Wind turbines at sea, Germany. (drawing) – CARMEN JASPERSEN / DPA / AFP
“No to wind turbines which destroy the sea”: between 350 and 400 fishermen demonstrated Saturday morning in Caen against the establishment of wind farms at sea. Coming from Brittany and Normandy, sometimes accompanied by their families, they walked from the station to the prefecture where a delegation was able to discuss with the prefect of Calvados Philippe Court. The fishermen denounce “a strong passage of the offshore wind industry and demand an immediate stop of the work in progress”.
According to Philippe Calone, one of the organizers of the event, “the installation of wind turbines will greatly modify ecosystems and the seabed and we will end up with almost 20 to 30% less resources”. The parade stopped in front of the Caen marina where the demonstrators observed a minute of silence for the fishermen who died in the exercise of their profession.
200 people also in Dunkirk
In the Normandy and Breton regions, offshore wind farms are planned off Courseulles-sur-mer (Calvados), Fécamp (Seine Maritime) and in the bay of Saint Brieuc (Côtes d’Armor). In the North, some 200 people also gathered this Saturday at the end of the morning on the dike of the beach of Malo-Les-Bains, at the gates of Dunkirk, to protest against the wind farm project of 46 wind turbines, announced for 2027 11 km offshore.
“We are here to denounce the propaganda speeches made to us”, declared Florent Caulier, of the Vent Debout 59 collective. According to him, “wind power is not green energy as some claim”. “No wind farm of this type with latest generation masts has been installed so close to our coasts, it would be a first in France”, said Louis Saint-Ghislain, president of the association for the defense of Flemish Landscapes. A first demonstration took place at the end of May in Saint-Brieuc, where around 800 people marched against the park, construction of which began in early May in the bay of Saint-Brieuc, famous for its scallops.