Evolution economique du chalutage en Méditerranée. Le cas du port de Sète (1970-1974)

The trawling activities of Sète ships grew markedly between 1971 and 1983: the number and above all the power of these trawls increased; marketed amounts went from less than 3,000 tonnes for the period 1971-1973 to more than 8,000 tonnes in 1982 and 1983. This development masks a distinct deterioration of the economic results of each category of trawl since the end of the 1970s. This deterioration results from the increase of certain operating expenses, like fuel and ENIM fees; it is also due to a tendency towards decreasing, since the mid-1970s, the intake of demersal species per unit of effort. The adaptations to the decrease of intake per unit of effort were made by increasing motor power, by a relative specialisation of 24-to-25-metre trawls in small pelagic species, and, more recently, by an increased specialisation of certain small and medium-sized trawls in species with a high unit value (use of the double-panel trawl of the Le Drezen type). The considerable increase in the intake of small pelagic species of low value and the stagnation of those of demersal species are a characteristic of the growth of trawling in Sète since 1975.