The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, estimated on Thursday that “subsidizing fishermen”, particularly through aid for diesel, amounted to “protecting” France’s place on export markets, by inaugurating the Fishing Conference . The Secretary of State for the Sea, Hervé Berville, confirmed on Saturday that cash flow aid of 20 cents (excluding tax) per liter of diesel would stop on October 15.
“Subsidizing fishermen, helping them, is to protect us, (…) it is to help us with exports,” said vice-president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region. “On a strategic level, supporting the fishing industry is an asset and an advantage for our country from which I consider that we do not benefit sufficiently,” he added, drawing applause from the fishermen and local elected officials present in the event. amphitheater of the palace of the Mediterranean University Center.
A decision that will “kill French fishing”
These annual meetings opened Thursday morning in a tense atmosphere, with fishermen denouncing, with the end of diesel aid, the “disengagement” of the State from a sector “on the brink of the abyss”. Cash flow aid, renewed several times, was put in place in March 2022 to help fishermen facing the surge in diesel after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The main organizations representing fishermen and the inter-professional sector have denounced a decision which will “kill French fishing”, already hard hit by the health crisis, Brexit and the return of inflation.
Hervé Berville is expected Friday morning in Nice, where he will speak at the conference where various round tables are being held for two days on the challenges of the sector, such as the “cohabitation” of fishermen with protected species, the “decarbonization of the fleet” or training.