French fishermen are arguing the island’s new regime for controlling its waters after the UK’s departure from the EU is intentionally strangling them with red tape.
This, they and the European Commission claim, breaks the UK-EU Brexit deal, which Jersey and the UK deny.
Senator Ian Gorst and Lyndon Farnham attended 10 Downing Street yesterday, and spoke with Boris Johnson for around half an hour about how to resolve the matter.
Speaking to BBC Jersey this morning, Senator Gorst said it was important to discuss the “difficult issues” face-to-face with the Prime Minister, who sent Royal Navy boats to the island two weeks ago to keep an eye on protests at St. Helier harbour by French fishermen.
Pictured: The HMS Tamar could be spotted from Jersey’s coast during the protests on Thursday 6 May.
Senator Gorst said Mr Johnson was “in agreement” about Jersey’s position, and said that it was important the island maintained the UK Governments “full support”.
Advocating a “pragmatic way forward” that respects the terms of the Brexit agreement, he said that resolving the row with France would not only involve resolving technical issues, but would rely on “political good will”.
“We need to keep working on that,” he said.
The External Relations Minister added that this was his first trip to London since October, and that he would “dearly love” to be able to communicate with French politicians both regionally and in Paris in person.
Later this afternoon, he commented: “This visit provided the opportunity to further strengthen Jersey’s relationship with the Prime Minister, and to thank him for his personal support, and that of the UK Government, during recent challenges in respect of fisheries and the implementation of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). We look forward working with the Prime Minister and his team over the coming weeks and months, particularly as we continue to consider the detail of the TCA.”
Deputy Chief Minister Senator Farnham added: “While we have managed our relationships with UK Government colleagues well, and by virtual means, during the pandemic, I was pleased to have the opportunity to meet face to face with the Prime Minister, and a number of our other critical stakeholders, over the last two days. The visit was an important opportunity to reaffirm the Island’s commitment to collaborative working, and to building on our established and positive relationships with key political contacts.”
Very pleased to meet @BorisJohnson@10DowningStreet this afternoon with @Ian_Gorst – confirming strong and enduring relationship between Jersey and the UK Government, and to continue working together to achieve the best outcomes for #JerseyCIpic.twitter.com/2bCf55SkoW
— Sen. Lyndon Farnham (@lyndonfarnham) May 18, 2021
On the day of the protests, two Ministers and the Chief Minister, Senator John Le Fondré, had a video conference call with the Prime Minister.
Following that call, Senator Gorst said: “The Prime Minister reiterated his personal support, and the continued assistance of the UK Government in working to resolve the dispute.
“We agreed that all sides remain committed to engaging with our partners in the EU and France to resolve the concerns arising from the issuing of fishing licenses under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which led to today’s protest.”
The French fishers’ key contention is that the licences issued by Jersey at the end of last month came with conditions preventing them from catching certain species, limiting their days at sea, and banning them from certain zones.
Pictured: The Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, and the Minister for External Relations speaking with the Prime Minister on the morning of the protests.
They say that this goes against a previous pledge to ensure that their historic fishing activity in the waters between Jersey and France – previously jointly managed by the Bay of Granville agreement – would not be disrupted by Brexit.
Jersey, however, maintains that any conditions attached to the new permits were based on the information the fishermen provided about their previous activities, and that some zone restrictions had been necessary to allow for research on sea bream stocks to be carried out.
As a gesture of “good faith”, Jersey’s Government offered to give recently licensed French vessels until 1 July 2021 to provide further evidence of their fishing record to ensure they get the right licence, allowing them to continue to fish in the same way they have done over the past three years.
