The sea had been neglected in the Grenelle of the environment

Launched in April by the Minister of ecology, Jean-Louis Borloo, the Grenelle Sea entered, Friday, his last straight line with among the 600 proposals of the participants - State, NGOs, trade unions, employers and local authorities - the first consensus. A new meeting to complete to examine all files, including on the protection of the coastline, will take place next Wednesday, on the eve of the visit of the head of State in le Havre, where Nicolas Sarkozy must talk about the maritime ambitions of the France.

"The sea had been neglected in the Grenelle of the environment". Or the France, which controls the largest global maritime domain behind the United States with its DOM - TOM, a maritime policy for a long time. "Through this round table, the hope is to finally move towards a policy of medium-long term," explains Christian Buchet, representative of the Fondation Nicolas Hulot.

No fishing zones

Friday, each has been agreed on the need to accelerate research on marine energies. Jean-Louis Borloo evokes a plan "blue energy", to 600 megawatts of capacity by 2020, and promises to launch a call for projects to create a testing centre in the world on marine energies, with the hope of coordinating initiatives that exist here or there, to rapidly develop prototypes hydrauliennes, floating wind turbine and thermal energy of the necessary seas.

But the most important advance endorsed Friday is the willingness of rank, by 2020, 20 of the seas under economic exclusive zone in "marine protected areas". Currently, these represent only 0.54 of the French maritime domain. This figure of 20 is impressive, but, in the only Polynesia, more than a million square kilometres, is twice the surface of the France, could be classified in marine protected areas, the Marquesas Islands and the Rapa Islands, enthuses Christian Buchet. The part will be more difficult to off the coast of the metropolis, but all the partners of this round table sailor admitted that, in these areas, some areas will be prohibited fishing for fish nurseries. Real progress in the difficult dialogue between fishermen and environmentalists.

NGOs have also welcomed the support promised by the Government to request the inclusion of Mediterranean bluefin tuna on the list of the convention on international trade in endangered (Cites) species. While international fisheries bodies are unable to manage the quotas for fishing of this species threatened with extinction, Greenpeace and WWF want to register the bluefin tuna to the Cites. If that were the case, any export would be prohibited, while this very lucrative fishing almost exclusively for the Japanese market.

Beyond that, the Grenelle Sea stands for many to declarations of intent on sustainable fisheries. A mission has been entrusted to Louis Le Pensec to assess the damage caused by fisheries trawling in deep, while the Minister of Agriculture, Bruno Lemaire, is committed to organize its own "Fishing Foundation" to the school to continue the discussion.

Friday night however, NGOs, instead met, reminded the Grenelle sea "a good test to transform", while representatives of fishermen boasted of having avoided moratorium measures.