Taking the objectives set by the Kunming-Montreal Agreement at face value, the United Kingdom has strengthened the protection of its marine protected areas. An ecological decision that French fishermen and the Government took for them.
France and its fishermen speak out against the United Kingdom and its marine protected areas or “trolling” fishing activities would be prohibited.
If this new diplomatic conflict between France and the United Kingdom is far from being the first in the history of these two countries, its cause – the protection of biodiversity – differs from previous ones. On March 22, after a public consultation initiated in 2022, an order (1) published on February 1 by the British government's Maritime Management Agency (MMO) strengthened the protection of thirteen pre-existing marine protected areas (MPAs). . The latter are, moreover, subject to new rules prohibiting, in particular, the majority of bottom or “trolling” fishing activities.
One way for London to keep one of the promises of its Environmental Improvement Plan launched at the start of 2023 and the commitment (shared with France), carried by the High Ambition for nature and the people of February 2022, then included in the Kunming-Montreal Agreement on Biodiversity , to extend the surface area of protected oceans to 30%. But for France, this latest decision could be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
Chronicle of a political escalation
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| Location of the thirteen marine protected areas newly subject to the British ban on bottom fishing. © Marine Management Organization |
The situation began in June 2022, with a first series of orders issued by the MMO. The latter prohibited the use of trawls, seines or dredges within the first four of the largest MPAs in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the British Isles. Then, in February 2023 , the government of the new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, announced the creation of three new MPAs (compared to five initially envisaged, to the regret of environmental organizations in the kingdom) bringing their total number to 181, covering 40% of the surface. British maritime area, or nearly 93,000 square kilometers. And for the first time, these new areas have been framed under the regime of highly protected underwater nature reserves, within which all forms of fishing, dredging and construction are prohibited. A way for the British authorities to not only preserve but above all restore these habitats with high biodiversity, some of which are “relatively degraded” by human activities. However, some, like the Dolphin Head area in the Channel, “will impact French offshore fleets” , warned the newspaper Le Marin . And with the decision taken in February 2024, the situation turns sour.
If they are not considered “ strong protection ”, the thirteen MPAs now affected by fishing restrictions are of equal concern to French fishermen authorized to operate in the British EEZ – and, with them, the French government. On the air of France Bleu Nord radio (2) , the president of the Hauts-de-France regional fisheries committee (CRPHF), Olivier Leprêtre, is the first to draw the line, describing the decision as a "masquerade" , accusing the British authorities to favor local fishermen "with nets and traps" at the expense of French offshore fishermen who generally make "a large part of their turnover" in these areas . And this, even though the economic performance of many trawlers is withering away in the Channel. A decree of September 2022 (3) , resulting from an agreement between France and the United Kingdom, even provides for a “fleet exit plan” for some of these ships. In a column (4) published by Le Marin , Jean-François Rapin, Les Républicains senator from Pas-de-Calais, adds a layer and calls on the Government to “seize without delay” the subject (like the president LR of the Region, Xavier Bertrand, and elected representatives of the National Rally of the regional council). “This new measure of unilateral restriction of fishing zones for French vessels could sign the death warrant for our already very weakened fishing industry. »
Brussels gets involved
A missed opportunity?
On April 19, elected environmentalists from the Brittany Regional Council voted on a request to ban bottom fishing in protected marine areas on the Breton coast - like the British decision and echoing the wishes of the new Citizen Coalition for the Protection of the Ocean led by Bloom. Two thirds of Breton elected officials rejected this proposal.
A few days later, the Secretary of State for the Sea and Biodiversity, Hervé Berville , then in Guyana, assured his support for the sector. To which he had already assured, in April 2023, that with regard to European Union MPAs, France would ensure that no ban on bottom fishing would be imposed “neither in 2024 nor in 2030” . At the very end of March, Jean-Noël Barrot, the Minister Delegate in charge of Europe, took his turn to the challenge, denouncing a “potentially discriminatory” decision – in particular with regard to the terms of the post- Trade and Cooperation Brexit (TCA) between the United Kingdom and the European Union – calling, along with other affected member states, for “retaliatory measures” .
And on April 15, it was a priori done. That day, the British daily Financial Times revealed (5) that an informal meeting of European ministers responsible for fisheries was organized by the European Commission and that on this occasion, the Brussels executive was responsible for conduct a “thorough review” of the situation. In response, the British Prime Minister's spokesperson maintained the environmental and scientific merits of his decision and recalled that it had been taken after consultation with "all stakeholders, including French fishing groups" .
Greece enters the game
“Greece has just shown that there are countries that take seriously the destruction of the climate and living species on Earth” Claire Nouvian, Bloom For the Bloom association, this political escalation highlights the “true anti-ecological nature” of the policies of the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron. And the NGO recalls, on the one hand, that the United Kingdom's environmental decisions do not infringe the ACC which it concluded with the EU and which allows it to "take conservation measures in their own waters, provided that these measures apply to fishing vessels of all countries, including British vessels, which is the case with the United Kingdom's proposals . And on the other hand, that the European Commission , on the other side of the Channel, has been recommending since February 2023 “to prohibit bottom trawling in all marine areas of the Union supposed to be protected, starting with areas Natura 2000 by the end of March 2024 .
But what France has not decided to apply, leaving another country, Greece, to set the example on the Old Continent. At the new “ Our Ocean ” conference, held in Athens from April 15 to 17, the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriákos Mitsotákis , announced the creation of two new MPAs and made a promise to protect all the “marine national parks” of the trawl fishing country from 2026, then to extend this ban to all Greek MPAs, covering 32% of the country's marine surface. All while committing to investing 780 million euros, notably in setting up drone surveillance. “Greece has just shown that there are countries which take seriously the destruction of the climate and living species on Earth and that when a government wants, it can, (and) highlights the unforgivable negligence of the French government » , attests Claire Nouvian, the founder of Bloom. A snub towards France which will organize the next United Nations meeting on the ocean, in Nice in June 2025, but whose own National Strategy for the sea and the coast is still awaited.
Greece enters the game
“Greece has just shown that there are countries that take seriously the destruction of the climate and living species on Earth” Claire Nouvian, Bloom For the Bloom association, this political escalation highlights the “true anti-ecological nature” of the policies of the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron. And the NGO recalls, on the one hand, that the United Kingdom's environmental decisions do not infringe the ACC which it concluded with the EU and which allows it to "take conservation measures in their own waters, provided that these measures apply to fishing vessels of all countries, including British vessels, which is the case with the United Kingdom's proposals . And on the other hand, that the European Commission , on the other side of the Channel, has been recommending since February 2023 “to prohibit bottom trawling in all marine areas of the Union supposed to be protected, starting with areas Natura 2000 by the end of March 2024 .
But what France has not decided to apply, leaving another country, Greece, to set the example on the Old Continent. At the new “ Our Ocean ” conference, held in Athens from April 15 to 17, the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriákos Mitsotákis , announced the creation of two new MPAs and made a promise to protect all the “marine national parks” of the trawl fishing country from 2026, then to extend this ban to all Greek MPAs, covering 32% of the country's marine surface. All while committing to investing 780 million euros, notably in setting up drone surveillance. “Greece has just shown that there are countries which take seriously the destruction of the climate and living species on Earth and that when a government wants, it can, (and) highlights the unforgivable negligence of the French government » , attests Claire Nouvian, the founder of Bloom. A snub towards France which will organize the next United Nations meeting on the ocean, in Nice in June 2025, but whose own National Strategy for the sea and the coast is still awaited.
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