RT Journal Article
T1 Allocating individual fishing possibilities through producer organisations: The case of the Bay of Biscay common sole fishery in France
A1 Dudouet, Benjamin
A1 Macher, Claire
A1 Thébaud, Olivier
K1 Fisheries management
K1 Quotas
K1 Producer organisations
K1 Transaction costs
AB Management of the economically important Bay of Biscay common sole fishery has long relied on the setting of annual Total Allowable Catches (TACs). Allocation of these fishing possibilities at the French level is largely administered by six Producer Organisations (POs) for the fraction of the national quota they are responsible for, depending on the catch history of vessels belonging to their members. We surveyed representatives of these POs with the aim to understand the principles and processes that have evolved for determining allocation of sole quota among their members. Survey results show that the move away from derby fishing and towards the setting of individual catch allocations, initiated in the years 2000, has continued, along with the development of strategies at different levels to reconcile members’ demand for catch allocations with quota constraints. While one might have expected these individual allocations to reflect the track records of fishing vessels, we find that POs have developed alternative allocation rules to satisfy the needs of their members. POs thus play a key role in the definition of fishing possibilities in this and most of the TAC-managed fisheries in which French fleets operate. In so doing, POs bear the brunt of the transaction costs associated with quota allocation.
PB Elsevier
SN 0308-597X
YR 2025
FD 2025-05-21
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/44008
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/44008
LA eng
NO Dudouet, B., Macher, C., & Thébaud, O. (2025). Allocating individual fishing possibilities through producer organisations: The case of the Bay of Biscay common sole fishery in France. Marine Policy, 179, 106764. 10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106764
NO This work was supported by the ISblue project "Interdisciplinary graduate school for the blue planet" co-financed by a government grant managed by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche under the "Investissements d′avenir" program integrated into France 2030, bearing the reference ANR-17-EURE-0015.
DS Minerva
RD 28 abr 2026