Since restrictions on fishing for bass came into force in 2015, the proposed ban on bass for next year could spark a split within the French fishing sector.
Ouest France reports that the bass stock is considered vulnerable and a complete ban on bass for 2017 is being discussed today in Brussels as the Council of Ministers takes place. Previous bass measures have already hit the pelagic pair teams hard with closures for the first few months of each year.
According to Lorient fisherman Eric Guygniec, the National Fisheries Committee (CNPMEM) has failed to represent the pelagic operators in what amounts to discrimination between fishing methods.
‘If the pelagic boats do got have a bass quota, what will they do with the bass caught while fishing for sea bream in the Channel? They’ll have no choice but to discard it.’
‘It is unfair and it is dangerous,’ he told Ouest France, commenting that this clears the way for other gear types to be outlawed and creating a schism within the fishing sector.
‘There is nothing worse than the sector being divided – it will no longer be able to defend itself.’
