/ 
The catfish is not a pest but a beneficial superpredator
Contrary to popular belief, the catfish is not scientifically recognized as a harmful species. It plays an important role in structuring aquatic ecosystems, helping to naturally regulate fish populations through its role as a top predator. You'll find numerous surveys on the subject and some articles dealing with this issue on Fishing.news.
In some European countries, they are even intentionally released to contribute to the balance of biodiversity, demonstrating that their presence can have positive effects on ecosystem dynamics. Clichés about the "destructive" catfish are often based on anecdotal or sensationalist accounts, rather than reliable scientific data.
The argument used to justify this proposed law is that catfish would have a negative impact on amphihaline migratory fish, such as salmon or eels, for example. The truth is that the real obstacles to these migratory species are dams and facilities not designed to facilitate their upstream migration, as well as intensive professional fishing, not the presence of catfish. The law, if it focuses solely on catfish, does not resolve the real causes of the decline in these populations.
A public consultation instrumentalized by special interests
Certain organizations and professional anglers see this bill as an opportunity to fish catfish more freely, under the pretext of regulating a "harmful species", as if they were heroes of biodiversity. This argument comes at just the right moment for a professional fishing industry in decline, after years of intensive exploitation of rivers already heavily impoverished and polluted. It's a real commercial boon: large, easy-to-catch fish generate attractive sales figures. Unfortunately, nets and other traps don't really make it possible to select the species caught, and this law would only further open up the possibility for professionals to set them.
Behind this rhetoric lies a very worrying reality: classifying catfish as a nuisance would divert attention from the real causes of amphihaline fish migration problems, namely pollution, dams and inappropriate development, while giving an ecological veneer to lucrative exploitation.
Catfish and public health: a paradox
Classifying the catfish as a nuisance species and making it easier for professional fishermen to catch it risks creating a health boomerang effect: these catfish, caught en masse, would end up on our plates or in animal feed (including in the form of meal or processed products), and would concentrate very high levels of heavy metals and pollutants due to their role as super-predators.
Children in canteens, regular consumers or animals fed with these products would thus be exposed to dangerous substances such as mercury, cadmium, PCBs or dioxins, the accumulation of which can have serious effects on health. The real problem lies not in the presence of catfish, but in the state of waterways and chronic pollution: eradicating or facilitating catfish fishing will in no way resolve contamination and could, on the contrary, turn this animal into an involuntary vector of health risks directly onto our plates.
Urgent need for anglers to rally around catfish
Faced with these legislative threats, it is urgent for recreational anglers to mobilize and rally around the sheatfish cause, with the support of structures such as the SGA (Silurus Glanis Association), for example. Joining forces with specialized associations is a way of defending sustainable fishing practices, promoting a balanced, scientific approach to the management of sheatfish populations, and ensuring that future legislation protects both biodiversity and the interests of recreational anglers.
The most urgent thing right now is to respond to the public consultation available at consultations-publiques.developpement-durable.gouv.fr, accessible via the link below, by commenting in favor of the catfish and against this bill. And if you'd like to do more, don't hesitate to get in touch with SGA. We're counting on you!
