"They should not exist these boats, that one is going to kill everything." Behind the fish stall that she holds at the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Sylvie lets burst her anger about the gigantic fishing boat that is currently crisscrossing the Channel. The factory trawler, registered in Lithuania and owned by the Dutch company Parlevliet van der Plas, is 143 meters long and can fish up to 250 tonnes of fish a day.
"The fishermen will die"
"When we see the small boats trying to escape ... What will become of sinners? They will die and then that's all," worries Sylvie. It must be said that this trawler represents a deadly competition for French fishermen craftsmen who cross this monster off the English coast.
A danger also for the resource, underlines Eric Gosselin, of the maritime cooperative. "The size of the gear he's dragging makes him dangerous, and he catches everything: even if he has quotas of mackerel and herring, I think he's taking other species," he says. According to him, the size of the trawler is "disproportionate" compared to the area where he works. "It's not sustainable for the resource."
"Source of conflict"
And the problem is just beginning. In the case of Brexit, the factory trawler could well fall back on French waters. "In this case, we can imagine that it will join the rest of the European flotilla, which will descend on the French coast.This will be a source of conflict." It remains to be seen why this gigantic trawler is allowed to fish in the Channel, even though it has been banned in several countries, such as Australia and Chile.