Saint-Malo: a rally against the arrival of the “ship from hell”, one of the largest industrial trawlers in the world

Sandrine Prioul, edited by Lou Momège. Photo credit: DAMIEN MEYER / AFP 4:17 p.m., February 15, 2024

“A monstrous ship… which makes the sea hungry…” These words are those of sea shanties and if they resonate this Thursday in front of the prefecture of Saint-Malo, it is to protest against the arrival of the trawler Annelis Ilena, in off the Breton coast. Nicknamed the “ship from hell”, it unleashes the anger of environmental defenders, including two environmental associations, Bloom and Pleine Mer, but also two environmentalist MEPs, Marie Toussaint and Caroline Roose.

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And for good reason, with its 145 meters long and 24 meters wide, it is the largest pelagic trawler in the world. It is used to catch small fish alive between two waters, used in the manufacture of surimi, and can catch up to 400 tonnes per day. "We don't want this in our country!" exclaims a demonstrator at the microphone of Europe 1. This trawler seems disproportionate to her: "It will not enter Saint-Malo. It will therefore go to the Netherlands to dump its cargo and then a small part of it will arrive by truck here to be transformed into surimi."

It is in fact planned that the cargo of the Annelies Ilena will be used to produce 3,000 tonnes of surimi in Brittany, after having landed in a Dutch port.  

“They rake everything”

“It is impossible for the economic model of super-boats to coexist with artisanal fishing,” says a fishing guide, also mobilized against the use of industrial trawlers. “They completely pulverize the fish mass and they rake everything up. There is nothing left behind!”

For its part, the Bloom association accuses the State of having authorized the Compagnie des Peches de Saint-Malo to invest 15 million euros to operate this trawler. She denounces “destructive” practices, while overfishing in the world increases. 

The trawler Annelies Ilena, will never see a Breton port.

It has nothing to do with @regionbretagne, nor with the fishing that I defend. Caricatured remarks only damage Brittany, and the men and women who work every day for sustainable fishing. pic.twitter.com/9n0y6oNSHr

— Loïg Chesnais-Girard (@LoigCG) February 15, 2024

This Thursday morning, the president of the Brittany region, Loïg Chesnais-Girard, absent from the procession, issued a press release to defend artisanal fishing and support fishermen against factory boats.