European fishers are ‘astonished’ at France’s unilateral decision to close the Bay of Biscay to fishing for a month, and are urging action

France has invoked Article 13 of the Common Fisheries Policy as an emergency measure from 22 January to 20 February to reduce bycatch of small marine mammals.

This decision will have ‘far-reaching consequences’ for the entire EU coastal community, says the European Association of Fish Producers Organisations (EAPO) and Europêche, with more than 500 EU fishing vessels affected.