Socio-economic overview of the fishery and aquaculture sectors in ORS

• Author: Violaine Romieu - Tanguy Chever - Bruno Bordeau - Safa Souidi
• Pages: 3-9

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2. SOCIO-ECONOMIC OVERVIEW OF THE FISHERY AND AQUACULTURE SECTORS

IN ORS

2.1. Introduction

This section provides, for each OR, a socio-economic overview of the aquaculture secto rs in each OR

as required under Task 1 of the ToR. For each OR, we also provide a short socio-economic overview

on the fishery, processing and marketing activities sectors based on the output from the study

conducted in 2018 for DG MARE on the chal lenges of fleet renewal in the outermost regions of the

EU3. The structure of the section for each OR is “Focus on aquaculture” followed by “Overview on

the fishery, processing and marketing activities”.

2.2. France

This section provides an overview in French ORs: Saint-Martin, Guadeloupe, Martinique, French

Guiana, Mayotte and La Réunion.

2.2.1. Saint-Martin

Focus on aquaculture

To date, there is no aquaculture production in Saint-Martin4. There is no project to develop any

marine aquaculture facility. Despite the large ba ys present on the coast of Saint-Martin, aquaculture

farms would be at risk from hurricanes. There is little fresh water and its contami nation prohibits the

development of freshwater aquaculture.

Overview on the fishery, processing and marketing act ivities

According to the study on fleet renewal in the ORs of the EU (20 18), there are 15 vessels active in

Saint-Martin. These ar e small-scale vessels with an average length of 8m and a maxi mum length of

10m. The study from the Chambre de Commerce et d’industrie de Saint-Martin5 estimated the

production in Saint-Martin to be 200 tonnes wi th a value of €2M. The market is not organised and is

dominated by direct sales.

2.2.2. Guadeloupe

Focus on aquaculture

The aquacul ture sector is relatively small and faces difficulties. Overall, there are nine aquaculture

farms6 in Guadeloupe. Each farm produces up to 20 t of product per year and empl oys 1 to 2

persons7.

 Regarding freshwater aquaculture, the main issues for the sector concern the chlordecone

contamination and the break period between the Programme d'Options Spécifiques à

l'Eloignement et à l'Insularité (POSEI) and the EMFF. In addition to these issues, the

freshwater shrimp (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) production, which was an historic production

in GLP, suffered from increasi ng imports from Asia an d the chlordecone contamination led to

the closure of almost all the farms in 2008. Concerning tilapi a producti on, access to land is

an additional brake on development.

 Regarding marine aquacul ture production, only one marine farm is currently active ,

producing drum fish. Two farm installations were planned in 2015 . The sector also faces the

same issues concerning the chlordecone cont amination and the break period between the

POSEI programme and the EMFF that left the remaining actors in a very difficult financial

situation.

3 https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/79d680d4-f389-11e8-9982-

01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-PDF/source-80766563

4 Plan de compensation 2014- 2020 des surcoûts de la pêche et de l’aquaculture de Saint-Martin

5 Structuration de la pêche professionnelle dans la Collectivité de Saint-Martin, 2014.

6 http://www.sypagua.com/aquaculture/aquaculture-en-guadeloupe.html

7 Plan de compensation des surcoûts de la pêche et de l’aquaculture - Guadeloupe