total closure on the eel species from September. We are in opposition to the scientists. They only study on dams far upstream but we never see them in the field. On the Sèvre Niortaise, this year, the boats caught up to 30 kg of glass eels in one tide. We invited them to come and see it, but we didn’t see anyone. They are totally absent from our basin .

First civelier basin in France

The Loire, Côtiers Vendéens and Sèvre Niortaise basin is the leading national management unit in terms of licensees, with 200 fishermen. It represents 52% of the national quota for glass eels. 40% of catches are marketed for consumption and the remaining 60% for restocking. In 2013, fishermen created the Organization of Estuary Producers, followed 5 years ago by the creation of three cooperatives, in Cordemais, Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie and Beauvoir-sur-Mer. It allows you to have clarity on a medium that was previously very opaque, notes Mickaël Vallée, the president of the OP. Today, the turnover per boat fluctuates between €30,000 and €50,000, with relatively good rates this year at €270 per kg, far from the €500 when the Asian market was still open.

If the glass eel closes, we do not have the right to switch to other species if we do not already have the license. The only possibility is to go for shrimp, but if all the boats go there it will transfer the problem to another species. The cards are now in the hands of the European Commission. But the anger of the civeliers begins to well up. We have always made efforts, but scientists and environmental associations have been on our backs for years. We cannot project ourselves into the future.