Rennes: tense demonstration of fishermen "uplifted" against the regulations

Europe 1 with AFP 17:19 p.m., March 22, 2023

Several hundred fishermen demonstrated Wednesday in Rennes in a tense atmosphere to protest against regulations that put "sticks in the wheels" and clashes took place with the police, AFP found. Nine people were arrested for damage and use of smoke on the police while three people were injured, according to the latest assessment of the prefecture of Ille-et-Vilaine communicated to AFP.

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400 demonstrators according to the police

The demonstrators - numbering 400 according to the police - to which were added young radical activists, first gathered in the middle of the morning, with firecrackers and smoke, on the esplanade Charles-de-Gaulle, where they were initially to stay. Around 11 am, they left in the direction of the Parliament of Brittany, generating strong tensions with the police who tried to push them back from the historic center with tear gas and water cannon.

"The 400 demonstrators moving away from the declared place of demonstration and throwing projectiles at the police, they had to use tear gas," said the prefecture, which stresses the "risk of starting fire" because of the "multiple firing of red rockets" by the demonstrators. Rennes remains marked by the burning of the Parliament of Brittany on February 5, 1994, after a violent demonstration of fishermen. The fire had smouldered for several hours after the launch of a distress flare, which went unnoticed, before setting the roof of the building ablaze and ravaging it.

A tractor stopped by the police

On Wednesday, during the demonstration, a tractor driven by a protester who jumped in motion, continued its race towards the water truck before being stopped by the police, an impressive scene that was particularly relayed on social networks.

FLASH - A tractor has just loaded a water cannon of the police in #Rennes. High tensions in progress during a demonstration of fishermen trying to access the Parliament of #Bretagne. (News) #reformedesretraites#grevegeneralepic.twitter.com/YGX2AEdwIu

— Mediavenir (@Mediavenir) March 22, 2023

"A tractor sent against the CRS and the water launcher was seized by the police," said the prefecture. This demonstration of fishermen aims to denounce "the regulations and the persecution of the direction of maritime affairs", while the Council of State ordered Monday to close some fishing areas in the Atlantic to protect dolphins.

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"We are very upset against the decision of the Council of State. If we can't go to these areas for four months we can sell the boat," said Ludovic, 51, a fisherman in Lorient in Morbihan. "The first demand is the price of diesel and also the lack of listening to professional structures and the state," said David le Quintrec, a fisherman in Lorient. "We can't take it anymore, the sector is doing very badly, we are struggling to pay our crews. If fishing grounds in the Bay of Biscay are closed to us, we will no longer be able to work," he said.