Ifremer withdraws its scientific guarantee from deep fishing lobbies

Paris, the 27 November 2013

Two weeks before the plenary vote in the European Parliament on the ban on deep-sea trawling, a blow to the industrial deep-sea fishing lobbies and their political allies : the French Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea (Ifremer) removes the scanty scientific guarantee that they wielded to justify unjustifiable fishing activities from an ecological, economic or employment point of view.

Yesterday evening, during the round table on deep-sea fishing organized in the National Assembly by the Committees on European Affairs, Economic Affairs and Sustainable Development, the deputy director general of the French research institute for the exploitation of the sea (Ifremer) put an end to a French scientific deception which no longer went unnoticed by refuting the imaginary "sustainability" of deep trawl fisheries. Patrick Vincent said that the article serving as a scientific alibi for lobbies and elected officials was not position Of Ifremer. He also recalled that for three stocks, we were " ducts »Towards sustainability at« an indeterminate horizon But for others, the knowledge was " inadequate To draw similar conclusions. Philippe Cury of the IRD recalled in this regard that on 54 deepwater stocks, 21 stocks, including endangered species, were depleted and 26 others had no scientific data !

32 international scientific publications proving the unsustainability of deep-sea trawling and 70 evoking the destructiveness of deep trawling (see http://www.bloomassociation.org/il-nexiste-pas-de-controverse-sur-la-peche-profonde-verifiez-vos-sources/) contradicted radically affirmations of this Ifremer web article, without status or signature, and which had already been denounced in the prestigious scientific journal Nature.

This position taken by Ifremer's management leaves industrial lobbies and their political allies (Isabelle Thomas (PS) and Alain Cadec (UMP) in the European Parliament, Gwendal Rouillard (PS) in the National Assembly and Frédéric Cuvillier (PS) in the Ministry of Fisheries) orphans the only scientific justification that allowed them to attempt a political tour de force : to assert an alleged "sustainability" of deep-sea trawl fishing, to cast doubt on the rest of the published science and to delay decision making on the ban of this fishing method.

The last joker of elected officials and lobbies is now employment. These are Refuse to discuss the conversion of deep-sea trawls to longlines proposed by the European Commission, although this fishing method is six times more job-creating that the trawl according to a recent estimate from the New Economics Foundation[1][1] (based on figures from the European Commission). Instead, they only mention the total cessation of activity of fishing vessels and brandish direct and indirect employment estimates multiplied by 15 between 2010 and 2013 ! Thus, during the Grenelle de la Mer, the industrialists evoked 200 jobs, today exhausting arguments, they no longer hesitate to talk about 3000 jobs. This would mean that catches of deep-sea species in France, which represent only 2,3% of all French catches,[2][2] would generate 17% of employment in the fishing sector!

« The only figure corresponding to a semblance of estimation is that of 600 total jobs produced by the firm PwC on order of the City of Lorient. Gold this study makes a permanent amalgam between all the fishing off and deep fishing and uses extremely high multipliers to estimate on-shore employment from employment at sea that is not used by fisheries economists Says Claire Nouvian, founder of BLOOM. The firm PwC responded to BLOOM who asked him to explain the methodology used that it was " confidential » (see PwC response: http://www.bloomassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Réponse-PWC_Mars2013.pdf).

According to BLOOM calculations, between 44 and 112 jobs are directly related to deep fishing activity (catches of deep-sea species represent 25 to 40% of vessel activity),[3][3] 0,2 to 0,5% of French fishermen^[4][4] and from 132 to 470 total jobs are induced by the catches of deep-sea species in France (depending on the initial figure used and the multiplying coefficient).^[5][5]

The whole economic model of deep, subsidized and deficit fisheries is at stake because their oversized industrial tool relative to the resource does not allow sustainable exploitation of these sensitive species. in the most vulnerable environments of the oceans. " Lobbies fear that the entire economic model that is costly to society, jobs and the ecosystems of industrial fishing is shattered. They are ready to make the most extravagant arguments to resist an idea whose time has come yet Claire Nouvian concluded.

***

See the clever way in which Patrick Vincent refutes the embarrassing paper posted on the Ifremer site without disavowing those responsible (falsely anonymous as the line of arguments is the same since the Grenelle de la Mer):  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfdLz5peH-g&feature=youtu.be

Read BLOOM's response that ends the attempt to create controversy: http://www.bloomassociation.org/reponse-de-bloom-a-lentreprise-de-denigrement-des-lobbies/

See Pénélope Bagieu's viral comic strip on deep-sea fishing: http://www.penelope-jolicoeur.com/2013/11/prends-cinq-minutes-et-signe-copain-.html

BLOOM's petition calling on François Hollande to defend the ban on deep-sea trawling approaches 630 000 signatories : http://petition.bloomassociation.org/

More than 300 international researchers support the proposal to ban deep trawling: http://www.bloomassociation.org/une-petition-et-la-mobilisation-de-centaines-de-chercheurs-pour-rappeler-a-francois-hollande-dhonorer-ses-engagements/

See the two huge BLOOM tarpaulins in Gare du Nord calling for an end to deep trawling: http://www.bloomassociation.org/la-peche-profonde-saffiche-gare-du-nord-a-paris/

Civil society mobilizes : writers, actors, sportsmen, they say "NO" to destructive fishing methods.

http://www.bloomassociation.org/ils-disent-non-a-la-destruction-des-oceans-profonds/

Media Contacts 

Sophie FREDERIC, Terre Majeure® Agency: +33 (6) 20 34 12 16 - sophie@terremajeure.com

Claire NOUVIAN, BLOOM - clairenouvian@bloomassociation.org

About BLOOM www.bloomassociation.org

BLOOM is a non-profit association founded in 2005 which works for marine conservation and the defense of sustainable fishing through an awareness-raising approach and scientific mediation of environmental issues, the production of independent studies, as well as through participation to public consultations and institutional processes. Its actions are aimed at the general public as well as at political decision-makers and economic actors.

BLOOM is a member of the coalition " Deep Sea Conservation Coalition Which brings together more than 70 NGOs working for the protection of the deep oceans: http://www.savethehighseas.org

To learn more about deep-sea fishing:

http://www.bloomassociation.org/fr/peche_profonde

KEY FIGURES OF DEEP FISHING

• The European Commission's impact study revealed that only 11 vessels in Europe capture more than 10% of deep-sea species more than three days a year.[6][6]
• 98,5% of deep-sea species catches are made by nine vessels, ie 0,1% of the French fleet.[7][7]
• None of these vessels make all their deepwater catches. These represent between 25 and 40% of the catches of each ship.
• Scapêche (Intermarché) represents up to 85% of total deep-sea species catches. Euronor 9%, Dhellemmes 4,5%.
• The direct jobs of the deep-sea fishing activity in France are between 44 and 112 marine (full-time equivalent), ie 0,2 to 0,5% of French sailors.
• From 2004 to 2011, the Scapêche (Intermarché fleet) benefited from four types of subsidies for a total amount of € 9,34 million and a diesel subsidy of € 2,8 million, reimbursed in 2011.
• Despite nearly 10 million euros in subsidies received between 2002 and 2011 and 20 million euros injected by the Intermarché group, Scapêche has accumulated more than 19 million euros in current losses.^[8][8]