Sea Shepherd and France Nature Environment will file appeals to defend cetaceans threatened by certain fishing techniques.
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Two NGOs, Sea Shepherd and France Nature Environnement (FNE) will lodge appeals to the Council of State against the government on Monday, December 6, accused of failing to take the necessary measures to preserve dolphins, a protected species threatened by certain techniques fishing.
The European Commission opened an infringement procedure against France in July 2020, ruling that the country is not fulfilling its obligations towards this protected species. She returned a letter to this effect in early October.
Every winter, hundreds of cetacean corpses wash up on the French Atlantic coast. According to the Pelagis scientific observatory, accidental captures by fishing gear are one of the main causes of mortality.
In October, FNE asked the Ministry of the Sea “the closure for three months during each winter and for one month during each summer of the fisheries concerned by the catches of cetaceans“.
Based on recommendations from Ciem, a scientific body which monitors the ecosystems of the North Atlantic, it also asks to install cameras on boats and to enforce the obligation to report incidental captures of dolphins.
The association indicates that it has not received a response from the ministry.