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Large Quantities of Anchovy Rejected
October 2002
The French fleet in the Golfe du Lion fishes around 10,000 tonnes of anchovies per year, in an area with estimated stocks of 100,000 tonnes.
However there is a problem with the size of the mature fish. They are too small to fillet by machine, making it impossible for European processors to buy. This has resulted in much of the catch being rejected.
Mature two-year-old anchovies, although abundant in the Golfe du Lion this year, are all small, representing between 50-75 fish per kilo, whilst the same species caught in Latin America weigh in around 35 per kilo
The rejected fish are sent to a fertiliser plant in the area. In a bid to prevent this scale of rejection happening again - at a time when anchovy products are gaining importance of the French market - fishermen from the Mediterranean have already filed a request that size regulations be better adapted to the fish available.
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