Bay of Biscay - Exploitation

Most of the demersal fisheries in this area have a mixed catch. Although it is currently possible to associate specific target species with particular fleets, various quantities of cod, whiting, hake, anglerfish, megrim, sole, plaice, and Nephrops are taken together, depending on gear type. Since the 1930s, hake has been the main demersal species supporting trawl fleets on the Atlantic coasts of France and Spain. Hake are caught throughout the year, the peak landings being made in spring-summer months. The three main gear types used by vessels fishing for hake as a target species are lines, fixed-nets and trawls, mostly bottom trawls, a few pelagic ones, and recently also Very High Opening trawls. Nephrops are an important component of the fisheries in this area. These fisheries developed in the 1970s and 1980s. Fishing effort has decreased continuously since the early 1990s. However, gear efficiency has increased in recent years and this may have helped in maintaining LPUE (landings per unit effort) at relatively high levels. Bay of Biscay anchovy has been the target of an important pelagic fishery (pelagic trawls, seines, …), but this fishery is currently closed owing to very low stock biomass.

State of the stocks
Up to 90 % of French landings from the Bay of Biscay is comprised of 34 stocks. About 50 % is comprised of stocks that are managed by TAC. A synthesis of all available information has shown that about 75 % of these 34 stocks are over exploited and 15 of them are in a poor shape. Compared to the number of exploited stocks, reliable stock assessments are only available for a limited number of stocks. However, evidence for impacts of fishing on fish populations is provided by ICES. Stocks which are harvested unsustainably and for which reduction in exploitation is required are North East Atlantic (NEA) mackerel, NEA blue whiting and sole on the Bay of Biscay continental shelf (ICES divisions VIIIab). Some other stocks are in a better shape, namely Northern hake, anglerfish in Divisions VIIb–k (Celtic Sea) and VIIIab, megrim in Divisions VIIb-k and VIIIabd and Nephrops in Divisions VIIIab. In all these cases, stock recovery is associated with a decreasing fishing mortality and/or good recent recruitments. The Northern hake is both a major commercial stock and ecologically one of the most important populations in the Bay of Biscay. This stock has experienced a long period of overexploitation, and a recovery plan is currently implemented. The main concerns about the success of the recovery plan are high discarding rates of juvenile hake, in particular in the Nephrops fishery, and TAC overshooting. The Nephrops stock in Divisions VIIIab seems to be stable. Landings, recruitment and spawning biomass seem to have improved recently. However, the gear selectivity pattern implies a high mortality of small Nephrops and corresponding large quantities of discards. Any improvement of the selectivity pattern should be encouraged. Various regulation systems (license, no activity allowed during week-ends, individual quotas) are expected to reduce fishing pressure on Nephrops.