For a large part of the year, threat and accusations have been traded between British and French ministers whilst deciding upon the post-Brexit arrangements for fishing waters. This row seems to finally be reaching the forefront of the debate.
When the UK left the European Union on the 31st of January 2020, it also left the common fisheries policy which has divided up the takings from European waters peacefully since the 1970s. As well as this policy coming to an end for the UK, the Bay of Granville agreement, which was signed in 2000 by Britain and the Channel Islands, also came to an end. This agreement previously established a pattern of rights for French boats up to three miles from the islands’ coasts.
There is now a new EU-UK fisheries agreement which will allow French fishers to continue fishing within the waters of Jersey and Guernsey, and in the coastal zone between six and twelve miles from the UK’s shores until 2026. However, in order to continue doing this, they must be able to prove that they have previously been operating in those areas.
Now that almost 1,700 EU vessels have been licensed to fish in UK waters, the UK government say that this equates to 98% of EU applications for fishing licenses. Importantly, however, this percentage figure is disputed in Paris.
Earlier this week the European Commission said that out of 47 applications for French boats to fish in those coastal zones, only 15 had been approved. 15 further applications are being considered, whilst 17 applications have been withdrawn due to “poor evidence”.
On top of this, a third of boats applying to fish in the waters around Jersey have also been turned down.
The French government have said that the level of evidence being required is not realistic and it amounts to the UK breaching its treaty obligations. The French government said that unless something was to change, British fishing boats will be banned from landing seafood in French ports from as early as next Tuesday. They also said that checks will be imposed upon cross-Channel trades and made threats about the UK’s energy supply, as the UK and Jersey rely on subsea cables which bring energy from French nuclear power stations.
Downing Street, unsurprisingly, is deeply unhappy about these threats. France does not yet have support from other EU member states to go through with these sanctions, and the UK government as said that if these threats do come to fruition, they “will be met with an appropriate and calibrated response”.
The situation will probably worsen, with potential for blockades by French fishers of British and jersey ports, before it improves.