‘It’s goodbye to French fishermen’: Macron under pressure as crucial UN ocean summit opens

Emmanuel Macron in Lisbon for the 2022 UN ocean summit. He opposes mining, pollution and industrial fishing on the high seas but is more wary about French waters. Photograph: AFP/Getty

On his trawler in Saint-Malo, one of France’s most important ports for scallops and crabs, Laurent Mevel is fixing his nets. “We really want to protect the seas,” says the 60-year-old fisher. “But we’ve got crews, we’ve got employees.

“If you don’t fish any more, the fish will come from Ireland, from Scotland. Now the fish you buy from shops comes by plane. And costs less.”