‘Taken for delinquents’: The French fishers refusing to hand in WWII shells

Nearly 30,000 tons of munitions were dropped in and around Brest harbour in western France during the Second World War, and the risk of dredging unexploded ammunition is constant for the fishing boats that operate in the surrounding waters. The fishers are supposed to collect and report any shells they find but, for the past two years, most have been throwing them straight back in the water – the result of a bitter dispute with the authorities.