The question of the use of this fishing technique, which consists of depositing a funnel-shaped net on the seabed, is at the heart of the discussions of the EU bodies in Brussels on Thursday.
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Europe is invited to remove Thursday, September 29 a fishing technique accused of depleting species near the French coast. The demersal seine used to fish on areas of more than 3km2, and mainly practiced by Dutch boats, is opposed by French fishermen.
Oliver Leprêtre knows the demersal seine well since he practices it. The latter is both a fisherman and president of the Hauts-de-France regional fisheries committee in Boulogne-sur-mer. His boat has nothing to do, he says, with the Dutch fleet. “We are half as strong, half as powerful, we have half the length of the net”, he explains. Opposite speech on the side of Mathieu Vimard, deputy director of the organization of Norman fishermen. “The nets are gigantic, the damage significant.”
Near the French coast, in the English Channel, around sixty boats use this high-intensity fishing.
This is a threat that has been confirmed for several years now, where we have seen the depletion of certain species as this fleet develops.
Mathieu Vimard, deputy director of the Norman fishermen’s organizationat franceinfo
According to the Hauts-de-France fisheries committee, 98% of fishermen on the facade are opposed to this technique. They stand alongside the association for the defense of the oceans Bloom. “This fight is emblematicbegins Laetitia Bisiaux, spokesperson for the NGO. We are on a subject quite similar to that of electric fishing, we are on the same actors. We have manufacturers who have developed a super-efficient technique and who come to vulnerable, fragile areas.”
All are nevertheless pessimistic about the future European decision. They suspect the government of seeking the status quo.
The demersal seine, a technique that is the subject of contention between fishermen – the report by Etienne Monin
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