| The regular aerial survey over the Bay of Biscay (France) by the French Custom Air Service enabled us to record precisely in 2001 the geographical positions of French fishing vessels inside the 12 nautical miles of the French Bay of Biscay (from Bay of Audierne to Spanish border). Among the 2396 ships counted in this area, 1810 were identified, corresponding actually to 900 boats since most of them (52 %) were seen several times. These 900 boats referred to 4 different "métiers", i.e. type of fishing activity: most of them (59 %) were bottom trawlers, 28 % gillnetters, 5 % potters and 5 % longliners; those which used another gear were less than 4 %. General characteristics of the 900 ships were identified: tonnage and power were respectively 25 TJB and 185... |
