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One of the central arguments in the controversy is based on a simple question: how much do recreational fishermen really take from the mackerel stock? There are often two caricatured images. On the one hand, the yachtsman filling his cooler. On the other, the shore fisherman who sometimes comes home with 2 mackerel for dinner. The reality lies somewhere between these extremes, and deserves to be quantified.
The case of shore fishing
Atlantic France boasts some 78 ports with dykes accessible to mackerel fishing. L' " Marina Observatory ", 2018 survey report by Ministry of Ecological Transition and Solidarity this year's edition of the Atlantic Seaboard Report lists 245 ports on the Atlantic seaboard. Of these, 32% are "large-capacity seaports" or "very large seaports". This brings us to 78 ports suitable for mackerel fishing from the shore. Looking only at the 38 ports in the Eastern Channel zone, the 32% brings us to 12 ports. Knowing this area, I counted the dykes that are actually practicable and used, and came up with 12. The calculation therefore seems realistic.
In high season, mainly from June to September, the number of visitors varies greatly according to the weather and the presence of shoals. Some days see dozens of anglers flocking to the hotspots, such as France's largest dyke at Boulogne-sur-Mer; others remain deserted due to westerly winds or heavy seas. Some dykes are forbidden or impassable due to rocks or other obstructions to fishing. A conservative annual average of 10 fishermen per day and per port on 40 days that are actually fishable (i.e. favorable) already provides a coherent basis for calculation.
If we consider that each fisherman keeps an average of 2 to 3 âeuro mackerel, some catch 15, while others often go home empty-handed âeuros, the annual volume for these 78 ports comes to around 78,000 fish, or 19 to 20 tons, based on an average weight of 250 grams (around 30 cm, 3 years old).
The calculation in a nutshell:
- 78 hot spot ports
- 40 real carrier days in the year
- 10 fishermen on average per day and per port
- 2 to 3 mackerel kept per fisherman
- 250 g per fish
This represents approximately 78,000 mackerel per year or 19 to 20 tons .
Boat fishing
Of the 245 marinas on the Atlantic seaboard listed by the "Observatoire des ports de plaisance", 69% are medium-capacity or larger marinas. In these 169 marinas, I assume that a slipway is generally available, either inside the port or on the outskirts. We can estimate that 40 boats target mackerel punctually out of 10 possible outings in the year (good weather, availability of boaters...). This would seem to be a reasonable average, given that some harbors are small and relatively unsuitable, while others have much greater capacity. It should also be borne in mind that in France, 65% of anglers make fewer than 4 trips a year (" Monitoring recreational fishing activity in France "FranceAgriMer, September 2023). It's not a question of saying that pleasure boating takes nothing, but of taking a step back to provide realistic and prudent statistics, rather on a high basis.
With an average of 5 fish per trip, the total is around 338,000 individuals .
The calculation in a nutshell for recreational boat anglers:
- 169 Atlantic ports concerned with launching docks
- 40 active boats per port over the season
- 10 mackerel trips per boat
- 5 fish kept on average per trip
- 250 g per fish
The result is 338 000 fish for 84.5 tonnes .
Annual Atlantic mackerel harvest by recreational fishing
The real weight of recreational mackerel fishing is ridiculous. In fact, the sum of our on-board and boat estimates gives a figure of around 416,000 mackerel caught annually by recreational fishermen on the French Atlantic coast. Applying an average weight of 250 grams per fish, we obtain a tonnage close to 104 tons .
In the next part of this dossier, hold on tight, the figures are staggering with regard to the measures put in place for recreational fishing! It's all here: Recreational fishing harvested 0.65% of mackerel in France in 2025
