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Biodiversity: resumption of fishing in the Bay of Biscay
Biodiversity: resumption of fishing in the Bay of Biscay – (FRANCEINFO)
Fishermen in the Bay of Biscay can resume their activity on Wednesday February 21. For a month, fishing was prohibited in the area to protect the dolphins.
The wait was long for the fishermen. After a month at the dock, the 450 ships in the Bay of Biscay can leave on Wednesday February 21. The ban has been lifted. Olivier Mercier, shipowner, is concerned about the future. “At first we are angry, then we are resigned because we have no choice. (…) We are worried about the future, because we know that this is the door open to larger shutdowns”he confides.
Increase in fish prices
These four weeks without fishing were decided to preserve dolphins, often accidentally caught in ship nets. The consequences of the pause on the local sector are clear: the prices of certain fish on the stalls of the Saint-Jean-de-Luz market (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) have almost doubled. “I am for saving the dolphin, when it is there. There, it is not really there at the moment”, observes Cédric Marinello, restaurateur. Every year, more than 9,000 cetaceans die on the Atlantic coast.
