GROUNDBREAKING REPORT ON SOCIAL-ECOLOGICAL TRANSITION OF FISHERIES

Groundbreaking report on social-ecological transition of fisheries. “Time for a U-Turn: for a social-ecological transition of fisheries.”

Faced with the environmental and social emergency and the lack of concrete scenarios to think about the future of fishing, BLOOM has launched a multidisciplinary research group dedicated to planning the social-ecological transition of fishing. The group, which includes researchers from L’Institut Agro, AgroParisTech and EHESS-CNRS, in collaboration with The Shift Project and the L’Atelier des Jours à Venir cooperative, has just published the first multi-criteria scientific assessment of the economic, social and ecological performance of French fisheries, entitled “Time for a U-Turn: for a social-ecological transition of fisheries.” 

Firstly, by establishing a new methodology for drawing up an exhaustive “marine footprint” of fishing activities, this assessment revolutionises the way in which human activities at sea are evaluated in order to assess their “sustainability”. In the same way that a broad trend in economics is moving away from the idea that GDP is an adequate indicator for measuring the wealth of nations, the fishing sector can no longer be examined solely through the indicator of productivity. The “marine footprint” argues for a much broader ecosystem approach than the current understanding of “sustainability”, taking into account the impact of activities on the abundance of target animal populations, the maintenance of biodiversity and habitat integrity, as well as a range of social and economic criteria such as public subsidies allocated to activities or jobs created per ton of fish caught.

Furthermore, this ground-breaking assessment of marine fishing activities, based on European public data, provides a coherent overview of the performance of the various segments that make up the French fishing fleet, enabling us to support rational public decisions that are beneficial to French society, employment, the health of public finances, marine ecosystems and the climate, as well as the restoration of our food sovereignty.

By simultaneously analysing the social, environmental and economic impact of fishing activities, the decision to change course and win at all levels becomes fully apparent.

Very negative results for large-scale industrial fishing, which is dominated by trawl gear… 

Research shows that industrial fishing, particularly trawls and seines over 24 meters in length, has a clear negative impact. Industrial trawls and seines have a long list of environmental, economic and social drawbacks: destruction of the seabed, overexploitation of target species, massive catches of juvenile fish, low job-creation capacity, low added value, high carbon footprint and CO2 emissions. From an economic point of view and as an illustration, for the same catch in a wild environment (the ocean), industrial and deep-sea bottom trawlers generate 2 to 3 times fewer jobs and almost half the added value than fleets using passive gear (lines, traps and nets).

…dependent on public subsidies

Moreover, the profitability of fleets using bottom trawls depends on public subsidies: 1 kg of resources caught is subsidised at between 50 and 75 eurocents for fleets using bottom trawls and seines, while other fleets are subsidised at less than 30 eurocents per kilogramme landed. The profitability of large bottom trawls and seines is therefore artificial, with exorbitant social and environmental costs borne by taxpayers and natural ecosystems. In contrast, the profitability of all passive fishing gear does not depend on public funding. Thus, the multifactorial assessment prepared by the research group argues for an end to the massive subsidisation of industrial vessels using trawls, especially bottom trawls.

Public subsidies allocated at cross-purposes to the necessary social-ecological transition: an exclusive report by BLOOM and Institut Rousseau

In conjunction with this work, BLOOM has joined forces with the Rousseau Institute  to draw up an inventory of the main French and European public subsidies received by the fishing industry in France between 2020 and 2022. The results of this study are being published today in a report entitled: “Against the current: Public action and the challenges of transition: a summary of public subsidies allocated to the fishing industry in France between 2020 and 2022.”

This detailed analysis of public subsidies shows that, in 2021, the fishing industry benefited from almost 327 million euros in subsidies, received directly via payment credits or indirectly via a range of tax benefits (exemption from the French Domestic Tax on the Consumption of Energy Products (TICPE), low social security and employer contributions, etc.), representing almost 30% of the sector’s sales. In other words, this sector survives only thanks to public money. This finding is also shared by the research group on the social-ecological transition of the fishing industry. It should be pointed out that this already staggering amount does not include aid from local authorities, due to a lack of consolidated data. This observation had already been highlighted in 2010 by inspectors from the Cour des Comptes (‘the Court of Accounts’, France’s supreme audit institution), who were quick to describe this aid as a real “black hole”.

The results of this study could not be clearer: tax exemptions on fuel play a central role in public subsidies, accounting for almost 63% of all subsidies in 2021. Recent years have also been marked by a series of unprecedented crises: the COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit, and the rise in fuel prices triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, all of which have led to a significant increase in aid, highlighting the structural vulnerability of a large part of the sector. At a time when redirecting public funding in favor of the sector’s transition has become an absolute priority, only 11% of the subsidies identified in 2021 (i.e. €37 million) are identified as expenditure in favor of sustainable transition. In general, subsidies are still very rarely associated with sustainability criteria, and are almost entirely blind to the different types of fishing, favoring the most fuel-intensive industrial vessels, which destroy marine ecosystems and jobs.

Changing course: the need to guide the fishing industry towards transition

The sector’s transition must allow it to maintain its most responsible and sustainable component: small-scale inshore fishing (vessels under 12 meters), which accounts for over 70% of all vessels, mostly using passive gear, and which is now in such decline that it is in danger of disappearing. While small-scale inshore fishing performs better on all indicators, it has one key problem: its impact on “sensitive” species such as birds and marine mammals. The analysis does not distinguish between small-scale fishing operations, which perform very differently in this respect, but gives an overall indication: even the most responsible segments of the inshore fleet need to make progress on the essential issue of bycatch, since certain so-called “passive” gear, such as nets or longlines, generate catches of birds or marine mammals that must be avoided.

Small-scale inshore fishing (vessels between 0 and 12 meters in length), which accounts for the majority of the total number of vessels, represents a small volume of catches (10% of the total) but is able to generate added value and employment (19% and 21% of the total respectively). By way of illustration, the industrial pelagic trawler fleet generates 10 times fewer jobs per ton landed, although it receives 7 times more subsidies per job. As for the industrial bottom trawler fleet, it receives 5 times more subsidies per job than coastal vessels using passive gear, and almost twice as much per kilogram landed.

For decades, public authorities have supported the most socially, economically and ecologically damaging fisheries instead of promoting passive fishing, which is mostly inshore and undeniably more responsible in most areas.

The researchers’ assessment highlights the economic, social and environmental absurdities of the current management of the fishing industry and points the way to a possible future, both in France and in other EU member states. The fishing industry can reverse the current trends and put an end to its structural bankruptcy, provided that the means are used to support the development of a truly “sustainable” fishing industry, a “pêchécologie” (fishing ecology or ecofishery) (5), i.e. a fishing industry that minimises the impact on the climate and living organisms, while contributing to European food sovereignty, maximising employment and offering dignified socio-economic and human prospects.

Key figures

• Overexploitation: Across all fleets, almost a third of landings come from overexploited resources. Trawlers are responsible for 84% of landings from overexploited resources.
• Juvenile catches: Trawlers over 12m, both deep-sea and industrial, are responsible for over 50% of all juvenile catches by French fishing fleets.
• Abrasion of the seabed: Demersal trawlers account for around 90% of the surface abraded by the fleets studied.
• Catches of sensitive species: Dormant gear is responsible for over three-quarters of the footprint, with incidental catches of marine mammals coming mainly from gillnetters, and bird catches from lines, and to a lesser extent from nets. Catches by French crab boats are virtually nil.
• CO2 emissions: Industrial and deep-sea bottom trawlers are responsible for 400kT of CO2 equivalent, i.e. 57% of total fleet emissions for just 34% of production (in tonnage).
• Employment: Industrial pelagic trawlers generate 10 times fewer jobs per ton landed than the inshore nets, lines and traps fleet.
• Added value: Inshore nets, lines and traps generate twice the added value of the industrial demersal trawler and seiner fleet, even though the latter has higher value landings.
• Profitability: If we compare the EBITDA of industrial trawls and seines (over 24 m long) with the capital they have invested, they are 3 to 4 times less profitable than inshore lines, nets and traps.
• Public subsidies:
  – For fleets using mobile bottom trawls and demersal seines, subsidies of between 50 and 75 euro cents per kilogramme landed are available, while other fleets are subsidised at less than 30 euro cents per kilogramme landed.- The employment of a fisher working on industrial pelagic trawls and seines and on deep-sea and industrial bottom trawls receives an indirect subsidy of around 60,000 euros, while employment on inshore nets, lines, traps and dredges is indirectly subsidised to the tune of 9,000 to 14,000 euros.