MECANOR² : Amélioration de la gestion des métiers du casier en Normandie et dans le nord de la France

Following the drop in sole Solea solea net fishing yields, gillnetters in Hauts-de-France have diversified and even converted to pot fishing. On the entire Eastern Channel and North Sea coast (from Cherbourg to Dunkirk), the fishing of crustacean and whelk is widespread. The species caught by these techniques (whelks, lobster, brown crab and spider crab) do not benefit from scientific assessment in this area. Also, it is not guaranteed that the regulations in place allow for the sustainable exploitation of these resources. In this context, the MECANOR² project was set up with the aim of providing an initial diagnosis of the state of these resources, to verify whether the regulations in place ensure the sustainability of these fisheries. This first diagnosis consists of the use of DLS (Data Limited Stocks) methodologies, production models and size-structured models (for crustaceans) to provide indicators of the state of the resource in relation to the MSY. The diagnosis of the whelk resource was supplemented by a study of the gametogenesis cycle to determine the size at maturity of whelks in the different areas identified, as well as a study of their trophic ecology.