It is on the coast of Brittany that Frédéric Le Manach discovered the marine fauna and flora, their exploitation (be it sustainable or not), and the impacts of human activities on the Big Blue. When not in Brittany during holidays it was with Cousteau’s TV team that he went through apprenticeship in the Parisian suburbs.
Frédéric chose to maritimize his career during his Bachelor at the University of Paris. After spending a year in Marseille learning about marine ecology and biology, he then integrated the European Masters in water and coastal management in England (Plymouth) and Spain (Cádiz). It is during these two years that he discovered the importance of the fishing industry, but also its problems and injustices. For his internship, he worked on reconstructing catch data in Madagascar and established himself at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. This internship offered him many opportunities, including a contract with the World Bank to strengthen the knowledge on Madagascar’s small-scale fishers. There, he discovered the ravages that a lack of political will and means may cause, particularly with regards to the illegal and very dangerous trade in holothurians (sea cucumbers) and shark fins. This short period as a consultant for a UN agency teached him something else, though: this is not what he wants to do with his life…
Back in Vancouver at the Sea Around Us project, Pr. Daniel Pauly offered him to do a PhD on the topic of his choice. Increasingly obsessed with the gap between industrial and artisanal fisheries, it is quite naturally that Frédéric decidee to look at a crucial yet poorly studied subject: the fisheries access agreements established by the European Commission — on behalf of its industrial fleets — with developing countries, particularly in West Africa, the Indian Ocean and increasingly in the Pacific Ocean. To deepen his knowledge, he partnered with the French Research Institute for Development in Sète, France, where many experts on tuna and African fisheries worked. There Pr. Philippe Cury co-supervised his thesis.
The results of Frédéric’s thesis eventually showed how fisheries agreements, for a modest “financial compensation” (largely paid for by European taxpayers), enabled European companies to exploit the rich waters of many tropical countries: shrimp, lobster, octopus and sardinella in the past; mainly tuna nowadays. Such conclusions provoked the ire of French industrials, but one of their representatives eventually publicly acknowledged that access rights paid by industrials to “partner” countries were low compared to their turnover. The cost of these access rights will be increased (from €35 per tonne of tuna caught — and reported — to €55) shortly afterward when certain agreements were renewed in the Indian Ocean.
Frédéric joined BLOOM in January 2015 to lead the scientific program carried out by a small team of young and eager researchers. He is currently leading projects on various topics that aim to produce more ecologically and socially viable fisheries models. His analyses focus on the state of European fish stocks, the practices of various industrial sectors such as reduction fisheries (that produce fishmeal used by the aquaculture and cattle industries) and tropical tuna fisheries. He also works on the impact of public subsidies and on the responsible consumption of fish. He also always takes pleasure in teaching and participating to festivals, round tables etc.
Other (unpaid) appointments
- Since 2017 : member of the Executive Committee of the Long Distance Advisory Council
- Since 2016 : observer at the Advisory Committee of the International Council for the Exploitation of the Sea
- 2016-2017 :
- Member of the Steering Committee of a project on sustainable tuna fisheries’ scenarios in the Indian Ocean, Institut du développement durable et des relations internationales (IDDRI)
- Member of the Public Chamber of the Stakeholder Council of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)
- Since 2012 : fisheries advisor, Blue Ventures
- 2013-2015 : Board member of the French fisheries association
(unpaid) support to companies
Mars Petcare
Carrefour
Intermarché
Conferences
Invited to numerous festivals (Alternatiba, Avenir au naturel, Caméras rebelles, Ocean Climax, Fête de l’Humanité, Terre & lettres, Terre & avenir, We Love Green etc.), scientific conferences (AAAS, WIOMSA, ISEE, IMCC, AFH etc.), and other public conferences (Bar des sciences, Campus Générations Cobayes, Forum de la mer, WikiStage etc.)
Publications
Book chapters
Troubled waters. pp. 42-47 In Polman K and Vasconcellos-Sharpe S (eds.), Imaginal cells — Visions for transformation. The brewery at Freuds, Londres (UK). Co-written with Claire Nouvian
Sortir du productivisme de la pêche française. pp. 109-112 In #LesJoursHeureux (ed.) Et nous vivrons des jours heureux — 100 auteurs 120 actions immédiates pour résister et créer. Actes Sud, Paris (France). Co-written with Claire Nouvian
Démocratiser les institutions européennes. pp. 39-42 In #LesJoursHeureux (éds.) Et nous vivrons des jours heureux — 100 auteurs 120 actions immédiates pour résister et créer. Actes Sud, Paris (France). With Frédéric Lebaron, Lylian Le Goff, Martin Rieussec-Fournier et Raymond Zaharia
Various chapters in Pauly D and Zeller D (eds.), Global atlas of marine fisheries: a critical appraisal of catches and ecosystem impacts. Island Press, Washington, DC (USA) : catch reconstructions for France (Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, La Réunion, Corsica, Îles Éparses, Mayotte), continental China, Comoros, Madagascar, Kenya, Djibouti, and Romania.
Global catches of large pelagic fishes, with emphasis on the high seas. In Pauly D and Zeller D (eds.), Global atlas of marine fisheries: a critical appraisal of catches and ecosystem impacts. Island Press, Washington, DC (USA). Island Press, Washington, DC (USA).
Peer-reviewed journals
First author
European Union’s public fishing access agreements in developing countries (2013) PLOS ONE
Who gets what? Developing a more equitable framework for EU fishing agreements (2013) Marine Policy
Unreported fishing, hungry people and political turmoil: the recipe for a food security crisis in Madagascar? (2012) Marine Policy
Co-author
Sinan et al. (2022, 6 décembre). Subsidies and allocation : A legacy of distortion and intergenerational loss. Frontiers.
Coulter et al. (2019) Using harmonized historical catch data to infer the expansion of global tuna fisheries, Fisheries Research.
Sumaila et al. (2019) Fisheries subsidies wreck ecosystems. Nature.
Cashion et al. (2017) Most fish destined for fishmeal production are food-grade fish. Fish and Fisheries.
Sumaila et al. (2016) Global fisheries subsidies: an updated estimate. Marine Policy
Kleisner et al. (2013) Exploring patterns of seafood provision revealed in the global Ocean Health Index. AMBIO
Pauly et al. (2013) China’s distant water fisheries in the 21st century. Fish & Fisheries
Harper et al. (2012) Fuelling the fisheries subsidy debate: agreements, loopholes and implications. Fisheries Research
Reports
First author
The dark side of aquaculture. BLOOM Association, Paris (France). 32 p.
Natural capital accounting and management of the Malagasy fisheries sector: a technical case study for the WAVES global partnership (unpublished; 2012), report prepared for the Environment Department of the World Bank (consulting contract)
Valuation of fisheries resources in Madagascar (internal publication; 2012) Report prepared for the WAVES global partnership, Madagascar’s World Bank national office (consulting contract)
Chapters contributed to various Fisheries Centre Research Reports (France [Corsica, La Réunion, Îles Éparses], Kenya, Madagascar, Seychelles)
Co-author
Ducos et al. (2015) La belle et la bête — Du requin dans nos cosmétiques. BLOOM Association, Paris (France). 33 p
Sumaila et al. (2013) Global fisheries subsidies. Note IP/B/PECH/IC/2013–146. European Parliament, Brussels (Belgium)
Pauly et al. (2012) Catches [of the Chinese distant-water fleet]. pp 21–29 & 81–85. In Blomeyer R, Goulding J, Pauly D, Sanz A & Stobberup K (eds.) The role of China in World Fisheries. European Parliament, Brussels (Belgium)
Chapters contributed to various Fisheries Centre Research Reports (China, Comoros, Djibouti, France [Saint Paul & Amsterdam Islands, metropolitan France (Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, Mayotte], Mozambique and an update for Tanzania)
Editor
Le Manach & Pauly (2015) Fisheries catch reconstructions in the Western Indian Ocean, 1950–2010. Fisheries Centre Research Reports 23(2). Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. ii + 162 p
Harper et al. (2012) Fisheries catch reconstructions: islands, part III. Fisheries Centre Research Reports 20(5). Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. 134 p
Public consultations
European Commission
Public consultation on the international governance of the Ocean.
French ministry of Ecology
Public consultation on blue growth
Website
www.transparentsea.co. Pages in Franch and English on fisheries in Madagascar, Senegal, and European distant water fisheries
Lay audience
Poisson frais : comment acheter en confiance ? (2016) Notre Temps
A l’eau, Docteur : nos océans en danger ! (2015) Citad’elles— Le féminin sans barreau (with Claire Nouvian)
Expansion de la pêche mondiale : conséquences et perspectives (2012) Espèces. Based on older article requested by the French Society of Ecology (with Daniel Pauly)
Précisions sur l’accord thonier. L’Express de Madagascar (with Harris A & Sumaila UR)
Several contributions to FishBytes and the Sea Around Us Newsletter