Paris Administrative Court orders French State to address ecological damage to Bay of Biscay cetaceans

The Paris Administrative Court has recognised the State’s failure to protect cetaceans in the Bay of Biscay and ruled that “the deterioration in their conservation status constitutes ecological damage”, according to France Nature Environnement, one of the organisations that brought the case before the court on 26 June 2026.

The court has therefore ordered the State, “subject to a penalty payment” (€15,000 per month of delay), to draw up and implement a national action plan to improve the protection of common dolphins, harbour porpoises and bottlenose dolphins within one year.

Within six months, the State must also achieve a lasting reduction in by-catch in this area, which kills “thousands” of individuals every year. This order is subject to a penalty payment of €500 per day of delay.

The court ruled, however, that “there is no basis for awarding damages for ecological harm, given that such harm can be remedied in kind”.

FNE welcomes this “major” decision, three years after the first spatio-temporal fishing closures were secured in 2023 through the Council of State. These measures…