In November, 17 Iranians made off with the Epervier, taking it from the docks of Boulogne and sailing to Dover, where they were arrested.

And on a dark night just before Christmas, 14 migrants, including several children, made it seven miles off the coast on a boat stolen from the inner harbor at Boulogne, the St. Catherine, before the motor gave out. The thieves had forgotten to open the cooling valves.

“They completely fried the motor,” said Quentin Gillon, who was sorting a tangled mass of ropes on the deck of the Saint Catherine, his cousin’s boat. “And then the boat got stuck.”

On New Year’s Eve, it was the turn of the Caprice des Temps: The police, making the rounds on the quay, arrested 17 people, including a mother and two children, before the boat was able to depart.

On Christmas Day, the dashboard of the Don Lubi, the boat belonging to Mr. Pinto, the regional fishing official, was ripped out. The thieves were trying to connect wires underneath to start the engine. They failed, but ruined the motor in the process. That same day, around 40 migrants made it across the Channel.

Mr. Pinto said he was not unsympathetic to the plight of the migrants, but he was concerned both for their safety and his livelihood.

“These nonprofits that are supposed to be helping the migrants, they should come down here on the quays and warn them not to risk their lives,” he said.