PRESS RELEASE
\nApril 5 2024<\/p>\n
The group made up of the Syndicat des Petits M\u00e9tiers d’Occitanie, the Plateforme de la petite p\u00eache artisanale, the Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE), the Comit\u00e9 d\u00e9partemental des p\u00eaches du VAR and the Prud’homie des p\u00eacheurs de la Ciotat (Bouches du Rh\u00f4ne) has applauded the decision on 28 March by the Administrative Court of Appeal (ACA) in Toulouse to uphold the annulment of a ministerial order setting out the arrangements for allocating the bluefin tuna quota granted to France for 2017. More than 7 years after going to court to challenge the legality of the allocation of\u00a0 bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) quota, the group has not waited in vain.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After an initial ruling in its favour in June 2021, followed by the appeal lodged by the State in September 2021, this result raises the hopes of many small-scale fishers who face an unbearable situation in terms of the distribution of fishing quotas. Large vessels often monopolise quotas, leaving small-scale fishers with little or nothing.<\/span><\/p>\n The ACA simply confirmed the Montpellier Court’s 2021 ruling: Article L. 921-2 of the French Rural and Maritime Fishing Code lacks a legal basis. It governs the allocation of fishing opportunities based on three criteria, namely producers’ track record, market trends and economic balance, ignoring the integration of the environmental criterion into national texts required by European regulations and specifically art. 17 of the Common Fisheries Policy, which states that “Member States shall use transparent and objective criteria, including environmental, social and economic criteria.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n