Document type: article published on the Web agri website
Author: AFP
Preview: A young farmer is preparing to board a cargo ship to make sure that 780 bull calves have an untroubled crossing of the Mediterranean. Faced with NGOs calling for an end to live cattle exports, the French Port of Sète is defending its practices. One by one, the young males, already weighing in at over 300 kg, make their way down the cattle truck ramps. They are held for a few minutes, provided with thick bedding underfoot. The cargo ship that will take them to Bizerte (Tunisia) has arrived the previous day. Workers whistle, clap their hands, and sometimes tap their hides with a cane to direct them to the ship, where they will be accommodated across four levels. Before boarding, 30-year-old Justine Donnet looks admiringly at the solid flanks of a Blonde d'Aquitaine, that hold the promise of a "beautiful barbecued rib of beef". The milk producer from eastern France will be leaving terra firma for a few days with these animals, which are going to be be fattened on the other side of the Mediterranean. She'll be keeping an eye on them, taking regular readings of on-board temperatures and humidity, and of the ammonia given off by the animals' excrement. And, on the basis of her readings, she'll then ask the sailors to add straw, or increase ventilation or air extraction. Since the end of 2022, Sepab, the company that operates the livestock yards in the Port of Sète, has been selling this service to exporters. On seeing his business being called into question, company director Laurent Trémoulet decided to "record the data on the reality of transport at sea". Cattle were fitted with smart collars, and their urine was collected to measure stress hormones. The goal of the Sepab boss was to show "decision-makers" that animals can cope well with the journey. The NGOs who campaign to stop live animal exports argue that ships are often old and ill-suited to animals, and that the latter are at risk of mistreatment at their destination... They advocate the transport of meat rather than animals. These arguments have been listened to in Great Britain, which recently banned the export of live animals for slaughter or fattening. Australia has pledged to stop the shipping of live sheep from May 2028. And since last year, New Zealand has banned the export of live cattle by sea. In the European Union, rather than imposign a ban and inflicting "detrimental effects on the sector", the European Commission is proposing tougher requirements for ships and the on-board presence of an "animal welfare officer". According to its impact study, the EU exports almost one million cattle and 3.2 million sheep and goats annually, mainly by sea, to a value of almost 1.5 billion euros.
"Attitudes have changed"
In Sète, the loading of bullocks is carried out in the presence of a government representative sporting a "veterinary services" armband. The inspector, who asks to remain anonymous, has inspected the boat before loading, checking that there are no features that might cause injury to the animals, that the watering and ventilation systems are working properly, and that there is enough hay for the animals should the journey take longer than expected... Crossings take between two and six days, depending on the destination. "Five or six years ago, the priority was to maximize profits, not make the animals comfortable on board. Attitudes have changed on both sides," says the veterinary services employee, who takes a positive view of the move to carry couriers to oversee the journey". This is the third crossing for Justine Donnet, who will be providing the exporter with ample photos and videos. "The cows are really not disturbed by the journey," says the farmer, who is confident enough to sell some of her young gestating cows for export - they will produce milk on location. "There's no longer any question of making a journey without a courier, it's a security measure, the animals arrive in better shape," observes the exporter, Jérôme Larroque. It's a question of "transparency", adds Laurent Trémoulet. However, AFP is not permitted to go near the 46-year-old vessel, which flies the Guinea-Bissau flag. Access that had been promised was suddenly withheld. The reason given was that they were "fed up with media coverage" of livestock-related issues. Laurent Trémoulet reiterates that animal welfare is a "no-brainer" for them, over and above the moral issues: "If an animal arrives in poor condition, it's no longer fit to continue its career, and that would kill off trade."
