The closing months of 2021 saw a significant level of conflict between France and the UK over post-Brexit fishing arrangements in the waters between their territories. It was clear that access to fishing stocks represented a strategic concern for the parties concerned. It must be admitted that, in a context of climate change and decades of ill-considered fishing practices, the fishing sector finds itself facing significant change. Didier Gascuel shows this here as part of the series devoted to the sea and oceans begun in our columns in summer 2020.
After reviewing past trends (characterized by increasing over-exploitation of marine ecosystems and resources), he shows how things have changed in recent years, when it has been possible to better manage and regulate fishing activity. But although over-exploitation is currently held in check, there is still no eco-systemic approach to make marine environments genuinely resilient. Can there be one? Looking toward a horizon of 2050, Didier Gascuel proposes two scenarios for fishing and marine ecosystems in this article. The first of these (the worst-case scenario) takes us back to a situation of generalized over-fishing, without meaningful oversight tools or socio-political involvement to regulate it, the whole situation being further aggravated by climate change. The second — more virtuous — scenario is that of ‘pesco-ecology’ in which, as in agro-ecology, the sector undertakes to manage fishing and marine resources in synergy with ecological and environmental needs. This scenario, by far the most desirable in terms of preserving fishing stocks (and, in the longer term, our own ecosystem), demands a high level of political and social mobilization at the global level. Yet it can become a reality, particularly if seized upon by the European Union.
