The largest French fishing port is following the Brexit negotiations in fear. Without access to British waters, the survival of French fishermen is in danger. German weekly The mirror went there to meet them.
Sea sprays of romanticism suddenly invade the austere office with the linoleum floor. “My father and my grandfather were already fishing there in their time”, declares Bruno Margolle. Aged 61, gold bracelet on his wrist, the head of the maritime cooperative of Boulogne-sur-Mer takes out his cell phone and shows us an application allowing us to follow the journey of boats at sea. Nicolas Jeremy, the trawler he bought nearly twenty years ago and on which his son now sails, is in the English Channel, south of the English coast – in British waters.
If Boris Johnson imposes his views, this may be the last time. The British Prime Minister is indeed firmly determined to keep one of the main promises made by Brexit supporters and himself during the 2016 campaign: to restore the sovereignty of the United Kingdom over its territorial waters. Their slogan: “Our sea, our fish”.
For Margolle and the fishermen of Boulogne-sur-Mer, this promise is a declaration of war. Because their boats go to look for salmon off the Scottish coast, fish for mackerel in Hull and haddock in the English Channel. “Access to these waters is a matter of survival for us”, explains Margolle. On average, 60% of the catches of French fishermen come from British waters. Nearly 5,000 jobs depend more or less directly on fishing in this town of 40,000 inhabitants.
This is where the consequences of Brexit will be most quickly and brutally felt in Europe if the EU and the London government fail to reach a free trade deal by the end of the year.
Insignificant sector, major obstacle
Brexit doesn’t just raise questions of quotas and profits, which is why the situation is so difficult. And while fishing is an almost insignificant economic sector for the EU as a whole, access to UK waters is the biggest obstacle to reaching a deal today.
Boris Johnson is happy to see that, on the subject, it is the British who have the upper hand over the representatives in Brussels. Under international law, the United Kingdom is indeed
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Peter Müller
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