On July 5, Sea Direction control teams noted the presence of two small boats near Cap Chevalier. Several divers, equipped with masked fins and snorkels, took turns bringing sea urchins on board the boats before unloading them ashore to break them up and extract the gonads suitable for consumption.
This operation brought together the Coastal Maritime Affairs Unit (ULAM), the Gendarmerie’s nautical brigade and the departmental service of the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB) and led to the arrest of two vessels and more than 1,200 specimens of white sea urchins.
Violators were interrogated by the gendarmerie and fined. Both ships and fishing gear were confiscated. The surviving sea urchins were immediately returned to the sea.
The white sea urchin (tripneustes ventricosus) is a protected species in Martinique due to the fragility and scarcity of the resource. To this end, only professional fishermen are allowed to fish in this way, on the proposal of the Fisheries Committee (fishermen’s professional association) during an opening period determined by decision of the Director of the Sea.
Outside this period, fishing for white sea urchins is strictly prohibited and punishable by fines of up to 22,500 euros.