A Parliamentary amendment linked to the Biodiversity Act that would ban deep water trawling will be voted on by French deputies later this week. France’s fishing industry is furious and Olivier le Nezet, chairman of the Brittany Fisheries Committee has said that such a ban would be a disaster.
The industry has called on ecology minister Ségolène Royal and Secretary of State responsible for biodiversity Barbara Pompili to respect the position already taken by the French government which declined to outlaw deep sea trawling. Olivier le Nezet has appealed to President Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls to reject the amendment.
A group of socialist deputies led by Morbihan deputy Gwendal Rouillard and mayor of Boulogne and former fisheries minister Frédéric Cuvillier have already asked for the amendment to be cancelled. Gwendal Rouillard has said that if the government’s position is not respected, they will demand Ségolène Royal’s resignation from her post.
Commenting that the amendment goes beyond deep water fisheries, affecting the entire industry and in particular towed gears of all kinds, Olivier le Nezet has called on fishermen to blockade ports in protest.
