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An aberrant situation
Every year, up to 10% of the national glass eel quota, or more than 15 million fry, are taken from the river. The Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux (LPO), Réserves Naturelles de France, the French IUCN Committee and the Fédération Nationale de la Pêche en France (FNPF) have jointly called on the French government to put an end to this inconsistency.
The eel population has fallen by 90% in fifty years, due to the combined effects of habitat degradation, barriers to migration, pollution and overexploitation. Since 2022, scientists from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea have been recommending a total halt to fishing at all stages of development.
"Authorizing the exploitation of a critically endangered species in a nature reserve is tantamount to rendering meaningless the highest level of protection provided by law", stresses Maud Lelièvre, President of the French IUCN Committee. For Allain Bougrain-Dubourg (LPO), "it's time for France to put an end to this unacceptable tolerance".
A working group
A working group led by the Prefect of Charente-Maritime is due to submit its conclusions to the Minister of Ecological Transition shortly. The signatory organizations are calling for a clear measure: an immediate halt to glass eel fishing in the reserve.
Beyond the case of L'Aiguillon, it is the coherence of biodiversity protection policies that is at stake. Allowing the exploitation of a species on the brink of collapse in an area that is supposed to protect it is a contradiction that stakeholders are now calling for to be resolved without delay.
