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

ecommended gradually reducing the number
of professionals to 2, without for the time being
assigning either any additional fishing resources
to the latter, or catch quotas;
- In order to adapt to the reduced growth of whitefish,
the experts proposed reducing the mesh size of
pelagic nets from 54 mm to 50 mm, and for both
professionals and amateurs, lowering the legal
catch size from 38 cm to 36 cm. This measure
also has the objective of reducing incidental
mortality, which is unknown, but which is probably
substantial, being linked to the catching and then
the return to the water of whitefish specimens
that do not reach the legal size. This proposal is
associated with a reduction in the annual and daily
quotas for leisure fishermen, which would change
from 250 to 100 whitefish per year and from 8 to
4 whitefish per day;
- Perch is a species that currently is not exploited
at Lake Annecy. And yet in certain years its total
numbers are high, it may compete with whitefish,
and have an influence on its population. The
experts therefore proposed encouraging its
exploitation by the fishing sector which, moreover,
would reduce the pressure exerted on Salmonidae.
For example, the reduction in the mesh size of
certain nets by professional fishermen would
enable better catches of small young-of-the-year
perch (“0+”), the exploitation of which constitutes
a major source of income in other alpine lakes;
debated the various proposals made. Most of
them were adopted, and came into practice from
the 2011 fishing season onwards, with gradual
implementation in the case of some of them:
- 3 professional fishermen in 2011, and then
2 in 2012;
- The legal catch size for whitefish was lowered
to 37 cm in 2011;
- A gradual reduction over 2011 and 2012
of the annual and daily quotas for leisure
fishermen, in order to achieve the experts’
recommendations (100 whitefish per year and
4 whitefish per day).
E. REFERENCES CITED
Fédération de pêche de Haute-Savoie, 2009.
Première évaluation des captures de poissons par
pêche à la ligne depuis le bord du lac d’Annecy,
saison 2009. A study carried out at the request
of the Annecy Lac Pêche association and the
Département Directorate of the Territories of
Haute-Savoie.
GERDEAUX D., 1995. Le peuplement pisciaire du
lac d’Annecy. Bulletin No. 3 de la Société d’Histoires
Naturelles de la Haute-Savoie.
GERDEAUX D., 2009, 2010 and 2011. Suivi de la
pêche professionnelle au Lac d’Annecy. Rapports
annuels pour les saisons 2008, 2009 et 2010. SILA-
DDT-INRA agreement.
MÜLLER R., PATTAY D., ROESCH R., 2007 and
2010. Expertise halieutique du lac d’Annecy,
effectuée à la demande du SILA et de la DDT.
ONEMA, 2007 and 2010. Échantillonnage 2007 et
2010 du peuplement piscicole du lac d’Annecy.
Application du protocole EN 14757.
ONEMA, 2010. Échantillonnage de la faune pisciaire
de la zone littorale du lac d’Annecy, campagne
avril-mai 2009.
A shoal of small young-of-the-year perch in Lake Annecy
(Photo: J-L. BERTONCELLO)
- Lastly, maintaining fishing monitoring is fully
justified according to the experts, with a brief
annual report and a more comprehensive
assessment a few years later. More intensive
involvement of the Fisheries Scientific Committee
in the fishing management of Lake Annecy was
also recommended.
The Consultative Commission for Fishing
on Lake Annecy met at the start of 2011 and