Fishermen’s fury at extension of amnesty for French boats

Friday 02 April 2021

Small French fishing boats have been given an extra two months to apply for a license to work in Jersey’s waters - a move that has angered local fishermen.

Ministers in Jersey have agreed to a request from the EU Commissioner for Fisheries that boats under 12m which don’t have an electronic tracking system have until 30 June to provide information to Jersey that proves that they have fished around the Island before.

Fishermen say that the Government has capitulated in the face of French threats but ministers argue that they are reducing tensions and winning concessions.  

Under the terms of the trade agreement reached by the UK and the EU in December, EU boats have to provide evidence that they have fished in Jersey’s territorial waters on at least ten occasions in any one year between 2017 and 2020.

Larger boats which have a tracking system have until the end of this month, which was the original deadline for all boats, to supply that evidence. This includes the dredgers and trawlers which local fishermen say are destroying marine habitats and fragile stocks of whelks and scallops.

Pictured: Jersey’s territorial waters extend 12 miles out. From 1 July, all French boats will have to hold a Jersey-issued licence to access them.

From 1 May, larger boats that don’t have a licence will not be allowed to fish in Jersey waters. This will also apply to smaller boats, now from 1 July.  

Licence applications, with the required data, can still be received after that date.

Under the strict rules of the trade deal, all EU boats entering Jersey’s waters had to be licensed from 1 January. An offer made by Jersey for a transition period - which followed the ‘old rules’ of the Bay of Granville shared management agreement until the end of April - was made to the EU and rejected.

However, it was accepted by Brussels after French protests over their fishing fleet’s inability to access what they see as historic fishing grounds. However, the amnesty has failed to ease tensions between Jersey fishermen and their French counterparts, most recently over the catching of scallops and whelks. 

Addressing the extension of the amnesty for small craft - the latest chapter of an increasingly acrimonious exchange between local fishermen and the Government - Jersey Fishermen’s Association President Don Thompson said: “The current amnesty has angered both fishermen and the public as they watch large powerful vessels engaged in systematically wrecking Jersey's fishing grounds and scallop stocks.

Pictured: Jersey fishermen say that large French trawlers are damaging stocks and habits within the island’s own waters.

“Jersey appears to have capitulated to the aggressive tones of France’s Minister of the Sea, Annick Girandin, who tweeted from Paris this week that France will never give up its fight to regain the levels of access for French vessels previously held under the Granville Bay Agreement.

“It would seem that ministers, in approving the amnesty extension, are keen to appease a rather hostile French government while being apparently oblivious to the fact that we have a struggling fleet of our own, trying to adapt to a post Brexit arrangement.

“That treaty looks set to continue much of the previous imbalance and bias of fishing rights, favouring France, in Jersey's waters, that existed under the catastrophic Granville Bay Agreement.”

Defending the two-month extension for small boats, External Relations Minister Ian Gorst, said: “We have agreed to it as a way of demonstrating our support for fishers of all nationalities in the Bay of Granville. 

“We do not want the UK’s exit from the EU to affect our relationship with France, Normandy or Brittany and therefore I am happy to again extend the hand of friendship across the water. 

“I hope this extension will support a smooth transition process, and I would ask our EU and French colleagues to support Jersey vessels and exporters as they adjust to the new rules for exporting and direct landing.” 

Environment Minister John Young said that he had agreed to a short extension to maintain good relations at “this difficult time” in exchange for two requests.

Pictured: Jersey is urging the French to establish a border post at Granville as soon as possible, so that Jersey fishermen and merchants can land their produce there.

The first was that the French authorities designate the port of Granville as a border post as soon as possible to speed up the export of Jersey produce.

The second was that the French take a “pragmatic approach” in handling paperwork from Jersey fishermen landing their catch directly into French ports. 

“I have every hope that this demonstration of goodwill will be reciprocated by our French neighbours, and that we will see improvements for Jersey fishers and traders when landing their goods into French ports,” he said.

Express understands that Jersey has received around 35 licence applications from large French boats over 12m. This is thought to be most of the vessels that trawl and dredge between three and 12 miles off the island.