The Sustainable Eel Group welcomes the arrest and prosecution of fishers in the Loire-Atlantique department as evidence of an ever more focused and coordinated response to the illegal capture of glass eels in western France, a region that has long been a focal point for such activity. Of the five individuals apprehended on 25 March, four were tried through expedited proceedings at the Saint-Nazaire court, while a fifth has been placed under judicial supervision pending trial later this year. In judgements delivered earlier today, two of the men were fined €3,000 and given suspended custodial sentences of ten months, while two others received fines of €5,000 alongside six-month prison terms. These outcomes point to a firmer judicial stance in cases involving organised activity and reflect a growing willingness to treat eel-related offences as serious environmental crime rather than minor regulatory breaches.

The arrests follow a months-long investigation undertaken by the French Office for Biodiversity in close coordination with gendarmerie units from Saint-Nazaire and Nantes, which focused on activity along the Brivet river near Trignac and Montoir-de-Bretagne, where suspected illegal harvesting had been reported over an extended period. Enforcement officers identified concealed traps set for glass eels, and  then committed to sustained surveillance of these sites to establish patterns of activity, movements, and likely collection points before moving to apprehend those involved. The operation is understood to have involved more than fifty gendarmes and sixteen environmental officers, and therefore underlines both the logistical demands of this type of investigation and the level of inter-agency coordination required to intervene effectively in fisheries where illegal activity is often mobile, adaptive, and difficult to detect.

The case reflects a tightening of both enforcement practice and sentencing, with authorities adopting a more involved and intelligence-led approach to build stronger evidence, support successful prosecutions, and strengthen deterrence in cases linked to organised environmental crime. It, moreover, illustrates the increasing professionalisation of wildlife enforcement, particularly where illegal activity is embedded within high-value supply chains and sustained by strong international demand. At the same time, the case can be seen to highlight the extent to which illegal operators avoid third-party oversight to move product through unregulated channels. It is notable in this context that none of the individuals involved were certified under the SEG Standard, which applies chain-of-custody controls designed to distinguish clearly between legal, regulated catches, and uncertified or illegal product entering the market.

For more information, read this article in the French press