Tag Archives: Boulogne-sur-Mer

Furious fishermen block France’s largest port in row over EU rules to eliminate trawling

French fishermen protesting against a European Union project to restrict bottom fishing symbolically blocked the main French fishing port, Boulogne-sur-Mer, on Sunday evening, the prefecture and the regional fisheries committee said. Seven fishing boats enacted a blockade at the entrance to the port, the prefecture said. Olivier Leprêtre, president of the Hauts-de-France regional fisheries committee told AFP the EU Commission’s plan “would be the death of the port of Boulogne”. He pointed out that with such a measure only 20 percent of the waters of the Pas-de-Calais Strait would remain accessible to fishing. >click to read< 09:01

Fears in France for future of fishing industry after Brexit

Fishermen in northern France have enjoyed nearly 50 years of shared seas during Britain’s membership of the European Union. But a no-deal Brexit is threatening to sink the livelihoods of people in Boulogne-sur-Mer who have been fishing all their lives. “If we don’t have an agreement it will be catastrophic,” says fisherman Laurent Merlin. His haul of flatfish and crabs will be at risk if any deal between the UK and the EU does not guarantee access to the seas off Britain. >video, click to read< 19:45