Entered by the Association for the Defense of Aquatic Environments, the urgent applications judge of the administrative court of Bordeaux ordered on April 17 the suspension of fishing for sea lamprey in fresh water in Gironde. The State takes note of this decision but the prefect “Asks the State services to examine the means of appealing in cassation against this decision”, we learn this Thursday in a press release.
The association “defense of aquatic environments” justifies its appeal by explaining the threat of disappearance of the species which could be effective from 2026. ” MIGADO, the association in charge of monitoring sea lampreys, has documented a collapse in the density of all age classes of lamprey larvae in river sediments. This means that from 2022, there are hardly any juvenile lampreys left to descend into the sea and consolidate the adult population there, where each individual grows in two to three years. »
Relentlessness, according to the 77 professional fishermen
The fishermen of this local dish believe that it is the catfish, this invasive fish introduced in the 1980s, which is responsible for this fall in the population of lampreys. “After the results of studies carried out by Frédéric Santouls, a scientist at the University of Toulouse, the result is clear, 80% of lampreys returning from migration to reproduce are predated by catfish”, writes Sabine Durand, Secretary General. of the union of professional fishermen of Gironde. For “defense of aquatic environments”, the responsibility of the catfish remains to be proven “since the fishermen declared the trifle of 77,500 lampreys in 2022”.
The 37 professional fishermen of the Gironde consider themselves victims of the relentlessness of the association and warn of the repercussions of this decision on the future of their profession.