On Tuesday 21 April, several NGOs (ClientEarth, Sea Shepherd France and Défense des Milieux Aquatiques) announced that they have sued the French authorities before the Council of State (Conseil d’Etat) for failing to monitor and protect seabirds from unselective fishing activities. Several species are now considered threatened or even critically endangered.
France has some of the highest levels of incidental catches of seabirds in Europe, affecting species such as the Balearic shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus), gannet (Morus bassanus) and common guillemot (Uria aalge), according to the NGOs. They claim that France “failed to adequately collect data and implement measures to reduce bycatch”.
For the NGOs, this is in breach of the Birds and Habitats Directives, the Technical Measures Regulation, and other European laws. In 2022, the European Commission sent France a reasoned opinion for infringement of one of these texts. At the time, the Commission criticised France for not having sufficient measures in place to control and reduce by-catches of several protected marine species. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)