French sailors on board of whalers were not forced to serve in the navy according to the Dutch newspaper Rotterdamsche courant dated 21 January 1823

An item reported that the French crown approved decisions of the minister of navy to encourage the whaling. One decision was that French sailors already enlisted by a ships owner for a whaling cruise not could be enlist by the French navy and that the time they served on board of the whalers would be reckoned as if they served in the French navy.