The president of the national fisheries committee Olivier Le Nezet described Thursday as a “cataclysm” the announced end of diesel aid for fishermen, denouncing the “betrayal” of the government in the face of an industry which “is at stake for its survival”, in front of the fishing conference in Nice. “This sector is at the end of its life. The support is not up to par,” he said, calling on Secretary of State for the Sea Hervé Berville to “assume a cataclysm which will be the end of the French fishing industry”.
Hervé Berville is expected Friday morning in Nice. On Saturday, he confirmed that cash flow aid of 20 cents (excluding tax) per liter of diesel would stop on October 15. These measures, renewed several times for a total amount of 75 million euros, were put in place in March 2022 to help fishermen facing the surge in diesel after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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On Wednesday, the main organizations representing the fishing sector denounced the “disengagement” of the State, recalling the succession of crises suffered by fishermen, from Covid to the surge in energy, including Brexit. “We are in the process of erasing France’s maritime identity with the wave of the hand. We are here to feed the population. We have to stop making fun of the world,” stormed the president of the national committee. “In agriculture, when there is a pork crisis, we are able to put 270 million euros on the table. And we are not capable of putting 50 or 60 million into an entire (fishing) sector?” he asked.
However, “there are solutions”, he added, judging that it was up to the State to “take its responsibilities”, without ruling out the possibility of aid coming from the private sector. He harshly judged the action of the government, which he considered did not sufficiently plead the cause of fishermen in Brussels, in particular to obtain an increase in the aid ceiling – granted per company, regardless of the number of vessels. .