After Brexit, the dispute over fishing rights between the French and the British escalated: The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson dispatched two warships to the sea area off the island of Jersey in the English Channel, which arrived there on Thursday. London reacted to an impending blockade of the port of Saint Helier by up to 60 French fishing trawlers. France, for its part, sent two naval patrol ships.
The island of Jersey is around 30 kilometers off the coast of Normandy, and its waters are particularly rich in fish. According to British information, the gunships met there “HMS Severn” and “HMS Tamar” a to “To monitor the situation”. It is about one “Purely preventive measure”said the Ministry of Defense in London. Prime Minister Johnson had previously considered the threatened French blockade of the Channel Island “Completely unjustified” designated.
The French European Minister Clément Beaune told the AFP news agency that his country was abandoning itself “Don’t intimidate”. Beaune requested one “Rapid and full application of the agreement” for Brexit. The French Minister of the Sea Annick Girardin had previously “Vergeltungsmaßnahmen” threatened if London should restrict fishing rights. According to her, the electricity flowing from France through submarine cables could be cut for the 100,000 islanders of Jersey.
The trigger for the tension is the dispute over fishing licenses: According to Paris, only around 40 French ships are allowed to cast their nets off Jersey. Accordingly, licenses for more than 340 boats were applied for. The autonomous administration of Jersey emphasizes that it adheres strictly to the Brexit agreements.
The fishing rights were one of the sticking points in the trade agreement between the EU and the UK, which has been in full force since May 1st. The British only have to allow fishing boats in their areas that have been active there since 2012. The French fishermen complain that this is not easy to prove. From 2026, European fishermen are expected to forego a quarter of their catches in British waters, which corresponds to a loss of revenue of around 650 million euros per year.
Jersey and the other Channel Islands are not part of the United Kingdom but have an autonomous administration. But they belong to the British crown possession. In the recent past, the islands have made headlines primarily as a tax haven.
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