French fishermen estimate the drop in their turnover between -30% and -40% in 2020 due to the economic difficulties caused by the Covid-19 and a decrease in catches, the committee told AFP on Tuesday. national fisheries.
Read also: The European Union distributes compensation for Brexit
“
We have just had some figures on the turnover of ships and it is a bit of a disaster: we have turnover which is clearly decreasing, in the order of -30% to -40%
”Compared to the previous year, said Jean-Luc Hall, Director General of the National Fisheries Committee.
To establish this projection, the national fisheries committee is essentially based on the figures of a producer organization, the Etaploise maritime cooperative, which has a fleet of 44 vessels.
"
It is an organization which has among its members different types of vessels, purse seiners, trawlers and gillnetters, so it still gives a fairly strong trend
", said Jean-Luc Hall, for whom "
the trend is confirmed
»In recent weeks, over the meetings with fishermen from different regions.
"
There is currently only one flotilla that seems to be doing well, it is the one working on the scallop
," said Hall.
“
There are probably a lot of causes.
The Covid cause, obviously, restaurants are closed, so there are not the same outlets.
There have also been international market closures
, ”recalled the brand new Director General of the National Committee for Maritime Fisheries and Marine Farming (CNPMEM).
He thus recalled the closure due to confinement, in the first months of the health crisis, of countries such as Italy or Spain, the main buyers of French seafood.
Read also: Shortage of fresh produce, transport slowed down ... The British are starting to pay for Brexit
"
There is also a phenomenon of scarcity of the resource, according to the echoes we have on the East Channel, North Sea
," added Mr. Hall.
According to him, Dutch fishermen are particularly singled out, in particular by the sailors of Hauts-de-France who accuse them of using nets with finer mesh.