French marine fish farmers do not have the choice: to face the abundant foreign offer, their main asset is to offer high quality products. This quality relies on efficient production and commercialization skills in addition to an internal and external monitoring and controlling network.
The French marine fish farming could be summarized as follow: a high technical expertise at the service of a small production. France is pioneer and leader in many fish farming skills despite its production is one of the smallest in Europe. In this environment, French fish farmers have the choice in the tools and may easily use them on family-owned or middle-sized farms.
Monitoring points are many. First, raw materials are checked at their entrance in the food-crafting factory and at their exit. The psychochemical parameters of the rearing water, crucial component of fish farming, are frequently measured. The growth performances and the health condition of the livestock, which condition the production plan of any farm, are controlled every day by the fish farmer who may rely on a network of engineers and vets. The farmer may contribute to various programs which aim at enhancing the quality of the production such as the one offered by the CNPMEM to Mediterranean marine fish farmers (Program PESQUAD)
The Directorate for Food and the local vet services that depend on it are missioned to control and accredit, making frequent visits, every production site, and especially regarding the health safety mastery of the farm. Along with this presence on fish farming sites, the administration applies a monitoring and control plan of the food supported by analysis before customer are given the fishes at the end of the food chain. This external monitoring whose foundations are regulatory is completed by the existence, on every rearing sites, of a registry which attests, day after day, of any actions conducted or events occurred, in order to gives a complete history of every fish batch.
