Amenagement des peches dans les eaux communautaires: potentiel et limites des systemes de licences

Fishing regulations in waters under the responsibility of the EEC mainly concern three techniques of site development: - catch quotas by species and by area (TAC, a word adapted from the English Total Allowable Catch); - the definition – of the technical characteristics of the fishing devices used (meshing, type of trawl,...); - setting a minimum commercial size for each species. The regulations of meshing and other constraints relating to the technical characteristics of the fishing devices aim to modify the composition of the catches by age class. The TACs are a technique for controlling the level of exploitation of the stocks. Controlling the fishing effort that they generate is carried out indirectly in the short or mid term. For many years now, the total catch quota system by species and the concept of maximising production by recruit (see inset) that is often associated with it are the subject of criticism. At the same time, resorting to a system of direct control of the fishing effort by licensing is frequently presented as an effective alternative to the TAC system: The EEC should sooner or later acknowledge, that is, agree that it is impossible to ensure efficient management of fishing "without exerting control of all production factors, the most important of which is the volume of the fishing effort. It is, in the Commission's opinion, in this area that everything will inevitably be decided in the future" (Holden, 1984). The subject of this article is twofold: to remind about the theoretical analyses concerning the TAC and licensing systems; to bring up the factors required for establishing a licensing system as well as the nature of the difficulties that are associated with it.