FactualIn Boulogne-sur-Mer, the industry is satisfied with the quotas negotiated between the United Kingdom and the European Union, but is worried about the state of the resource.
The passage of the storm Bella, this weekend, offered a little respite to the fishermen of Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pas-de-Calais) after a “Three-year fight”. “In recent years, we haven’t spent a single week without discussing Brexit and its consequences, says Olivier Leprêtre, president of the Hauts-de-France Regional Committee for Maritime Fisheries and Breeding (CRPMEM). With this agreement, we escaped death, so we can only be happy. “
They welcomed with relief the agreement reached between the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom on Thursday, December 24, which provides for the 27 to gradually give up 25% of their catch in British waters. “We knew we were going to lose with Brexit but here we are not going to complain, adds Mr. Leprêtre. And Capécure [le premier centre européen de transformation des produits de la mer situé à Boulogne-sur-Mer] will only get better. Although I am not in politics, overall the government has done very well. “
The Hauts-de-France fishing industry feared a “no deal”, hence the almost unanimous impression of having obtained a good compromise. “It would have been dramatic if we hadn’t had an agreement, recalls Jean-Michel Fournier, fishing boss of Etaples, in Pas-de-Calais. We know that the English are tenacious but [Michel] Barnier and the Minister of the Sea [Annick Girardin] have been too. “
His family has been fishing for five generations in French and British waters. The Notre-Dame-de-Boulogne, its 24.40-meter trawl, crisscrosses English waters more than 40% of the time and goes up in its nets mackerel, whiting, cuttlefish, red mullet … “Our goal is to stay in the waters that we have always practiced by doing artisanal fishing that respects nature and that does not go beyond what the resource can give us”, specifies the 51-year-old fisherman, ready to return to sea after the passage of the storm.
“A little breakage”
France’s leading fishing port, with 31,538 tonnes of fish landed in 2019, Boulogne-sur-Mer received an unexpected Christmas present. EU fishermen will benefit from a transition period until June 2026, before having to give up 25% of their catches. For the fleets of Normandy, Brittany and Hauts-de-France, the three regions most concerned, access to British fish-bearing waters, and in particular within 6 to 12 nautical miles off the British coast, guarantees the sustainability of their activity. “Even with this 25% drop, we will be able to continue. And I can’t imagine putting fewer men on board ”, confides Jean-Michel Fournier, who has six fishermen by his side on the Notre-Dame-de-Boulogne. He hopes that an increase in the price of fish will compensate for this shortfall.
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