BOULOGNE-SUR-MER, France — Trawlermen in France’s largest fishing port say they will either be voting for Marine Le Pen in next month’s presidential election, or for no one at all.
Boulogne was not always a stronghold of the far-right National Front (FN), and it is only over the last decade that traditionally left-wing French fishermen have veered in the other direction.
In many ways, the sole and halibut fishermen of Boulogne are classic protest voters. Their main complaint is that mainstream French politicians have deserted them, but they are paradoxical converts to the FN, often at odds with with Le Pen’s nationalist, Euroskeptic agenda. Several fishermen insisted that departure from the EU could undermine their business, and some also stressed the importance of being able to hire migrant crews, including Africans.
Despite those differences in outlook, there is no doubting Le Pen’s lure in Pas-de-Calais, the FN leader’s stomping ground in northeastern France, where she is a regional councillor. Fifteen out of the 20 fishermen who spoke to POLITICO in Boulogne said they would vote for Le Pen.
“She is one of us,” said skipper Loïc Margollé, as he and his six-man crew loaded water and groceries on board the 100-ton Saint Jacques in preparation for its next voyage in search of flatfish.
Margollé added that the fishing pedigree of Le Pen’s family played well in the fleet. Her father Jean-Marie fished langoustines from Brittany before founding the National Front in 1972. A native of La Trinité-sur-Mer, Jean-Marie’s own father died when his boat snagged a mine in its nets during World War II.
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| A long-term National Front supporter, Loïc Margollé says this is the year Marine Le Pen will finally win the election | Photo by Kait Bolongaro |
“Her connection to fishing made me vote for her in 2012 and I’ll vote for her again this year,” Margollé said. “Whether it’s the ridiculous [EU] quotas or the price of fuel, I can barely get by as a fisherman today.”
Margollé was one of the few fishermen who actually wanted to leave the EU. Although many grumbled about quotas, most also feared the consequences of being ejected from the European single market and losing access to other countries’ waters.
Fishing for votes
The FN is not taking the fishermen’s votes for granted. Regional councillor Antoine Guillot spends much of his time meeting with captains and crews to promote his party’s plan to reinvigorate French fishing.
“The National Front is the only party listening to fishermen. They’ve had enough of Brussels and quotas, which is why we want to regain sovereignty over our waters,” said the young party member, with the blue FN lapel pin on his suit jacket.
Courting the fishermen makes sense around Boulogne-sur-Mer. At the national level, fishermen are a minor economic concern, representing a tiny fraction of 1 percent of gross domestic product, but the fishing sector accounts for a far more consequential 10 percent of jobs in Boulogne. Only southern Brittany, at the far north-west tip of France, compares in terms of fishing’s share of the local economy, but its politics are resolutely centrist.
“I am just fed up with all the lies and false promises. We need results to save our profession from sinking and Brussels has too much power over our fishing” — Laurent Merlin
During the regional elections in Nord-Pas-de-Calais in 2015, the Socialists had to withdraw from the second round or face a Le Pen victory. Only five years earlier, a left-wing candidate won the same region with nearly 52 percent of the vote.
In the 2012 presidential elections, François Hollande received nearly 30 percent of votes during the first round in Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Boulogne’s département. Marine Le Pen came in second with 25 percent.
Despite the party’s desire to win more fishing votes, the FN program remains vague on what it will do to help fishermen. Le Pen does promise a referendum on France’s membership of the EU, with no specific mention of territorial waters or repatriating quotas.
There is also a promise of so-called “economic patriotism” that would prioritize fishing products caught by French fishermen. The big idea is that the authorities will buy up some catch for consumption in state-run institutions.
Among the other front-runners, Emmanuel Macron, leader of the centrist En Marche movement, sees the future of French fishing as squarely part of the EU. François Fillon, the candidate of the center-right Les Républicains, has promised to defend French fishing in Brussels, particularly during the upcoming Brexit negotiations.
Benoît Hamon from the Socialist Party is focusing on sustainable fisheries, while far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon has promised fishermen their own oceans ministry.
Changing tack
Across the Liane River that cuts through Boulogne, the presidential election is on the minds of Boulogne’s artisanal fishermen. With 51 vessels under 15 meters, small boats dominate the fishing off the coast of Pas-de-Calais.
Still sprightly after their 3 a.m. start, three men clamber off the 12-meter Laurent Geoffrey. For the captain, Laurent Merlin, Brussels is the bane of his existence. After previously voting for various right- and left-wing candidates, he is now throwing his lot in with the FN.
“I’m not voting for Le Pen out of conviction,” Merlin said. “I am just fed up with all the lies and false promises. We need results to save our profession from sinking and Brussels has too much power over our fishing.”
Jean Louis Malfoy, a seasoned, tattooed deckhand, is also backing the FN over what he considers to be an erosion of labor rights.
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| Jean Michael Merlin (left), Laurent Merlin (center) and Jean Louis Malfoy (right) are all supporting the National Front after becoming disenchanted by other political parties | Photo By Kait Bolongaro |
“I have no problem with immigrants. I just think we need more social protection,” he said.
Most of the fishermen echoed Malfoy’s sentiment. Theirs was a protest vote, not an offensive against immigrants.
“I’d prefer France to stay in Europe. We need more of the quota, but I think that’s a problem of politicians listening more to scientists than fishermen,” said Alexis Ternisien, a young deckhand on La Providence who is voting for Le Pen.
Other fishermen simply won’t cast a ballot.
Loïc Deparis has just docked the Saint Jean Pierre. His candidate of choice, Philippe Poutou from the far-left New Anticapitalist Party (NPA), is unlikely to garner enough of the vote to make it to the second round.
“I’m not going to vote. It won’t change anything. [Poutou] won’t even make it past the first round and I don’t want to support the FN,” said the softly spoken 24-year-old, unloading a fresh catch of sole.
For Stéphane Pinto, vice president of the local chapter of the committees for maritime fisheries and fish farming, fishermen have been cast across the political spectrum like rag dolls. Promised jobs by an impassioned Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007, Pinto says many fishermen shifted their votes to the right. Then, François Hollande enticed some to return to their left-wing roots with “disappointing results.”
“All our fishermen I speak to say the same thing: I am voting Le Pen or not at all. I honestly don’t know who I’ll vote for myself,” he said, his hands sunk in his pockets.
The year of Le Pen
Ashore, much of the local economy is supported by fishing. Shopkeepers hawk glistening piles of sole, crab and cod laid out on crushed ice, in small blue-and-white stalls. While it is overwhelmingly men who go to sea, their wives are heavily involved in selling their catch.
For the past 25 years, Sandrine Pinto has sold her husband’s fish. She has worked through two reforms of the Common Fisheries Policy, under which she says quotas for key species like cod and sea bass have repeatedly been reduced. To alleviate the financial pressure, the family diversified their catch to crab and lobster.
“It’s expensive to buy new equipment because we don’t have enough quota to survive,” she said, rearranging her sole on a fresh bed of ice. “My son is now also a fisherman, but I would’ve liked him to do something else. Fishing isn’t a job of the future.”
Her neighbor Christine Delsart doesn’t have the same misgivings. She works side-by-side with her daughter, Magalie, and sales assistant, Patrick, selling the fish caught by her husband and two sons. A long-time Le Pen supporter, Delsart believes 2017 will be remembered as the year the National Front finally won the presidency.
“I’ve always liked her message to support French people,” said the shopkeeper, bagging a sole for a customer. “For me, Marine Le Pen is the only way forward for fishermen and for France.
Story courtesy of the Politico's website.
Newsnight on BBC2 ran a similar story from the centre of France recently - only in that piece voters have lost faith in any of the main politicians and are turning to outsiders for a radical change in politics.
