France's Bay of Biscay fishing ban aims to save dolphins

FRANCE 24 English

A fishing ban begins this Wednesday off most of France's western coastline. The goal of the moratorium is to cut the number of dolphins that are killed in fishing nets at this time of year. In this edition of Entre Nous, we discuss how French fishermen are up in arms over the ban and how a previous one effectively saved thousands of the aquatic mammals.  Visit our website: http://www.france24.com  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/France24_en

Transcript

00:00Back to France now, where a fishing ban begins today off most of the western coastline.

00:04The month-long ban is meant to cut the number of dolphins killed in fishing nets this time of year,

00:09but the moratorium has many French fishermen up in arms.

00:13Solange Mougin and France Television have the story.

00:17Returning to port after a long day on the water.

00:21Before the deadline to cease trawling,

00:23Julien Anesse was out catching as many fish as possible.

00:26For him, France's fishing ban is absurd.

00:30We already had 10 days of bad weather in early January.

00:33That means small boats will already be behind financially.

00:36This month-long ban needs to stop. End of story.

00:41For the second year running, boats that are over eight metres long

00:43are not allowed to fish in the Bay of Visquey from January 22nd to February 20th.

00:49The goal is to save the lives of thousands of dolphins.

00:52In the winter months, they're particularly present in these waters,

00:55and get caught and killed in trawler nets.

00:58Thrown overboard, many of them wash up along shorelines.

01:01Thousands are killed every year.

01:03But the near-month-long ban, which touches nearly all commercial fishing,

01:07also has an economic effect on the industry,

01:10even if financial compensation is given by the state.

01:17It's really frustrating because it's our livelihood.

01:20I don't understand it.

01:21A month does nothing because dolphins, for about a year now, we've got a lot of them.

01:28But studies show just the opposite.

01:31The thousands of dolphin deaths from fishing nets

01:33are putting the species at risk for regional extinction.

01:36And scientists say that last year's ban was successful.

01:40In just a month, the number of accidental deaths was divided by four.

01:45There are accidental bycatches all year long,

01:47but the number of them increases by a lot in the winter, between December and March.

01:52Last winter, we believe a total of 1,450 dolphins were killed as bycatch,

01:57whereas previous winters, the death toll was around 6,000 found dead.

02:01So we saw with the ban a steep drop last year.

02:05Other nations, like South Africa and Australia,

02:07have also enacted similar moratoriums, with equally positive results.

02:13That report from Solange Mougin, who joins me now on the set.

02:17Solange, tell us a bit more about this.

02:18Who does this ban affect to what degree?

02:20Like, what are the numbers?

02:21Well, this is the second time that the ban has gone into effect,

02:24and it's actually expected to be rolled out next winter as well.

02:27We'll get into the political and activist backstory on how this came about in a minute.

02:31But currently, this ban, as we just heard,

02:33runs from today, January 22nd until February 20th.

02:37It is expected to cease the activity of some 300 French and foreign fishing boats

02:42in the Bay of Biscay, or the Golfe de Gascogne, as it's called in French.

02:46So that is a massive chunk of French coastline

02:49that is essentially off-limits to most,

02:52if not all, commercial fishing for the next four weeks.

02:55The ban concerns essentially trawlers, or boats that cast wide nets or pull in unison nets

03:00to catch a whole slew of the different fish that we eat.

03:03Unfortunately, these nets also kill and trap dolphins

03:08that then wash up on France's shores a few days later,

03:11or they sink to the bottom of the ocean.

03:14So the real number of deaths is actually unknown.

03:16Now, the state has allocated a budget this year of 20 million euros

03:20to compensate the fishermen and the industry for this mandatory month off of fishing.

03:25So they will receive between 80 and 85 percent of their lost income.

03:29OK, so if they're being compensated, why is the fishing industry still so unhappy?

03:33Well, there is a psychological element of not being told you essentially can't do your job.

03:38And there is also still an economic impact.

03:40Some fishermen have complained that they didn't receive

03:43their compensation quickly enough last year.

03:45The government has now said that it will be faster this time.

03:49Also, the fishing industry claims that the overall impact

03:52of this ban is about 10 million euros more than what is being given.

03:57The environment and fishing minister replied to this in turn and said,

04:01hold on, Spanish fishermen are being compensated 46 percent.

04:05France's 85 percent isn't so bad.

04:08But beyond these economic numbers, there is a bigger picture here.

04:12And that is the conflict between industry protecting the environment and politics.

04:17All right, so give us a bit more of the back story.

04:18How did this one month ban first come about?

04:21Well, it's a lot of activism and it's a lot of political and judiciary stances backed by science

04:26on the dire need to protect the environment and to protect these mammals.

04:30According to Le Monde and the research group Pelagis,

04:33around 9000 common dolphins die every year off the Atlantic coast,

04:38with many of these deaths being from the fishing industry.

04:41That figure is nearly double the maximum number of 4900 deaths

04:46that can occur without the species being in danger.

04:48That is according to the CIEM, an international body that studies this.

04:53So too many dolphins are dying as well as other cetaceans.

04:57And they have been at least since the 1990s.

05:00And people along France's coastlines are noticing this

05:03with thousands of dolphins washing up in the winter.

05:06Now, a growing ecological consciousness has helped push for solutions,

05:10along with rather graphic campaigns by watchdogs

05:14and by environmentalist groups like Sea Shepherd

05:16that have rung alarm bells against these fishing methods.

05:20They are now on their eighth year of a campaign to save France's dolphin population

05:25and have in previous years not only filmed the practices of these fishing boats

05:30to prove that this is occurring,

05:31but also they have done protests in front of monuments like the Eiffel Tower

05:36with dead dolphins to raise awareness.

05:38Such campaigns have put pressure on politicians to act.

05:41In September last year, the EU sent out a directive about such a ban

05:45and France has enacted it last year for the first time.

05:49Now again, they're expected to do it again next year.

05:51France's constitutional court has also, when faced with legal challenges to this,

05:56said that it should be put in place at least until 2026

06:00with the hope of other solutions being found.

06:02All right, Solange.

06:03Thanks so much for that look at French fishing

06:05and that moratorium that goes on for a month.

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