Question 14992 — hunting and fishing

Summary

Mr. Julien Guibert alerts the Minister of Ecological Transition, Biodiversity and International Negotiations on Climate and Nature, on the work undertaken at European level aimed at restricting, or even banning, the use of lead shot in hunting and on their consequences for hunters and rural areas. As part of the European Chemicals Strategy, the European Commission, in conjunction with the European Chemicals Agency, is continuing its discussions with a view to significantly broadening restrictions on the use of lead in ammunition. After the ban which has already come into force in wetlands, a new stage could concern all natural environments, specifically targeting lead shot, while bullet ammunition is, at this stage, not directly targeted by these regulatory developments. This prospect arouses great concern within the hunting world. In France, hunting brings together more than a million practitioners and relies on a dense network of local associations, actively participating in the management of agro-sylvo-hunting balances, the regulation of species and the preservation of environments. In rural departments like Nièvre, these missions are important particular, both environmentally, economically and socially. However, alternatives to lead shot, such as steel, bismuth or tungsten ammunition, present significant technical, economic and practical constraints. On the one hand, these materials do not always have the same ballistic properties, which can affect the effectiveness of shots and raise questions about safety. On the other hand, their use may require the adaptation, or even replacement, of a large stock of old weapons, still widely in circulation, resulting in significant costs for hunters. For example, a notable proportion of hunting rifles in service are not compatible with certain alternative ammunition, particularly those based on steel. Furthermore, representatives of hunter federations warn on the risk of a uniform measure, which would not take into account the diversity of practices, territories and species hunted. A generalized ban could lead to a disengagement of some practitioners, weaken the hunting association fabric and, consequently, weaken the capacity to regulate animal populations, which are nevertheless essential to the balance of ecosystems and the protection of agricultural activities. Beyond these considerations, there is also the question of the proportionality of the measures envisaged, with regard to the efforts already made by hunters, particularly in terms of transition in wetlands and awareness of environmental issues. In this context, it appears essential for France to take a clear and balanced position at the European level, reconciling the imperatives of protection of biodiversity with the reality of hunting practices and the preservation of rural balances. Therefore, he asks her what position she intends to defend in the European negotiations relating to the extension of the ban on lead shot, if she plans to oppose a generalization of this measure outside wetlands and what support measures she plans for hunters. French in order to guarantee the safety of practices, the economic sustainability of this transition and the sustainability of the role of hunters in the management of territories.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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