French fishermen are angry: several dozen of them blocked an oil depot in Fos-sur-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône) on Tuesday September 15 to protest against the rise in fuel prices and the deterioration of their working conditions, they told AFP.
“The blockade of the oil depot began at 3 a.m.,” declared Ange Natoli, a representative of the fishermen who are demanding to be “received by the Minister of Fisheries Catherine Chabaud.”
According to the prefecture, “fishermen have been blocking the exit from the Fos oil terminal since 3 a.m. with around fifty tanker trucks”. No incidents were reported other than a pallet fire, she added.
On Monday, several dozen fishermen have already demonstrated in Sète (Hérault) and Port-Vendres (Pyrénées-Orientales).
“The movement risks getting harder”
In Sète, a delegation of union representatives was received at the prefecture, without obtaining “answers to (its) expectations”, according to the president of the Occitanie regional committee Bernard Perez, who warned that “the movement risks hardening”.
The regional fisheries committees of Occitanie, Paca and Corsica, the three producer organizations (PO) of the Mediterranean, and seafarers’ unions (employees and employers) launched a joint movement on Monday which “will continue until concrete responses have been provided to the main demands of the profession”, according to their press release.
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Fishing professionals denounce “a continued deterioration of their operating conditions”, due in particular to “the increase in operating and fuel costs”, but also a “multiplication of administrative and regulatory constraints”.
France is the second European producer of fishery products, behind Spain, with 477,000 tonnes of fish and shellfish caught in 2024, almost stable (+1%) compared to 2023, according to government data.
With AFP
