A fresh protest over post-Brexit rights for fishing vessels to access Jersey’s waters has been held in France, The BBC reports.
More than 100 fishermen gathered on Armanville beach in Normandy on Saturday, where the power cable which supplies the Channel Island lands. The protest is the latest in a dispute over access to Jersey’s waters for French fishing boats.
They gathered to express frustration at plans to restrict access to the number of vessels from October 1st.
They said nothing has been done and they feared they will lose their livelihoods, if Government of Jersey restrictions over how many days they can fish and what equipment they can use are introduced as planned.
In May, dozens of boats blockaded St Helier harbour in protest, a move which saw Royal Navy ships deployed to monitor the situation.
This move followed the intervention of French Maritime Minister Annick Girardin, who threatened to cut off Jersey’s electricity over the restrictions initially introduced in May.
Negotiations over fishing rights under the UK and EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), signed ahead of Brexit in December 2020 are ongoing, after a further three month delay in July, and are based around fishing vessels being able to demonstrate a history of operating in Jersey waters between 2017 and 2020.
Currently, 48 fishing vessels from France larger than 12m will be licensed to fish in Jersey waters once the scheme begins.
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