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Animal protection: the Council of State to the rescue of dolphins in the Bay of Biscay
While 9,000 dolphins die every year near the French Atlantic coast, the Council of State banned the use of certain fishing nets from January 22 to February 20. A measure which seriously handicaps fishermen. – (France 3)
While 9,000 dolphins die every year near the French Atlantic coast, the Council of State banned the use of certain fishing nets from January 22 to February 20. A measure which seriously handicaps fishermen.
Of the dolphins accidentally caught in fishing nets. It is a scourge in the Bay of Biscay. They are then released into the sea. Some cetaceans regularly wash up on Atlantic beaches, but this may soon be over. To protect them, fishing with certain nets will be prohibited from January 22 to February 20, the Council of State ruled. A massive blow for fishermen. More than 500 boats are affected, like that of Olivier Argelas in Cap-Ferret. “Concretely, we are going to be arrested for a month, which is still quite dramatic“.
Unclear regulations
Fishing bans were already in force, but with numerous exemptions. The Council of State suspended them. “We told the boats that they had to be careful of the dolphins, ‘but if you have such equipment, you can go’. So we were on a false fishing ban,” explains Antoine Gatet, president of France Nature Environnement. According to a scientific organization, 9,000 dolphins die each year by accidental capture on the French Atlantic coast.
