The French National Assembly voted unanimously on Thursday evening, May 9, in favour of banning electric fishing in French territorial waters, anticipating the new European regulation banning this controversial fishing technique in the European Union as of July 2021 (see EUROPE 12237/22).
The bill, which has received the support of the French government, must now be validated by the Senate for the ban to come into force, within the 12-mile, or 22.2 kilometres, limit off the coast. Electric fishing, considered devastating for wildlife and the seabed, is rarely used in France, unlike the Netherlands, which is the main proponent of this technique in Europe.
Negotiators of the EU institutions had reached an agreement to ban this practice from the summer of 2021, while leaving the possibility for States to ban it as of now in their territorial waters. This agreement was endorsed by the European Parliament in mid-April.
Before being published in the Official Journal of the European Union (around mid-2019), this compromise text between institutions has yet to be formally adopted by the Council of the EU (see EUROPE 12200/18). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)