The government lies on giant trawlers

18 December 2023

On 28 November, the French government committed yet another astounding feat.

On the set of the program “Les super-pouvoirs de l’océan” (English: The Superpowers of the Ocean”), displayed live on national television, the French Secretary of State for the Sea, Hervé Berville, repeatedly and deliberately lied to the French people.

He dared to assert several times that giant factory-ships and trawlers were forbidden in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)! Even though he himself is the architect of this completely outrageous French reality. In short, NO, destructive fishing gear and industrial fishing are not banned in Marine Protected Areas.

We are now having to fact-check a government statement that has lost touch with the most fundamental form of integrity.

DESTRUCTIVE GEAR IS NOT PROHIBITED IN MARINE PROTECTED AREAS

If fishing methods equivalent to underwater bulldozers are still authorized in France’s so-called “protected” marine areas, it’s because of Mr. Berville’s own opposition to real ocean protection: let’s not forget his stance on 8 March in the French Senate, when he said he was “totally, clearly and firmly” opposed to banning destructive gear in Marine Protected Areas.

BLOOM’s astounded team immediately set the record straight: contrary to Hervé Berville’s assertion, there are indeed factory-ships in France’s so-called “protected” marine areas.

MARINE PROTECTED AREAS AT THE MERCY OF MEGA TRAWLERS

Industrial monsters over 80 meters long were ravaging the waters of the English Channel at the very moment Mr. Berville was spreading his lies on a public service channel.

In the 15 days prior to the TV broadcast, one of these giant trawlers, the “Scombrus” (81 m), had just spent 93% of its time in French Marine “protected” Areas, sucking up millions of kilos of fish under the noses of French artisanal fishers, desperate and powerless in the face of the French government’s political will to let these industrial war machines destroy the ocean and their trade, in fishing operations akin to merciless roundups.

IN THE FACE OF LIES AND DESTRUCTION, LET’S RESTORE TRUTH AND PROTECTION

Huge trawlers and irresponsible politicians are the “ocean’s super-destroyers”. They form an integral system of corruption, opacity and environmental and social desolation.

When the government gets to the point of blatantly distorting the facts and lying straight to the faces of the French people on a public service channel, we know that we’re not facing a battle to defend the general interest, the ocean and the climate, but a war of attrition.

Letting them get away with it is out of the question.