The post-Brexit dialogue on fishing seems blurred between France and the United Kingdom, after the provisions set out by London on Friday about fishing areas and conditions in the Channel Islands.
“It is considered that if new requirements for sea zoning or fishing gear are included in the licenses, even though they have not been notified to the European Commission, they are null and void”, said Monday, May 3, the Ministry of the Sea to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
He recalled his attachment to “Strict compliance with the agreement” fishing negotiated as part of Brexit: “If the United Kingdom wants to introduce new provisions, it must notify them to the European Commission which notifies us, which allows us to engage in a dialogue afterwards. At this stage, we discovered these new technical measures which are not applicable as they are to our fishermen. “
The European Commission will contact London
For Jersey waters, the United Kingdom on Friday published a list of 41 vessels equipped with “Vessel Monitoring System” – the VMS is a device that records the positions of vessels – and authorized to fish since Saturday. This list is accompanied by new requirements “Which have not been concerted, discussed or notified before”, specifies the ministry.
They mainly consist of new fishing zonations, indications within Jersey waters – to sum up, “Where can the ships go and where not?”. They also specify the ” Number of days “ what can seafarers spend at sea, “And with what gear”, specified the ministry.
The Ministry of the Sea informed the European Commission of these new measures which were not planned: “It is the Commission which is negotiating, so now we are waiting for it to initiate a discussion with the United Kingdom to fully understand what this means and then give us its clarifications”, we said from the same source.
In Brussels, a spokesperson for the Commission, Vivian Loonela, reminded AFP on Monday evening that “Any condition” had to be notified with sufficient notice so that the other party could “Comment or adapt”. “In addition, such conditions cannot be discriminatory towards our fishermen”, she said, confirming that the Commission would contact UK authorities on “Any specific subject” bound.
“Aggression”
About sixty French fishermen gathered in reaction to these announcements Monday morning in Cherbourg in front of maritime affairs without incident, before a new demonstration of about sixty fishermen in Granville on Monday afternoon, according to the police.
“It is obvious that there are going to be responses to the aggression against us by the Jersey authorities in relation to fishing authorizations. We hope that the state will take retaliatory measures ”, said Dimitri Rogoff, president of the Normandy regional fisheries committee. “That Jersey fishermen can no longer disembark at Granville has long been taken for granted, since the permits arrived in a dribble and, with the restrictions, it is quite obvious that it is no longer a question of they come to land in Granville ”, he added.
The regional fisheries committees of Brittany and Normandy have called “A suspension of all economic relations with Jersey, including the ferry link between Jersey and the Continent”, in a joint press release sent to AFP.
