Members of the NGO Sea Sheperd monitor a fishing boat at work in the Bay of Biscay, in January 2020. -

Loïc Venance / AFP

They do not speak but spy on each other.

For several weeks, the fishermen of Finistère and the members of Sea Sheperd have been in conflict.

Reason for altercations?

Accidental captures of dolphins, much criticized by the NGO.

On several occasions, boats from the association for the defense of animals filmed vessels in exercise off the Brittany coast in order to denounce the catches of cetaceans.

Actions that do not appeal to marine professionals.

At the end of the week, the conflict took on a new dimension, when the Finistère fisheries committee accused the NGO of "endangering the safety of sailors" after an incident at sea on Thursday.

On board a semi-rigid, Sea Sheperd activists "would have shone their spotlight on a small fishing vessel blinding the owner who could not read the screens on the bridge, thus endangering his navigation", denounced the committee Department of Fisheries of Finistère in a press release.

The owner of the boat also reportedly reported that Sea Sheperd "deliberately passed" between the boat and its nets.

"An unacceptable and dangerous action for everyone".

The NGO was quick to respond.

In a long press release released Friday, she believes that the Fisheries Committee "continues to demonize NGOs which attempt - legally - to lift the opacity on unsustainable fishing practices.

For the organization, "the dolphins and the ocean as a whole are paying the price for our destructive fishing practices and the general public has a right to know what is going on."

According to the NGO's website, “thousands of dolphins are sacrificed each year in France to satisfy our appetite for fish”.

Professionals of the sea have long criticized the methods of animal defense NGOs, accusing them of leading "a guerrilla war" and denouncing "communication campaigns sometimes bordering on disinformation".

In July, the French state was condemned for the excessive number of accidental catches of dolphins in the Bay of Biscay.

The court ruled that France had been slow to put in place measures to reduce cetacean mortality.

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