Greenpeace Acquitted Over Mediterranean Rock Dumping Protest

Greenpeace and the captain of its vessel, the Arctic Sunrise, have been cleared by administrative court of charges stemming from the May 2025 deposition of fifteen rocks in a protected Mediterranean marine area. The environmental group had placed the rocks to protest and prevent bottom trawling.

The Prefecture of Pyrénées-Orientales had sought 3,000 euros in fines for each limestone block dropped, totaling 90,000 euros, and demanded the removal of the rocks under financial penalty. However, the administrative tribunal of Montpellier, in its July 16 ruling, annulled the proceedings.

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We welcome this decision with relief. We remain fully mobilized to strengthen the protection of French marine protected areas, which is currently insufficient against the most destructive fishing activities.

The court's reasoning stated that when a contravention occurs within the perimeter of a marine natural park, only the director of the French Office for Biodiversity or their representatives are competent to initiate legal action and bring the case before the administrative tribunal. Consequently, the court pronounced the acquittal.

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profoundly shocking

François Chartier, Oceans Campaign Manager at Greenpeace France, expressed relief, stating, "We welcome this decision with relief." He added, "We remain fully mobilized to strengthen the protection of French marine protected areas, which is currently insufficient against the most destructive fishing activities."

In May 2025, two weeks before the UN Oceans Summit in Nice, Greenpeace deployed the fifteen limestone blocks in the Golfe du Lion marine natural park. The action aimed to highlight the "lack of effective protection" in French marine areas and urged the government to ban bottom trawling. At the time, the then-Minister of Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, deemed the act "profoundly shocking," criticizing the dumping of "more than ten tons of rubble" in a protected zone under the guise of an anti-trawling campaign, particularly in an area where trawls were not penetrating.

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more than ten tons of rubble