Three Sea Sheperd activists taken into custody in Vendée

Three activists from Sea Shepherd France were arrested and then placed in police custody on Tuesday in Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie (Vendée) for " illegal transport of protected species ".

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These arrests came when a dozen activists had just placed in front of the gendarmerie the corpses of three dolphins found dead in the morning, including that of a baby. Sea Sheperd generally carries out this type of operation in the street to make passers-by aware of the risks of intensive fishing off the French coast. " We are shocked and angry that a law supposed to protect dolphins is ultimately used to stop the activities that try to protect them. It is the spirit of the law that is not respected at all , "said Lamya Essemlali, President of Sea Shepherd France.

According to the activist, these arrests follow pressure from fishermen. The latter " complained several times that we were not being prosecuted for this, and there, the Sables-d'Olonne prosecution decided to do so following the action carried out in Saint-Gilles-Croix- de-Vie ", she said, denouncing" the absurdity "of this procedure for placing in police custody" which consists in killing the messenger ". According to its figures, the Vendée is a " red zone " in terms of stranding, the department where there are the most corpses of dolphins. " We want transparency on the fishing methods, that the catches are all declared, and for the moment, this is absolutely not the case: of the 11,300 dolphins killed last year almost on the French coast, there were, I believe, seven declarations, ”said Lamya Essemlali.

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