#TECM2610438A2026 Mediterranean fishing effort quotas for French-flagged professional vessels
AI-generated summary for informational purposes only. Not legal advice. See the original source for the authoritative text.
This law sets the 2026 fishing-effort quotas for French-flagged professional vessels operating in the Mediterranean and splits those days by gear type, vessel size, and producer organization. It covers trawls, longliners, dredges, beach seines, and purse seines, and gives separate caps for GSA 7, GSA 8, palangre fishing, and other listed segments. For operators, the practical effect is simple: they must stay within the allocated fishing days, watch the mid-year and late-year quota reviews, and be ready for temporary closures if use approaches the limits. It also bans using or carrying a bottom trawl that does not meet the required 45 mm square-mesh compensation setup by the deadline listed for each vessel.
AI-generated summary. May contain errors. Refer to official sources for legal decisions.
Key Changes
- Sets 2026 fishing-effort quotas in Mediterranean waters for French-flagged professional vessels.
- Divides fishing days by gear type, vessel length, producer organization, region, and fishing segment.
- Requires some bottom trawl vessels to meet a 45 mm square-mesh compensation rule by vessel-specific deadlines and allows temporary closures if quotas run low.
Obligations
What this law requires
French-flagged professional vessels operating in the Mediterranean and holding an EU fishing authorization must stay within the fishing-effort quota allocated to their gear, vessel length, organization-of-producers status, and fishing segment under Annexes 2 to 7, with effort measured in fishing days.
Operators using the listed gears (bottom trawls, pelagic trawls, longliners, dredges, beach seines, and purse seines) must apply the quota-allocation rules in the relevant annex for their specific gear type and category; days of fishing may not exceed the sub-quota applicable to the vessel.
Quota consumption must be reviewed on 15 June, 15 November, and 1 December 2026; operators should ensure usage data are available for these quota-balance checks and adjust activity if consumption is approaching the limit.
If a sub-quota is near exhaustion, fishing operators must be prepared for a temporary closure; once a quota or sub-quota is deemed exhausted, vessels must remain in port or stop using the gear covered by the closure.
Operators must not transfer chalut (trawl) effort days between GSA 7 and GSA 8, as the arrêté expressly prohibits quota transfers between those two areas.