Giant trawlers: the devastating proof of a massacre in a “protected” area

16 December 2024

Last week, the BLOOM team were caught in the act of environmental destruction in a marine area that is supposedly “protected” from giant ships up to 142 metres in length. Our ground-breaking research study, published on 14 December, reveals the unbelievable amount of factory ships, mostly Dutch, plundering the falsely “protected” waters of the Natura 2000 area of Flanders bank, located in between Dunkirk and Dover, due to the complicity of French authorities. BLOOM revealed in a video with already over 890,000 views the industrial massacre that is taking place only a few kilometres from the coast, under the helpless gaze of local fishermen. We also revealed the existence of a “fish vacuum” allowing giant ships to suck up live animals without even raising their nets: a sickening industrial excess for local costal fishermen. Everyday, millions of marine animals are caught in “protected” areas due to the government’s wish to protect industrial businesses rather than marine ecosystems and the environment. After having ravished the waters by Calais, the armada of giant trawlers has now set a course for Normandy and started raiding between Dieppe and Fécamp.

Since mid-November, giant ships have been ravaging French waters, in particular in the so called “protected” areas of the Channel where they spend more than 90% of their time in some cases. These giant trawlers make up a real armada. The smallest of them measures 81 metres, the largest 142. All of them practise pelagic trawling and belong, directly or indirectly, to Dutch multinationals:

• The Scombrus, 81m, owned by France Pélagique, a subsidiary owned by Cornelis Vrolijk,
• The Prins Bernhard, 88m, owned by France Pélagique, a subsidiary owned by Cornelis Vrolijk,
• The Zeeland, 116m, owned by Cornelis Vrolijk,
• The Frank Bonefaas, 119m, owned by Cornelis Vrolijk,
• The Corlien, 126m, owned by Cornelis Vrolijk,
• The Afrika, 126m, owned by Cornelis Vrolijk,
• The Wiron 1, 52m, owned by Cornelis Vrolijk,
• The Maartje Theadora, 140m, owned by Parlevilet & van der Plas,
• The Willem van der Zwan, 142m, of the company Willen van der Zwan & Zonen.

Each winter, the arrival in the Channel of the largest fishing ships in the world has provoked the anger and shock of fishermen due to their devastating efficiency, supported by the state to the detriment of the marine environment and coastal fishermen. “Each of these sea monsters everyday catches the equivalent of what 1,000 small ships can catch. “It’s a real pillage”, explains Laetitia Bisiaux, a campaign officer for BLOOM.

Fishing activity of the nine largest pelagic trawlers in the protect marine area of the Flanders bank between 1st and 11 December 2024 (Global Fishing Watch map)

Pillaging in the 12 nautical miles of coastal waters

These factory ships target herring and do not hesitate to approach very close to the coast.  The Zeeland for example was caught fishing in the protected area of the Flanders bank only 8 nautical miles from the coast, i.e. less than 15km: it raised its net and sucked up tens of tonnes of fish with an enormous pipe. This ship is a pelagic trawler, meaning that is supposed to fish in the water column, but the uniqueness of the Flanders bank is its shallow depth: only 30 metres. It is therefore impossible for a gigantic net of several hundred metres length and tens of metres in height to not scrape the seabed.

False protection of the ocean, real protection of destroyers

Two troubling points were tirelessly reported by BLOOM and the coastal fishermen in this scandal: 

On the one hand, the absence of real protection of so called “protected” marine areas in France, which are absolutely not in compliance with international standards for protection of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). These standards require for “standard” protection the prohibition of all industrial activities and infrastructure, including any fishing vessels of more than 12 metres or that carry out trawling. In terms of “strict” protection, the standards require the prohibition of any commercial activity.

On the other hand, the unconditional support of policies for industrial ships and the unfair and completely vague management of fishing quotas.  The French state has effectively delegated the allocation of quotas to “manufacturing organisations”, whose opacity which has been severely denounced by the ’Autorité de la concurrence (Competition authority) promotes a clientelist system criticised by fisherman and NGOs for many years. Proof of this is the recent choice of Minister for Fisheries and mayor of Lorient, Fabrice Loher, to grant the Annelies llena, the largest factory ship in the world (145m, owned by Parlevliet & van der Plas) 37,000 tonnes of French quota, while the ship is licensed in Poland, instead of negotiating the quota for French coastal fishermen.

“This industrial model is indicative of social and ecological ruin. The vast tonnes fished by these ships do not profit our fish markets and the local economy. The Annelies llena has again proved this by unloading its haul of 7,000 tonnes of fish at the port of IJmuiden in Holand this weekend before setting out to ravage European waters” explains Laetitia Bisiaux.

The dependence of industrial actors on public subsidies

It should be noted that without public subsidies, these enormous trawlers would be bankrupt. They benefit from a complete waiver of taxes on fuel, which represents 40% of the price at the pump. A large number of these mobile predators also benefit from another type of subsidy: the fishing agreements established between the European Union and many African countries, where mega trawlers pillage the fishing resources.

The United Nations Ocean Conference will take place in six months time

In less than six months, the United Nations Ocean Conferences will take place in Nice. BLOOM is demanding that the “protected” marine areas are finally protected and that France prohibits any infrastructure and industrial activity in this area, including bottom and pelagic trawling; and that the coastline of 12 nautical miles be exclusively reserved for ships measuring less than 25 metres.