La Réserve Naturelle was a plaintiff in a civil suit concerning illegal fishing, with Franck Roncuzzi, director of the technical department of the nature police representing the Réserve as its legal entitity. The case dates back to May 14, 2019, when a patrol from the gendarmerie found a fisherman on the beach in Grandes Cayes, right in the middle of the Réserve Naturelle. Inside the fisherman’s car, they seized two lobsters, a slipper lobster, two fish, and an underwater spear gun. Judged for maritime fishing in a prohibited zone and leisure fishing without marking his presence by a buoy, two infractions worth fines up to 9000 and 1500 euros respectively, the fisherman was condemned to pay 500 and 250 in fines, as well as 2500 euros in damages and interest to the Réserve naturelle.
2500€ in damages and interest in favor of the Réserve Naturelle
The Minister of Ecology has published a directive recommending that managers of natural sites to bring an independent action for damages in cases that infringe on the environment, so that the guilty parties participate financially in the compensation of loss to the biodiversity for which they are responsible.