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The number of French vessels allowed to continue fishing in the Bailiwick’s territorial waters next year is yet to be confirmed, as the UK is accused of attempting to “hold France hostage for political ends”.
When the Brexit transition period ended on 31 December 2020, local authorities were expecting to have a new licensing regime in place by 1 April this year, established using a track record period in line with the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).
However, technical details have yet to be finalised by the UK and EU, with interim fishing arrangements extended on a monthly basis since the end of March.
The Economic Development Committee has now agreed a roadmap to enable new licences “to be issued in line with obligations under the TCA”, which will bring the interim fisheries regime to an end.
The Bailiwick has received evidence to support applications by French and the review of this data will be finalised during October, according to local officials.
The licences will not take effect until 1 February 2022, so that vessel owners “have time to review their licences and raise any queries before they take effect.”
Pictured: Guernsey, Jersey and Norman politicians met last week, with fishing dominating the agenda.
Because of that, the current interim authorisation will continue to be extended monthly until 31 January for all vessels.
As part of continued dialogue with the authorities in Normandy and La Manche, Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq, Policy & Resources’ Lead on External Relations, attended the annual political summit meeting with the President of the regional council of Normandy, Hervé Morin, and the President of the departmental council of La Manche, Jean Morin, on 24 September, hosted by the Government of Jersey.
“It is no surprise that it is taking a significant amount of time to implement the new agreement fully,” said Deputy Le Tocq.
“The TCA has given the Bailiwick new powers and control over our territorial waters that could not be exercised in the same way when the UK was a member of the EU.
“We value our good relationships with Normandy and La Manche and I hope that the roadmap which we are announcing today provides certainty about how our fisheries relationship with France will operate in the future.”
Pictured: Guernsey Fishermen have been unable to land their catch at Dielette and it is hoped an agreement will allow them to do so again.
Deputy Neil Inder, President of Economic Development, said: “We are doing this at a pace that is right for the Bailiwick, and we look forward to progressing other work with our neighbours as soon as possible, not least resuming access for direct landings by Bailiwick fishermen at the port of Diélette.”
Meanwhile, the French response to the UK’s licence announcement has been highly critical.
After going through a similar review of information received by the EU, the UK has issued 12 licences – out of 47 applications – to boats under 12m in length. The licensed vessels will be able to fish up to six miles off the UK coast.
French Minister of the Sea, Annick Girardin, is reported as saying that the news was “a new British refusal to apply the conditions of the Brexit accord”.
“French fishing must not be held hostage by the British for political ends,” she added.
Jersey will issue 64 full licences and 31 temporary licences to French boats – the vast majority of them vessels working out of nearby Norman ports.
The 64 boats will receive a licence now, which will become active in 30 days’ time, when the current transitional arrangements come to an end.
The 31 temporary licences cover boats which have not provided quite enough information, under the terms of the trade agreement reached between the UK and EU last December.
They will last until the end of January, giving four months for those vessels to provide the extra data required.
75 boats have been deemed not to meet the criteria, nor come anywhere close to it, and these boats have been given 30 days’ notice. After this, they will not be allowed to fish around Jersey and its reefs.
The 95 licences approved on either a permanent or temporary basis this week are on top of the 47 issued to larger boats earlier this year, which were able to supply data from their onboard tracking software.
For Jersey’s part, Ministers hope that the island's “pragmatic, reasonable and evidence-based approach” will avoid a repetition of May’s high-profile protest by French fishermen in St. Aubin’s Bay.
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