“We don’t want offshore wind turbines!” : interviewed, Sète fishermen reject the State project

L'équipe de coordination du débat sur la mer a recueilli les avis à l'arrivée des chalutiers ce jeudi après-midi, à la criée de Sète. Midi Libre – Patrice Espinasse

The National Commission for Public Debate on the Sea went to the Sète fish market to collect opinions this Thursday, January 18. Fishermen and employees particularly expressed their fears about wind projects in the Gulf of Lion and the future of the Sète fish market.

The time to listen and collect opinions and grievances. As part of the great national debate on the sea and its variation, this week, in the Thau basin, a team from the National Commission for Public Debate (CNDP) went to the Sète fish market this Thursday January 18, to collect the opinions of fishermen. Future of the profession, environment, biodiversity…: the idea was to collect live opinions.

Even before the arrival of the trawlers, employees of the auction and former fishermen and fishmongers present on site set the tone. "Here, in 1975, there were 55 trawlers. Now, there are eight!, recalls Laurent, 33 and a half years of fishing behind him. If nothing' is done, in ten years ten years, it will be finished. The trawlers will disappear because the loads are too high."

Vivid and outspoken, the future of the Sète auction is clearly established. "For me, it will never end not even the year!" says a former fishmonger. It is taken up by a colleague: "No, not so fast. But perhaps in a few years, we will have to pool the auctions." "In Sète, it provided a living for 600 people. Today, no more than twenty.” The good old days when the boats "were in triple lines to unload" are long gone.

"They will ruin the profession"

With the arrival of trawlers, discussions are focusing more on the tense issue of floating wind turbines at sea. In the Mediterranean, the State has planned to equip two areas off the coast of Narbonnaise and the Gulf of Fos. If the powers would be 2×250 megawatts by 2031 then 2×500 megawatts in 2035, there is now a question of going from 4 to 7.5 gigawatts of power by 2050 for an offshore footprint of 2000 to 3000 km2."What will be the impact on birds, mammals, fisheries resources ? Too many questions remain unanswered and the State has not taken into account certain& ;nbsp;feedback from the public debate on wind power in 2021" worries Thomas Sérazin, project manager at the Regional Fisheries Committee.

At 4 p.m., with the arrival of the trawlers and fishermen, the question is settled. "The wind turbines ? We don&#39 ;don't want it, referee Roger. With what they's going to take from our fishing area, we will be able to sell our boats. And the returns we got from Denmark and Holland are not good: with the vibrations and ultrasound from the wind turbines, there are no more fish! I'm not saying that it's not good but it gives us will prevent work." 

"The auction is on hold. It's the Region that holds it"

Vincent adds: "Wind turbines will ruin the profession. They say it will create jobs but not at all. This will take away fishing areas, perhaps create nuisance and generate enormous installation and maintenance costs as well as pollution. .." And he shares the concern about the future of the Sète fish market: "It is shaky, on borrowed time. It's the Region that holds it." 

The CNDP team will have material to provide. It will not fail to fuel the debate this Friday afternoon on the sea and the coast, at the Maison de la Pêche.

The CNDP invites a broad debate on the sea and the coast, this Friday, January 19, 2 p.m., at the Regional Fishing House (Quai Régy). FREE ENTRANCE. I subscribe to read more