TRIAL The Marseille criminal court has demanded fines for amateur fishermen in the creeks accused of poaching
The Calanques National Park, off the coast of Marseille, is one of the 1,062 marine protected areas in the Mediterranean Sea. — A.-C. Poujoulat/AFP
They were fishing in the heart of the Calanques National Park in a strictly prohibited area and beyond. of the regulatory quota: fines and confiscation of their equipment have been imposed. required on Wednesday against four amateur spearfishers.
In January and February 2021, the national park’s environmental inspectors had monitored the area. these four friends, an electrician and three territorial civil servants, who met on Fridays for spearfishing parties in this park at the gates of Marseille.
The inspectors blamed them for two offenses: having sinned; in a no-take zone and in a wider winter prohibition zone in order to preserve the reproduction of species, as well as a fishing greater than three catches per person.
Fifteen wolves and two mussels found
After three previous days of surveillance establishing illegal fishing, three of them had been checked on February 12 at their return to the port of Pointe Rouge. They had been seen fishing in unauthorized areas and beyond of dusk. In their cooler, 15 wolves and two mostelles were killed. found.
At the helm, they ensured have caught fish in excess of the authorized quota; in an unregulated area: “I got home safely. in the no-take zone but I was not in hunting action,” one of them. The judgment will be known on January 2.