Recommendation concerning the change to minimum catch size for Japanese carpet shell in the Arcachon basin

Question for written answer  E-001169/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
France Jamet (ID)

The clam beds in the Arcachon basin are the largest in France. The minimum catch size for Japanese carpet shell (also known as Manila clam) is currently set at EU level at 35 mm by the ‘Technical measures’ regulation. The CNPMEM (Comité national français des pêches maritimes et des élevages marins - French national committee of maritime fisheries and marine fish farming) is of the view that this regulation is not tailored to the local specificities of this stock and is unnecessarily restrictive for clam harvesters in the Arcachon basin.

Scientific research[1] has shown that, while the total biomass on the clam beds has remained stable since 2003, the portion larger than 35 mm has fallen sharply due to the isolated position of the Arcachon basin, where the clam becomes somewhat misshapen once it grows larger than 30 mm.

The new ‘Technical measures’ regulation gives Member States interested in a given stock the option of changing the minimum sizes through the regionalisation process. The request by Arcachon fishermen to reduce the minimum catch size to 32 mm has obtained all the necessary validations except for that of the Commission.

Will the Commission promptly put this request on the agenda for the next working group meetings of the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF)?

• [1] Ifremer response to referral N^o 20-15409, May 2020.