At the heart of the summer tourist season, when sea bass fishing is at its most popular, a sea bass fishing ban falls like a knife. Recreational fishermen have been banned from fishing sea bass from the shore by maritime prefectoral decree, until further notice in the Channel and North Sea.
Recreational fishing from the coast is prohibited, the text says!
The text clearly states, in red, " shore fishing prohibited ". More precisely, sea bass fishing from the shore is prohibited. This text is published on the website of the DIRM-MEMN, i.e. the "Direction interrégionale de la mer", sector "Manche est-mer du Nord" (Mont-Saint-Michel to Dunkirk). This is a grouping of several sea management institutions, including the regional directorate of maritime affairs, which is coordinated by the State.
It reports to the Secretary of State to the Prime Minister, responsible for the Sea. The Secretary of State is Mr. Hervé BERVILLE. So the government has the upper hand.
Text source : DIRM-MEMN regulations banning sea bass fishing from the shore
Prohibition only for shore anglers
Surprisingly, only shore anglers are affected by this measure. Astonishing, isn't it? An angler on a boat or kayak can fish and catch 2 sea bass per day, while the shore angler is deprived of this confiscatory measure. Basically, shore anglers are not specifically targeted by the authorities.
Why only from the shore?
The problem stems from the article R.921-84 (Book IX, Title II, Chapter 1, Section 5-4) of the Rural and Maritime Fishing Code . The latter announces that a measure for leisure fishing cannot be more favorable than another measure applicable to professional fishermen. In this case, there is a order of November 30, 2021 banning professional shore fishing for North Sea bass in ICES zones 4c and 7d-h. An aberration, given that professional shore fishing no longer exists.
Sea bass fishing banned from Dunkirk to Audierne
The text for professional shore fishing defines a geographical area according to ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) zones. Zones 4c and 7d-h are announced, 7d-h meaning 7d, 7e, 7f, 7g and 7h.
This perimeter covers the Atlantic coastline from Dunkirk to Audierne (near Brest). In other words, it's the famous north of the 48th parallel that we discovered when sea bass quotas were introduced a few years ago.
The text, which concerns the entire area north of the 48th parallel, has been made explicit by an update on the DIRM-MEMN website (Dunkirk to Mont-Saint-Michel), where controls are intensive. During inspections, fishing is tolerated, but sea bass must be released on pain of fines. However, this is not the case with DIRM-NAMO (Mont-Saint-Michel to Brest), where controls do not seem to be carried out.
