This article is part of a series dedicated to the presentation of angling associations across Europe. For this article, we introduce the EAA member from France: Fédération nationale de la plaisance et des pêches en mer – National Federation of Boating and Marine Fisheries (FNPP).
The federation was founded in 1972 to represent and promote the interests of recreational anglers in France, with a focus on the activities at sea. It defends the free use of the sea, notably for pleasure-sailing and recreative angling. It also seeks to promote the application of current regulations by all anglers, as well as the participation to conservation activities for wildlife, plants and the coastline.
The federation represents more than 400 local associations and more than 40,000 members in all coastal French regions, across six regional committees. Its work is divided in five thematic Committees: environment, fishing, on foot fishing, harbour, and security. It focuses currently on two main themes: the evolutions of angling regulations, consistent with European laws; and the role of pleasure-sailing in marine protected areas.
Back in 2010, the FNPP co-signed with the French government the “charter of commitments and objectives for environment-friendly recreational sea fishing,” in order to contribute to the sustainability of the sea and to raise awareness amongst pleasure sailors of the angling-related environmental challenges. Throughout the years, the FNPP continued to promote the harmonious development of eco-friendly pleasure-sailing and fishing at sea. Most recently, the FNPP took another step to facilitate the implementation of a free, fair and transparent system to allow for the effective monitoring of recreational angling.
The federation indeed exchanged and created a partnership with FishFriender, a “social fishing platform,” which recently won a European Commission tender for a
pilot project on the control of recreational fisheries. The app’s aim is to help record and declare fish catches at the European level (with an initial focus on sea bass) and should help gather more data on recreational fisheries and support better management.
The federation also publishes a quarterly magazine,
Pêche Plaisance, which sheds light on different activities for anglers at sea, such as fishing in all its forms, kayak fishing or even freediving. It also presents the activities of the regional and local associations. In the March 2020 edition, there is even a divine recipe for thon ceviche.
