The Minister responsible for the sea and fishing Catherine Chabaud announced Thursday June 18 a new period of closure to fishing in the Bay of Biscay in 2027, to continue to protect dolphins from accidental capture.
This measure is being renewed for the fourth consecutive year, from the tip of Finistère to the Basque coast, for four weeks in winter, the minister announced to fishing professionals gathered for their meeting at the Cité de la mer in Cherbourg (Manche).
The system is slightly relaxed, fishermen being able to choose their four-week period of inactivity within an extended six-week window, between January 15 and February 27. The minister welcomed the “efforts” already made by fishermen to reduce accidental catches, noting that 115 vessels were already equipped with cameras.
But “in view of the administrative process with the European Commission and the possible disputes, we had to make a decision now”, without waiting for the result of missions to analyze the experimentation of the last three years, she said. “We concluded that the conditions were not met to open the Gulf next year,” declared Catherine Chabaud, an announcement greeted in profound silence.
300 boats concerned
The national fisheries committee, which for its part defended the choice of a period without fishing in a wider window of three months (January 1-March 31), still welcomes a “change in the closure methods, with greater flexibility left to companies”, in a press release.
A little less than 300 boats over 8 meters are affected, which will benefit, as in previous years, from government compensation of 80% of their turnover.
Last winter, 274 vessels were compensated to the tune of 14.5 million euros for their shortfall, estimated at 4,320 tonnes of fish. Including around forty fish trading companies, total compensation reached 20 million euros.
Pressed by the European Commission and the Council of State in the face of the increase in accidental captures of dolphins and porpoises, the government took a ban measure in 2024, 2025 and 2026. This closure reduced accidental captures by 60% in the winter of 2024/2025, according to the Pelagis observatory attached to the CNRS and the University of La Rochelle (1,900 dead common dolphins compared to 4,700 on average per winter between 2017 and 2023).
ICES, an international scientific reference body, estimates a maximum of 4,900 deaths per year as the sustainable level for the species in the “North-East Atlantic management unit”, an area much larger than the Bay of Biscay.
