Fishing in France and Europe: what are the rules for accessing and preserving resources?

The sea, a source of income for many professionals, is home to a living but fragile resource. Ensuring the future of fishing inevitably involves rigorous, sustainable management of fish stocks and other marine organisms. It's a complex challenge, combining economic, social and environmental issues. At the heart of this system is the European Union's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), which sets the general framework for French law.

Understanding the rules governing access to fishing grounds and the measures put in place to preserve fish stocks is essential for anyone involved in the sector. Who can fish where? How are catches limited? What tools are used to protect juvenile fish or ecosystems? This article explores the key mechanisms for managing fisheries resources, from the principles of access to European waters to long-term planning instruments.

The fundamental principle: equal access to European waters

European Union law is based on an essential principle: non-discrimination on grounds of nationality. Applied to the fisheries sector, this principle means that all fishing vessels flying the flag of an EU Member State must, in theory, have the same access to waters and resources under the jurisdiction of all Member States. This is confirmed by Article 17 of the CFP framework regulation (currently Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, which succeeded Regulation 2371/2002 cited in the source document). Community (or Union) waters are defined as waters under the sovereignty or jurisdiction of the Member States.

This equal access applies in full beyond a 12 nautical mile coastal band, calculated from the baselines of each coastal State. However, within this 12-mile band, a major derogation exists. Coastal Member States can restrict fishing activity there. Historically, this derogation was intended to protect local fishermen traditionally operating from adjacent ports. This possibility for coastal states to restrict fishing within their 12-mile limit is regularly renewed by European regulations (currently scheduled to run until 31 December 2032).

However, this limitation is not absolute. It must respect any historical fishing rights of other Member States in these areas, often based on neighbourly relations and formalised in the annexes to the CFP Regulation. French law, in particular via the decree-law of 9 January 1852 as amended, incorporates these rules by reserving access to waters under French sovereignty or jurisdiction to authorised national or Community vessels, subject to EU law.

As for third-country vessels, their access to EU waters is strictly regulated and can only be granted under fishing agreements concluded by the European Union with these countries, or via specific authorisations issued in accordance with European regulations.

The management toolbox: limiting catches and fishing effort

The sustainable management of stocks is based on a set of measures aimed primarily at controlling the pressure exerted by fishing activities. The European Union has the main competence to enact these conservation measures.

• Total Allowable Catches (TACs) TACs: For the main commercial species where the state of stocks justifies it, the Council of the European Union sets maximum authorised catch limits by fishing zone each year. These TACs are established on the basis of scientific advice assessing the state of resources.
• National quotas Once the global TACs have been defined, they are allocated among the Member States according to a distribution key that has been relatively stable since 1983. This is the principle of "relative stability", which aims to guarantee each Member State a predictable share of the fishing possibilities, taking into account its past fishing activities and the needs of regions dependent on fishing. These national quotas may be exchanged between Member States, offering a degree of flexibility to adjust fishing opportunities to the real needs of fleets.
• Limiting fishing effort In addition to or as an alternative to TACs, the EU can also limit the overall fishing effort authorised for certain fisheries. A vessel's fishing effort is generally defined as the product of its capacity (power, tonnage) and its activity (time spent at sea). Limiting overall effort therefore comes down to controlling the number of days at sea authorised for a given fleet in a specific zone.
• National variations: sub-quotas Each Member State is then responsible for managing the quota or fishing effort allocated to it. It allocates it among the professionals concerned in the form of sub-quotas or sea-day authorisations. This allocation can be made at the level of Producer Organisations (POs), individual vessels or groups of vessels. These individual fishing rights are generally allocated for an annual period and are not, in principle, freely transferable in France, in order to avoid excessive commercialisation of access to the resource. The POs play an important role in setting up management plans to optimise the use of the quotas entrusted to them.
• The obligation to close When a national quota (or a sub-quota managed by a PO or the administration) is deemed to have been exhausted, the Member State is formally obliged to prohibit fishing for the species concerned by vessels covered by this quota. The European Commission monitors compliance with this obligation and can impose closures if the Member State is slow to act, or even make deductions from future quotas if the quota is found to have been exceeded.

Technical measures: fishing more selectively

Limiting the overall volume of catches or fishing effort is not always enough. It is also essential to ensure that fishing is carried out more selectively, in order to protect young fish before they have a chance to reproduce and to minimise the impact on marine ecosystems. This is the purpose of technical conservation measures, largely defined at European level.

These measures include

• The fixing of minimum mesh sizes for the various parts of fishing gear (particularly nets), to allow small fish to escape.
• The establishment of minimum landing sizes for many species. Catches below this size may not, in principle, be kept on board, landed or marketed (although the new obligation to land all catches, including discards, which has been gradually introduced since 2015, complicates the application of this rule).
• Prohibiting or restricting the use of certain fishing gear deemed to be less selective or destructive for the seabed in certain areas or at certain times.
• The definition of zones or periods of temporary closure fishing (boxes) to protect breeding grounds or areas where juveniles are concentrated.

French law can supplement these European measures. For example, decree no. 90-94 of 25 January 1990 (amended in 2006 as part of the Plan d'avenir pour la pêche française) lays down specific rules for French territorial waters, such as a ban in principle on the use of towed nets less than three miles from the coast, while providing for possible derogations under certain conditions (sufficient depth, no risk to the resource).

Controlling access to the business: authorisation systems

As well as managing catches, the authorities can also regulate access to fishing activities via various authorisation systems.

• National fishing authorisations (French licences) : French law has long allowed the administrative authority to make certain specific fisheries subject to prior authorisation, often referred to as a 'licence'. Initially provided for in the event of a threat of overfishing, the 1997 policy law broadened their scope of application. "with a view to ensuring the sustainable economic development of the sector".. These authorisations are issued to a company and for a specific vessel. They specify the period of validity (maximum 12 months, renewable), the authorised fishing zones, the target species, and sometimes the gear or volumes authorised. The authorities allocate them on the basis of criteria such as the track record of the fishermen, market trends and local socio-economic balance. To avoid creating a speculative market, these national authorisations are not transferable. They may be withdrawn if the conditions under which they were granted are no longer met (sale of the vessel, false information, change in characteristics, etc.).
• European authorisations European regulations have also introduced their own systems:
  • The EU Fishing Licence Licence: Since 1995, all EU fishing vessels have been required to hold a licence issued by their flag Member State. It contains the identification details and technical characteristics of the vessel, and is a kind of European "identity card" for fishing vessels.
  • Special Fishing Permits (PPS) To access certain fisheries considered sensitive (deep-water species, crustaceans, scallops in certain areas, etc.), the basic licence is not enough. You also need to obtain a Special Fishing Permit (PPS). This PPS is a specific authorisation, linked to the vessel and its licence, for a given fishery and a given period. The flag Member State is responsible for managing (issuing and withdrawing) licences and SFPs.

Long-term planning: recovery and management plans

To ensure coherent, forward-looking management of the most important or fragile fisheries, the CFP provides for the adoption of multiannual plans.

• Restoration plans Stockpile management plans: These are put in place when stocks are considered to be outside safe biological limits. The aim is to restore these stocks to sustainable levels within a defined timeframe. Recovery plans have been adopted for species such as cod, hake and Greenland halibut in certain areas.
• Management plans Management plans: These concern fisheries whose stocks are considered to be exploited sustainably (within biological limits) but require a stable long-term management framework. One example cited in the source is the management plan for sole in the Bay of Biscay.

These plans define clear objectives (in terms of population size, fishing mortality rate or long-term yield) and combine different measures to achieve them: catch limits (TACs specific to the plan), fishing effort limits, appropriate technical rules, access conditions (for example, the obligation to hold a PPS to participate in the fishery concerned), and even economic incentive measures.

The Member States' limited room for manoeuvre

Given the European Union's very broad remit in the area of resource conservation, what scope for action is left to the Member States?

Apart from emergency measures (taken in the event of a serious and immediate threat to resources or the ecosystem, and then subject to control by the Commission), a Member State may only adopt conservation measures applicable to all vessels in its waters if the EU has not legislated in this specific area and if these measures are compatible with the objectives of the CFP and non-discriminatory.

Within the 12-mile coastal band, a Member State has slightly more flexibility to take specific measures to minimise the impact of fishing on local ecosystems. However, if these measures are likely to affect the vessels of other Member States with rights in the area, they must be taken after consultation with the Commission, the other States concerned and the Regional Advisory Councils, and remain subject to confirmation or modification by the Commission, or even by the Council in the event of disagreement.

Apart from these specific cases, any national conservation measures taken by a State would only apply to fishermen flying its own flag.

Understanding and anticipating all these resource management rules - quotas, licences, technical measures, multiannual plans - has become an absolute necessity to ensure the viability and compliance of any professional fishing activity. There are many constraints and the regulatory environment is constantly changing. If you are wondering about the authorisations required for your project, the impact of quotas on your activity or the conditions of access to a specific fishery, our firm can provide you with an appropriate legal analysis and help you to see things more clearly.

Sources

• Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU - principles of non-discrimination, EU competences).
• Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy (current framework regulation).  
• Annual EU regulations setting TACs and quotas.
• Specific EU regulations on technical measures (e.g. Regulation (EU) 2019/1241 on the conservation of fisheries resources and the protection of marine ecosystems through technical measures).  
• Specific EU regulations establishing multiannual plans.
• EU regulations on licences and special fishing permits (can be integrated into the Control or CFP regulations).
• Code rural et de la pêche maritime (codification of national provisions on authorisations, national quota management, etc.).
• Decree-law of 9 January 1852 on maritime fishing (amended).
• Law no. 97-1051 of 18 November 1997 on maritime fishing and marine cultures (amending the Decree-Law of 1852 on authorisations).
• Decree no. 90-94 of 25 January 1990 setting out certain conditions for maritime fishing (amended, in particular, by Decree no. 2006-738 of 27 June 2006).