Sustainable management of leisure and professional fisheries at the ...

fishermen, with the data being analysed by INRA
(National Institute for Agronomic Research) from
1987 to 2007, and since then it has been analysed
by the leisure fishermen’s association (“Annecy
Lac Pêche”).
D. RECENT DEVELOPMENT OF FISHING AT THE LAKE, WITH REFERENCE TO THE
SPECIAL CASE OF WHITEFISH
A survey conducted in relation to the leisure
fishermen operating on the shores of Lake Annecy
(Fédération de Pêche de Haute-Savoie (Haute-
Savoie Fishing Federation), 2009) shows that the
impact of these catches seems to be very limited
compared to fishing from boats (by both leisure
and professional fishermen). The species sought
after by shore fishermen are perch (juveniles and
adults), followed by pike, whitefish, Arctic char and
lastly Cyprinidae. This study’s estimate was that
455 whitefish were caught from the lake’s shores
during the 2009 fishing season, amounting to
260 kg (the average weight of a whitefish caught
from a boat in 2009 was 0.570 kg). At the same
time, amateur fishermen in boats caught over
7 tonnes.
Catches of lake trout are at a much lower level,
but have been fairly stable over the years: 300 to
600 kg for amateur fishermen and 100 to 200 kg for
professionals.
In the case of whitefish, although fluctuations have
been observed over the timespan considered, the
trend is towards an overall decline in catches. This
began in 2004-2005 in the case of amateurs, and
from 2007 onwards in the case of professionals.
Consequently, the following pages of the document
will be devoted solely to the practice of fishing
Salmonidae from boats (whether operated by
amateurs or professionals), with a special focus on
the case of whitefish.
Whitefish: catches in kg (Source: DDT)
Arctic char: catches in kg (Source: DDT)
Concerning Arctic char, for the professionals
fishermen, the results are a few hundred kg or so
every year. For leisure fishermen, catches have
continually declined over the last decade: 2,000
to 3,000 kg were caught over the last few years,
whereas catches were over twice that level in the
late 1990s. The case of Arctic char is not developed
in this presentation, but it has formed the subject
of investigations in an endeavour to understand
the reasons for this decline. However to date, no
specific explanation has been found.
As whitefish is the most sought-after species in
Lake Annecy, this situation rapidly reinforced a
climate that had already been conflictual in the
past. The representatives of leisure fishermen
reproached the four professionals for exerting too
great a pressure in terms of fishing, and of being
continually favoured by the State via its regulations.
At the same time, the low catches by professional
fishermen no longer enabled them to ensure they
received a minimum income which, in the short
term, threatened the economic viability of their line
of work.
Within this context, the State and SILA implemented
a series of actions in order to understand the
reasons for this decline in catches, to change
management practices if necessary, and to thereby
improve the situation.
a. 2007: The initial fishing assessment
In order to obtain a “new”, independent view
of Lake Annecy’s situation, the State and SILA
organised a fishing assessment by three foreign
specialists, whose names were validated by all the
stakeholders. As preparation for the exercise, all of
the available data relating to fishing management