Fishermen call for two dead days in ports

This atmosphere of tension among fishermen has not been seen since the Brexit crisis. “The cup is full and we must give a future to all those involved in our sector because the horizon is dark today,” said the National Committee for Marine Fisheries and Marine Management (CNPMEM) in a press release published on Tuesday. Calls for two dead days in French ports on Thursday and Friday demand a government response to a series of “attacks” weakening the sector.

For several days now, anger has been rising among the fishermen: strong demonstrations in Rennes or Lorient, the blockade of the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, the main French port.

Professionals denounce “inappropriate European regulations”, in particular the recent ban on bottom fishing in marine protected areas by 2030, diesel prices, the closure of some fishing areas in the Atlantic to conserve dolphins, whose numbers have increased in Dolphin Bay. Biscay and, ultimately, the “delimitation” of the state.

“The accumulation of standards, threats, disputes calls into question the very foundation of our profession, making us feel guilty for doing our profession: however, the only goal is to feed the French and Europeans,” the committee says.

After the health crisis and Brexit, which resulted in the scrapping of 90 ships, professionals see the very existence of the sector as “compromised by ongoing harassment and partial support without support for a vision for the future.”

Visit to the top of the state stated

They expressed their anger to President Emmanuel Macron in an open letter sent last week demanding “an end to this avalanche of heavy blows” and have been demanding to be received by the head of state ever since.

Pending a response “CNPMEM calls on all professional representatives to suspend their participation in environmental management bodies.”

The committee clarifies that the “dead port” days organized on Thursday and Friday are the result of a “united action” agreed between fishermen, auctions and wholesalers: “This is not about weakening yourself. Others think about it for us.”