One prefect, three hats, two leaders. Appointed on August 1 maritime prefect of the Atlantic, a position established by Bonaparte in 1800, Vice-Admiral Jean-François Quérat is also commander of the maritime zone of the Atlantic, and commander of the maritime district of the ‘Atlantic. Both military and civilian, it therefore depends at the same time “on the Prime Minister, and the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces. »
If its coastal area of competence “extends from the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel to the Spanish border”, its area of responsibility “is the entire Atlantic, from the North Pole to the South Pole. » Based in Brest, Jean-François Quérat was passing through Bordeaux, in his area of expertise, on Tuesday. 20 minutes took the opportunity to meet him, and learn a little more about his role, which remains unknown to the general public.
“The emergency prefect”
“As maritime prefect, I am the emergency prefect” summarizes the squadron vice-admiral. “I intervene as soon as a nautical event occurs, pollution, an accident, a big storm like Ciaran, a rescue, like the absolutely miraculous rescue Monday evening off the coast of Oléron…”
On Ciaran, Jean-François Quérat draws a satisfactory assessment. “Apart from boats which broke their mooring, and there were many in the Arcachon basin, we have not had any incidents at sea,” underlines the prefect. This was largely because we warned the sailors, who made arrangements not to go to sea where there were winds of 200 km/h. We had two tugs ready to set sail, which we did not need to call upon. »
“Fight against trafficking”
As maritime zone commander, “I am responsible for the conduct of maritime operations in the Atlantic zone”, which extends to Africa and the Gulf of Guinea, “where we maintain cooperation with coastal countries, to fight against piracy, drug trafficking and illegal fishing.
The fight against drug trafficking is mainly carried out in conjunction with the national navy. “Since September my teams have already carried out two captures off the coast of Africa: one of 2.4 tonnes with the frigate Ventôse [basée en Martinique] in September, and another, at the beginning of November, of 885 kg of cocaine, on a boat coming from South America. In 2022, the navy intercepted 29 tonnes of cocaine at sea, worth 400 million euros, mainly in the Antilles and off the coast of Africa. They are generally small, hyper-fast boats that practice go fast, or fishing boats with poor sailors who have been asked to close their eyes against an envelope. »
“This can quickly turn into violent confrontation”
How is an operation to combat trafficking at sea organized? “In the vast majority of cases, everything is done on the basis of intelligence, which comes from a French, American or international agency. If I have a boat nearby, I contact the Brest prosecutor who is competent in this matter. » The judicial aspect of the operation is all the more important at sea as questions of international law arise. “Example: if I come across a Brazilian boat, I have the right to board, but I must call the Brazilian authorities to request authorization before carrying out a search. If I obtain this authorization, and the search is conclusive, we seize the drugs and we destroy them at sea with specialized equipment, while having taken care to collect all the necessary evidence beforehand, of course. »
For these interventions, the French Navy has “dedicated and trained teams to carry out arrivals on boats”. For difficult situations, “we send the marine commandos from Lorient, capable of carrying out a force boat assault with opposition. » This can be the case for drug trafficking, but also during operations against illegal fishing in Guyana, “where it can quickly turn into violent confrontation”.
The Atlantic coast is also subject to challenges linked to defense, as we could see on Saturday November 18 in the evening, with the firing of an M51.3 strategic ballistic missile, from Biscarrosse (Landes). “It’s the DGA [Direction générale de l’armement] who was in charge of this firing, but my role was to secure this eminently sensitive activity, on the maritime part. I had boats in coastal areas, in remote areas, planes, and from Brest, I monitored the trajectory, in conjunction with the radars of Quimper, Biscarrosse and the Monge ship [un bâtiment de surveillance], which was in the Atlantic. »
Offshore wind power and accidental dolphin captures
Finally, environmental issues are also part of the major challenges of the Atlantic coast. Prefect of offshore regulations and planning, Jean-François Quérat is thus a stakeholder in offshore wind projects, which are set to develop. “The public debate will be launched in the coming days regarding calls for tenders for new offshore wind projects in the three French maritime zones, including the Atlantic,” he announces.
On the Atlantic coast, the phenomenon of accidental captures of dolphins is also being monitored more and more closely, in particular by several NGOs such as Sea Shepherd, which believes that the State does not go far enough in the measures it takes. “The first issue in this issue is that of knowledge,” assures Jean-François Quérat: we must understand what is happening, why do we have so many dolphins caught in nets today, which was not not, or less, the case a few years ago. Pelagis was commissioned to carry out studies, NGOs are doing them, and measures have been taken, such as a decree with spatiotemporal measures to limit fishing. » This establishes a closure of fishing for one month, from January 22 to February 20, however accompanied by numerous exemptions, which Sea Shepherd still denounces. “We must continue to look, to consult, to make the least bad decisions concerning these accidental captures,” believes the maritime prefect.