Evaluation annuelle du stock de coquilles Saint-Jacques de la baie de Seine : résultats de la campagne COMOR 43 (3 au 24 juillet 2013)

The main aim of King scallops Pecten maximus stock assessment French surveys in the Bay of Seine (COMOR) is to set an annual primary diagnosis of the state of the resource (abundance by age classes, growth, distribution on the seabed) before the opening of the fishing season. For twenty years, the survey takes place in July, best compromise between enough growing of the group 1 shells, faster in the Bay of Seine than in the Saint-Brieuc Bay, allowing their capture by sampling dredges, and early expertise which allows to stakeholders (administrative, market organization, professional committee, ...) to take the best measures suited to the reality perceived through the survey’s results. The results are presented in distinguishing the off-shore part of the Bay of Seine, located beyond the French territorial waters, and the classified Seine Bay, entirely located inside the territorial waters and subjected to highly regulation of fisheries. In July 2013, the estimation of exploitable biomass is 2 times higher than the average over the last 10 years zones. It is mainly composed of 3 (or more) years old King scallops, resulting from the remainder of the previous fishing seasons. The recruitment (2 years old scallops) is medium, but constituted with scallops presenting a strong retarded growth, which should have an impact on catches (discards of scallops under the minimal landing size). The pre-recruitment (one year old scallops) is extremely low in all areas.