Overview

• Seven people and the shellfish firm Cap Horn appeared before the Aix‑en‑Provence criminal court over an alleged network that moved more than 24 tonnes of clams from the étang de Berre.
• At the hearing, the prosecutor requested a two‑year suspended prison term with probation for the Zanon couple, permanent bans on any fishing‑related activity, management disqualifications, and confiscation of seized funds.
• Investigators say the operation generated an estimated €600,000–€700,000, with charges including illegal fishing, marketing food dangerous to health, undeclared work in an organized group, and money laundering.
• The case follows a months‑long maritime gendarmerie probe that led to 25 arrests in November 2024 and the seizure of two vehicles and €159,000, with several defendants already resolved through earlier procedures.
• Court records cite intercepted calls indicating pressure by Cap Horn’s leadership on amateurs who exceeded leisure limits and fished during E. coli pollution bans, as environmental groups joined as civil parties over ecosystem risks.