A bio-economic analysis of long term changes in the production of French fishing fleets operating in the Bay of Biscay

Fabien Steinmetz (), Olivier Thébaud (), Fabian Blanchard (), Pascal Le Floc'H () and Julien Bihel
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Fabien Steinmetz: AMURE - Aménagement des Usages des Ressources et des Espaces marins et littoraux - Centre de droit et d'économie de la mer - IFREMER - Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer - UBO - Université de Brest - IUEM - Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - INSU - CNRS - Institut national des sciences de l'Univers - UBO - Université de Brest - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Olivier Thébaud: AMURE - Aménagement des Usages des Ressources et des Espaces marins et littoraux - Centre de droit et d'économie de la mer - IFREMER - Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer - UBO - Université de Brest - IUEM - Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - INSU - CNRS - Institut national des sciences de l'Univers - UBO - Université de Brest - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Fabian Blanchard: BIODIVHAL - Unité Biodiversité Halieutique de Guyane - IFREMER - Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer
Pascal Le Floc'H: AMURE - Aménagement des Usages des Ressources et des Espaces marins et littoraux - Centre de droit et d'économie de la mer - IFREMER - Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer - UBO - Université de Brest - IUEM - Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - INSU - CNRS - Institut national des sciences de l'Univers - UBO - Université de Brest - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Julien Bihel: AMURE - Aménagement des Usages des Ressources et des Espaces marins et littoraux - Centre de droit et d'économie de la mer - IFREMER - Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer - UBO - Université de Brest - IUEM - Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - INSU - CNRS - Institut national des sciences de l'Univers - UBO - Université de Brest - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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Abstract: Selective fishing pressure on more highly valued marine living resources is one of the key factors proposed to explain changes occurring in fish communities and associated landings of commercial fisheries. The aim of this paper is to establish the nature of changes in the landings of French fishing fleets operating in the Bay of Biscay in the period 1973-2002, and whether these changes could be related to the relative economic attractiveness of different fish species. The analysis focuses on trends observed in the landings of all commercial fish species over the last three decades. It is based on data of annual quantities landed and ex-vessel prices compiled from official French landings records, and on bio-geographical descriptors of these species derived from published data. Using simple index numbers and multivariate analysis, we examined changes in total landings in terms of their volume and value, as well as changes in their composition. We show that the composition of landings significantly changed over the study period, with an increase in the proportion of pelagic species, of lower economic value. The average ex-vessel price of production by the fleets tended to decrease from the late 1980s; partly due to a cross-species drop in prices, occurring mainly after 1993, but also to the increased proportion of low-priced species in the landings. This caused a significant drop in the total gross value of production in the second half of the study period.

Keywords: French fisheries production; Bio-economic analysis; Long-term changes; Bay of Biscay; North-Eastern Atlantic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008-10-09
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published in Aquatic Living Resources, 2008, 21 (3), pp.317-327. ⟨10.1051/alr:2008048⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00366687

DOI: 10.1051/alr:2008048

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