Southern Brittany’s purse seine sardine fishery has entered full assessment in order to obtain the Marine Stewardship Council''s (MSC) certificate for sustainable and well-managed fisheries. It is the first French fishery to engage in the MSC programme.
Purse seining is practised by Breton and Basque fishers in the Bay of Biscay. Didier Le Gloanec, President of the Association of Purse Seine Fishers in Brittany, said: “We have teamed up with the view to achieving MSC certification in order to promote our profession. We are proud of what we do and we want to reassert the value of what we do to the general public. The sardine is not subject to quotas, but we have put in place a license-based system to better manage the resource by reducing for instance the number of boats and days at sea. Over the years, purse seine fishers have worked hard to improve the quality of their products: thanks to refrigerated sea water tanks, the quality is guaranteed until the fish is landed throughout the fishing season. It is in this spirit that we embark on this MSC journey.”
The purse-seiner fleet prosecuting the fishery consists of 18 active fishing vessels less than 17m long, registered with the coastal districts of Douarnenez, Le Guilvinec and Concarneau.
98% of the sardines caught in South Brittany are landed at the ports of Concarneau, Saint Guénolé and Douarnenez and sold through the auction market either by contract or direct sales. Didier Le Gloanec commented: “We hope that the certification will add value to our products and will give us access to new markets not only in France but also overseas”.
The Southern Brittany purse seine fishery will be assessed against the three principles of the MSC standard. Bureau Veritas Certification will form a team of scientific experts who will assess the fish stocks, measure the impact of the fishery on the ecosystem and study its management system.
