The Administrative Court of Paris has issued a historic ruling recognizing the French state’s responsibility for the deterioration of the conservation status of small cetaceans in the Bay of Biscay.
A Growing Backlog of Delays
Prompted by the France Nature Environnement (FNE) association, the court held that this situation constitutes a major ecological harm. The state is now compelled by the court to deploy concrete and urgent actions to safeguard the survival of these marine mammals. Indeed, every year, accidental catches in fishing nets kill thousands of dolphins and porpoises in the Bay of Biscay. These massive losses weigh heavily on the viability of local populations.
The latest European reports sound the alarm: the conservation status of the bottlenose dolphin and the harbor porpoise is judged “unfavorable – inadequate”, while the status of the common dolphin has fallen into the “unfavorable – poor” category, posing a real extinction threat within a few decades. Although the Council of State ordered in 2023 temporary closures of fishing zones, these restrictions remain far below the recommendations put forward by scientists at the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). This gap and the accumulation of delays over the past five years have, moreover, driven France Nature Environnement to bring the case before the Administrative Court.
An Urgency Ahead of Next Winter
The court ordered the state to draft and launch, within one year, a national action plan (NAP) to strengthen the protection of the bottlenose dolphin, the harbor porpoise, and the common dolphin, while ensuring a sustained reduction in bycatch. If the state fails to meet this twelve-month deadline, it faces a financial penalty of 15,000 euros for each month of delay. In addition to this long-term plan, the court imposes a tight timetable to address the immediate crisis.
Thus, the state has a maximum six-month deadline to design and implement emergency measures aimed at drastically reducing bycatch starting with the 2026-2027 winter season. To ensure the government’s responsiveness, this injunction carries a daily fine of 500 euros for each day of delay. A major legal and ecological victory for nature protection groups, which must now yield tangible results.
