The announcement sparked outrage by environmental advocates.
The Saint-Malo Fishing Company will hire the services of the ship Annelies Ilena, considered “the largest pelagic trawler in the world”.
The Annelies Ilena, the worlds largest trawler, at anchor in Lough Swilly (with Lisfannon #Inishowen in background) pic.twitter.com/Zrk1FuVq0N
— Visit Fanad (@VisitFanad) November 16, 2015
The company, which has 350 employees and three ships, announced in December in a press release on Facebook its intention to invest 15 million euros “to install a new surimi base production unit” on board the Annelies Ilena , a trawler 145 m long and 24 m wide.
The Bloom association denounced in a press release an “aberrant decision”, affirming that the Annelies Ilena (flying the Polish flag but owned by a Dutch shipowner) had been baptized the “Ship from Hell” when it was fishing offshore. from the Mauritanian coast “due to its destructive fishing practices”.
400,000 kg of fish every 24 hours
“The Annelies Ilena is a factory ship, capable of catching 400,000 kg of fish every 24 hours, with a storage capacity of 7 million kilos,” underlined the association.
Also read: These giant trawlers emptying the Channel worry small fishermen
“After the race for the gigantism of merchant ships, the race for ships plundering the Oceans is underway.
Will we also have to endure it?
asked the Breton association Mor Glaz, which defends the sea and sailors, in a press release.
Too big for the port of Saint-Malo
According to the Saint-Malo Fishing Company, this investment is intended to replace the trawler Joseph Roty II, built in 1974 for cod fishing in Newfoundland before being modified in 1990 for the processing of blue whiting into surimi.
The Joseph Roty II factory ship moored in the port of Saint-Malo.
The only ship armed for the production of surimi in Europe, the Joseph Roty II carried 50 sailors, for 3,000 tonnes of production per year.
But problem: its replacement is too imposing to enter the port of Saint-Malo where the surimi manufacturing factory is located according to Bloom.
A question therefore remains regarding its cargo.
Will it be unloaded in the Netherlands and transformed into surimi on site or repatriated to Saint-Malo by truck?
Contacted by AFP, the Saint-Malo Fishing Company did not wish to communicate the details of this project, which was to be the subject of a first test campaign at the end of January-beginning of February 2024.