In January, the French government enforced a month-long commercial fishing ban to reduce accidental dolphin catches in the Bay of Biscay, marking the initiative's second consecutive year.
According to Radio France Internationale, France's highest administrative court, the Council of State, issued the ban — which will be in effect through Feb. 20 and impact around 300 fishing vessels. The no-fishing zone spans from western Brittany, France's northwesternmost region, south to the Spanish border.
The fishing moratorium proved a great success in 2024, as dolphin bycatch decreased by around 300% during the winter. Between December 2023 and March 2024, dolphin deaths from accidental captures plunged from an average of 6,100 pre-ban to only 1,450, as RFI reported, citing data from the nonprofit Pelagis.
"This is effective. The numbers prove it," Jérôme Spitz, co-director of Pelagis, told RFI.
Spitz explained that commercial fishermen often capture dolphins inadvertently while the animals are feeding, and the fishing ban was critical in reducing dolphin bycatch. Nearly 5,000 unintentionally captured dolphins have died in the region over the last 10 years, per the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.
To further protect dolphins from the impacts of overfishing, France will enforce four-week winter fishing bans for most ships over eight meters (over 26 feet) long through 2026. RFI called the initiative "unprecedented," as it's the largest fishing ban in the Bay of Biscay since World War II.
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While this is undoubtedly great news for dolphins, fishermen and others in the industry worry about how the ban will impact their livelihoods.
The French government will compensate 80% of the fishermen's lost revenue, but many in the fishing community are still taking a big hit to their incomes, as Euronews reported.
"Despite the compensation, I had a loss of approximately 20 to 30% of turnover last year," Sebastien Biolchini, a fisherman in Brittany, told the news outlet.
Many anglers in the region have installed acoustic devices or reflectors on their boats to prevent dolphins from being entangled in their fishing gear, but they say authorities often overlook these efforts. Spitz suggested equipping all fishing vessels with onboard cameras to gain more insight into what's causing accidental dolphin captures.
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"A combination of different approaches will be necessary for long-term success," he told RFI.
"This example of dolphins in the Bay of Biscay is really at the heart of the difficult compromise between exploitation and protection," Clara Ulrich, deputy head of science at Ifremer, the French Institute for Ocean Research, told Euronews.
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