towards an authorization of trawls in marine protected areas until 2030

Until 2030, it will be possible to fish with bottom trawls in marine protected areas. The Minister of the Sea promised it after a visit to Brussels (Belgium). Fishermen remain cautious. “Words are good, but actions are better. We would have liked these to be signed agreements“, explains one of them, Ulrick Comtesse. According to the fishermen, the plan of the European Union threatened a third of the French fleet.

Threat to biodiversity

This fleet, which specializes in bottom trawling, targets species living on ocean floors, both fish and crustaceans. However, trawling threatens biodiversity and the seabed. Brussels has asked member states to take national measures to ban fishing in protected areas. Claire Nouvian, of the Bloom association, also recalls the importance “to protect small-scale fishing, [qui] suffers the onslaught of industrial fishing“. The fishermen remain mobilized on other issues, in particular the accidental capture of dolphins.