Post Brexit escalation between UK and France on Channel fishing
In fact, in the early hours of today the two British warships Severn and Tamar sent last night on the decision of Prime Minister Boris Johnson to patrol the area in front of the Island of Jersey, dependence of the Crown of London in the Channel, in order to discourage the attempted blockade undertaken against it by a few dozen French fishing boats.
The protest of the fishermen, justified by the Paris government, stems from the refusal of the local government of Jersey - autonomous, but strong in the protection of London - to allow access to many of them in their fishing waters against the backdrop of a restrictive interpretation of the fisheries chapter of the post-Brexit framework agreement signed in recent months between the UK and the EU. Since last week, this interpretation has drastically limited the number of licenses issued by Jersey - which is located 22 kilometers from the Normandy coast - to French fishing boats in the absence of a whole series of required documents.
Hence the protests in Paris and the reaction of the fishermen, which resulted in the threat of the blockade of St. Helier, the capital and main port of the island, with the risk of depriving its inhabitants even of electricity. And the response of the local government with the request for help in London, arrived in the form of two units of the Royal Navy now charged with "monitoring the situation". The United Kingdom assures "its unwavering support for Jersey", said Boris Johnson last night after talks with the Chief Minister of the small island, John Le Fondé, and the Foreign Minister, Ian Gorst.
About 50-60 French fishing boats are staging the protest off the island of Jersey, in the English Channel, some trying to block the port of the capital Saint-Hélier. "Our boats have left from almost everywhere, from Brittany, from Normandy. It is incredible to have managed to gather so many people," Roman Davodet, one of the French fishermen participating in the protest, told AFP.
Local news sources say that while other fishing vessels continue to flow in, some of them are trying to prevent the cargo Commodore Goodwill from leaving the port of Saint-Hélier. At least three fishing boats from the same Jersey would have joined the protest. On Tuesday, the French minister in charge of the sea, Annick Girardin, told the National Assembly in Paris that France is ready to resort to "retaliatory measures" against the island of Jersey if the British authorities continue to restrict access. of French fishermen to its territorial waters.