Regulations

Because the weather plays an important part in the scallop reproductive cycle, the available amount of this resource is rarely stable. The widely ranging fluctuations in the quantity of scallops becoming potentially fishable (specimens aged 2 years) can vary in biomass (total mass) by a factor of 1 to 10 from one year to the next and make up 30 to 70% of the total number of scallops fished. Because of this wide-ranging fluctuation, the resource management measures must be adapted and regulated in such a way that the resource is not put at risk or the market disorganized.

The setting up of regulations governing this type of fishing had the following objectives:

The management of the resource is currently based on the following concepts:

From 1966, only six years after their rediscovery in Saint-Brieuc Bay, the quantity of scallops available to be fished first began to decrease. This phenomenon, together with the disappearance of scallops from the Brest roadstead in 1963, rapidly made the fishing profession aware of the necessity for very strict management of this resource.
The management concepts are based on clause 8 of the edict 45-813 dated 14th August 1945, which makes it possible for "professional bodies" and in this case the shellfish section to "take the steps which are necessary to ensure that fishing can be carried out rationally", which implies "setting the opening or closing dates for the fishing seasons". These bodies "can also specify the number of boats which will be allowed to do the different types of fishing, and apply regulations to the time they spend at sea".

Starting from this edict, a set of local regulations was set up in 1973, as a complement to the national policy in this field. This resource management system, the first of its type, was subsequently used as a model by other areas where scallops are fished.

The licences

The setting up of a fishing licence system by the professional body gives rise to an efficient means of protecting the fishery resources in Saint-Brieuc Bay. This system limits accesses to the source of supply in terms of both time and number, and makes it possible to penalize those who do not comply with the regulations.

The licence system has many advantages:

This leads us to the criteria for obtaining a licence, in order to satisfy at the three of the obligations referred to above.

One of the most important conditions to be satisfied is that the licence is issued in the names of both the skipper and the boat. The slightest modification in either of these makes it obligatory to complete a new request for a scallop fishing licence. The licence application, which must be renewed annually, requests a considerable amount of information on both skipper and boat.

There are other obligations to be satisfied, especially since 1973, such as continuous participation in the last two fishing seasons, plus at least five years' experience of deep sea or coastal fishing.

The fishing equipment is also subject to regulations: each boat is allowed three dragnets 7 metres long by 2 metres wide, with a mesh size of 92 mm. This mesh size has been continually getting larger over the years, and has increased from 72 mm to 92 mm since 1991, so that scallops under the authorized size are not retained in the net.

The licences also specify the length, tonnage and power of the boats. These figures have varied across the years, as it was essential to adapt the regulations to technological innovations in the marine field.

For example:

The price of the licence is related to the boat's engine power.

The income obtained from licence fees is used by the fishing board to organize the monitoring of fishing activity and make sure that the regulations are complied with. This income covers the cost of chartering an aircraft and its pilot. The aircraft is made available to the coastguards who decide on the area to be flown over and the time. The coastguards and the customs officers' launches may also enter the fishing areas in order to check that the fishing is being carried on correctly and the time limits adhered to, for scallop fishing.

Those who are not complying with the regulations are subject to penalties ranging from one day's suspension from fishing to cancellation of their licence for the whole season.

The fishing period is currently limited in time (to 45 minutes) but the local fishing board can decide to lengthen or shorten the period depending on the circumstances. Before the regulations were introduced, fishing was allowed throughout the week. It was first reduced to three weekdays (week-ends and public holidays were not included in the fishing times) and is now only authorized for two days per week, depending on the tides.

Also, a system for making up for lost time was introduced in 1978. It makes it possible for boats which have not been able to put out to sea on the authorized fishing days due to breakdowns or bad weather to catch up on the lost hours at the end of the season.

The Regional Shellfish Fisheries Commission has published a memorandum regarding the rules for making up for lost time, which is displayed for fishermen to see in the fish auction rooms:

In parallel with the licensing system, other measures have been taken to protect and conserve the scallop resource in the Saint Brieuc area.

The fishermen want to do all that is necessary to maintain this resource, together with their jobs and working conditions. It was in this context that Mr. Jacques Chirac came, as a guest of honour of Saint-Quay-Portrieux, on the 9th September 2001 to listen to the concerns of all those involved in fishing and assist this industry. The "Infos Saint-Quay" town bulletin ran a report on this visit:

Protection measures

Starting in 1975, quotas were introduced. That year, the fixation of the juveniles (the young scallops) was not very good, and, in order to protect the resources for future fishing seasons, a quota of 8000 metric tons was established. From that date onwards, scientists estimated the quantity of scallops which must not be exceeded in order not to put the supply at risk, for information purposes.

The following year, it became obligatory for the boats to unload their catch in a port. As regards the Saint-Brieuc area, Saint-Quay-Portrieux is one of the ports specified by this directive. The same year, the minimum marketable size for scallops was increased from 10 cm, the size required at a national level, to 10.2 cm for local fishing, which has been a critical decision in terms of protecting the species.

Other important measures were announced in 1977, including the selling of the products in the fish auction rooms of the various ports specified for the Saint-Brieuc area. Saint-Quay Portrieux was concerned by this and consequently has fish auction facilities. This one sales point makes it possible to accurately determine the quantity of scallops fished, and consequently to envisage a rational management policy for the supply.
Furthermore, directives concerning prices were suggested, including a withdrawal price agreed upon between the fishermen and the wholesale fish merchants. Hence, if batches of scallops were sold at this "bottom limit" price, fishing would temporarily be stopped, so as to avoid the market becoming saturated.

Also, that same year, the concept of a quota stopped being just for information and became a legal limit for the tonnage to be fished. After that, the legislation concerning the licences and the fishing periods was introduced.
In the context of this plan, the scientists from the Ifremer (Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation durable de la MER) ( French Institute for Research related to Sustainable Management of Resources from the Sea) come to the area every year to examine the supply, between August and September. On the basis of a sample which they take, they estimate the tonnage which should be fished during the next scallop season. The professional fishermen are free to keep to this recommendation or not.
For the 2002/2003 fishing season, the overall weight suggested by the Ifremer was 6600 metric tons; it is probable that this value will not be reached by the end of the season, because, for commercial reasons, the fishermen voluntarily reduced the quantities being brought in around mid-February. By mid-March 2003, a total of 4700 metric tons (of which 2200 tons were brought into Saint-Quay-Portrieux) had been fished by the 200 boats (per fishing day) involved in the season's fishing.

In 1981 the fines system was set up, and in 1983, a tax of 0.5% (0.25% to be paid by the fishermen, the other half by the wholesale fish merchants) was levied on the scallops fished in Saint-Brieuc Bay. The money thus raised was initially used to finance operations of restocking scallops in the bay.
Currently, this tax is used less for restocking, and instead is mainly used for harvesting and using slipper limpets. This limpet, which has no predators, sticks itself onto the scallop and stops it filtering seawater. These slipper limpets are turned into an excellent fertilizer, which is used to increase soil fertility in a natural way in many gardens.

In this way, the regulations which have been introduced and approved by the coastguard authorities, who make sure that their directives are in agreement with French national and EEC law, have contributed to protecting the supply in Saint Brieuc Bay. The management of the scallop resources has indeed been a model of its type, bringing in the licensing system and many other restrictive measures which reinforce those already applied via the licensing system.