Spotter planes eye boat polluters
Dumping waste in French waters carries a possible fine of one million euros and ten years in prison for the captain.
Spotter planes are scanning the Mediterranean shores of France to monitor pollution from boats.
The ministry of ecology has stepped up surveillance missions during the summer and has already begun prosecuting ships.
The aircraft also give the alert to anti-pollution boats to start clean up operations and several have already taken place off the shores of Corsica.
A prosecution against one vessel has been launched by the l'Office de l'Environnement et le Parc Naturel Régional de Corse after a small slick threatened the natural marine park of Scandola – a world natural heritage site.
Director general of WWF France Serge Orrum said: “The Mediterranean Sea, a protected environmental zone, suffers regularly from pollution from boats which threatens marine flora and fauna and pollutes the sea shore.”
Last year a survey by the Ministry of Justice found 179 slicks off the south coast of France.
Anti-pollution legislation in France was reinforced after the sinking of the Erika, which left a huge slick across the coast of Brittany killing thousands of birds and leaving one species extinct.
The captain of a vessel found responsible for a slick faces a fine of up to one million euros and ten years in prison if the offence was committed in French territorial waters.
In 2006 nine prosecutions took place totalling €2.7million.
Prosecutors are also using satellite technology to trace spills to vessels.
