Press release
NGOs take legal action against French authorities for failing to protect seabirds
15 December 2025
ClientEarth, Sea Shepherd France and Défense des Milieux Aquatiques have launched legal action against the French authorities for failing to monitor and protect seabirds from fishing activities – at a time when several species are on the brink of extinction.
Every year, tens of thousands of seabirds are killed off French coasts after becoming hooked or entangled in fishing gear – caught as bycatch during fisheries targeting species such as hake, sea bass and tuna . France records some of the highest seabird bycatch figures in Europe (1) - impacting species such as the Balearic shearwater, the Northern gannet and the common guillemot which are now classified as critically endangered, near threatened and endangered according to the IUCN Red List.
Today, the NGOs sent a formal notice to the French authorities demanding that existing EU laws aimed at protecting seabirds be properly enforced. They say that France has failed to adequately collect data and implement measures to reduce bycatch — in breach of the Birds and Habitats Directives, the Technical Measures Regulation, and other European laws. Yet solutions are well known and are being implemented in many countries, particularly in southern regions.
NGOs representatives said :
“Right now, more seabirds are dying in French waters than almost anywhere else in Europe. This tragedy is entirely avoidable - yet the French authorities have failed to act - even after the European Commission challenged them on this very issue.
“There is no time to lose France must finally take responsibility and put in place the monitoring and mitigation measures that the law – and science – require”
Fishing gears such as longlines, gillnets and pelagic trawls – particularly those targeting hake, sea bass and tuna – can have a devastating impact on seabird populations. This catastrophe remains largely invisible, as most bycaught seabirds drown without ever washing ashore. While existing data are largely insufficient, scientific extrapolations from available monitoring] indicate that France may have the highest levels of seabird bycatch in Europe (tens of thousands of seabirds every year, with the common guillemot being the most affected species).
Bycatch has been identified as a major pressure - and in some cases, the single greatest pressure - on the conservation of several seabird species.
NGOs are calling on France - which oversees the world’s second largest Exclusive Economic Zone – to urgently put in place effective monitoring systems, robust mitigation measures, and concrete plans to reduce pressure on threatened seabirds.
Today’s legal action complements an infringement procedure already opened by the European Commission against France for similar failings.(2)
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- (1) According to this study, the 10 countries with the highest observed estimates of annual seabird bycatch are France (34,603), Poland (21,300), Portugal (19,775), Iceland (18,996), Spain (18,311), Sweden (17,743) Germany (17,551), Norway (16,413), the UK (8592) and Denmark (3249).
Note: Because of the low number of chicks – only one juvenile per year for the common guillemot – the mortality of 30,000 individuals has a much greater impact on their population than on other species, such as tits or robins, which produce around 12 young per year.”
Note: Because of the low number of chicks – only one juvenile per year for the common guillemot – the mortality of 30,000 individuals has a much greater impact on their population than on other species, such as tits or robins, which produce around 12 young per year.”
- (2) In July 2022, the EU Commission opened an infringement procedure against France, Bulgaria and Spain against bycatches of protected species by fishing vessels.
Read the report by BirdLife Europe and Central Asia on the existing solutions to tackle seabird bycatch.
Summary of a fisher’s testimony regarding seabird bycatch (possibility to get in touch with him):
Ludovic (a pseudonym) explains his experience as a fisher dealing with seabird bycatch. Out of conviction, he has only ever used hook-and-line fishing. He is therefore a pure liner.
“At the very beginning of my fishing career, I encountered two episodes of extremely high numbers of bird captures (more than 50 birds in a single haul—Northern gannets, gulls and shearwaters), which sickened me and forced me to act.
When I cast my baited lines after sunrise, all the birds realized I was throwing sardines into the water and tried to grab them. Bird catches become inevitable. It was a real massacre, and I was disgusted.
I immediately decided to shift fishing hours and set my lines before sunrise, out of sight of seabirds.”
This shift is enough to drastically reduce bycatch—but not eliminate it entirely.
Indeed, the depth at which the line rests must also be beyond the maximum dive depth that birds are capable of reaching.
Ludovic had to fine-tune his settings to ensure all his hooks were deployed deeper into the water, to completely eliminate seabird captures, particularly shearwaters.
“Gillnets work without bait but pose a constant threat to diving seabirds.The best way to avoid bycatch is to fish “à la trempe” at night and hauling them back before sunrise — that is, quite quickly. This method avoids all bird captures and ensures that the flesh of the fish is intact and not attacked by predators such as cuttlefish. It makes it possible to sell all the catch, including more delicate species (pouting, greater weevers).
Conversely, leaving nets in the water for longer results in major losses of fish (degraded flesh) and numerous bird captures… every day. Paradoxically, this counterproductive practice has become the norm.”
Ludovic notes that for the past 30 years, the progressive decline in fish stocks has pushed gillnetters to increase the length of set nets at sea. Some fishers leave the nets in the water for up to three days. This is the case, for example, with so-called large-mesh nets used for monkfish. But although monkfish flesh can withstand this practice, this is not true for pouting, hake, dogfish and many other species that are killed for nothing.
“A vicious circle is underway, depleting fish populations, protected species, and dooming the future of fishing” he says.
Ludovic concludes : “when I was younger, I would surf alongside common guillemots and dive under the waves at the same time as them,doing the duck dive’ in surfing slang. The sight of seabirds was an everyday spectacle. Today, that spectacle has vanished, and the only birds I can show my children are a few carcasses washed up on the beach.”
About ClientEarth
ClientEarth is a non-profit organisation that uses the law to create systemic change that protects the Earth for – and with – its inhabitants. We are tackling climate change, protecting nature and stopping pollution, with partners and citizens around the globe. We hold industry and governments to account and defend everyone’s right to a healthy world. ClientEarth teams in Europe, Asia and the USA work to shape, implement and enforce the law, to build a future for our planet in which people and nature can thrive together.
About Défense des Milieux Aquatiques
Founded in 2017, DMA was born out of awareness of the dramatic desertification of the Médoc coastal waters in Gironde (France).
Recognized as a public interest organization from its inception and accredited for environmental protection at the national level since 2024, the association uses the law as leverage to defend all aquatic ecosystems (rivers, estuaries, coastal areas, and marine environments) as well as the species that depend on them, such as salmon, dolphins, and eels.
About Sea Shepherd France
Founded by Lamya Essemlali in 2006, Sea Shepherd France remains true to the original DNA of Sea Shepherd as established by Captain Paul Watson in 1977.
Our mission is to combat the destruction of marine life and habitat as a whole. We have been using innovative direct action strategies to defend, conserve, and protect the fragile biodiversity of our seas and oceans, and to uphold international conservation laws, which are too often ignored.
Our campaigns focus on protecting marine species from poaching, unsustainable fishing, habitat destruction, and captivity.
Independence, courage, imagination, and non-violent combativeness are our creed.