St Clement Deputy Gerard Baudains and his St John counterpart, Deputy Phil Rondel, both condemned the willingness of the Island’s government to change laws at the behest of the EU.
Deputy Baudains said the new regulations were ‘another level of bureaucracy’ that he warned would be ignored by the French.
He wanted to see strong action taken against French pair trawlers that illegally entered Island waters.
He said that even when such fishing was reported to the local authorities, no action was taken.
‘I know of instances when they have just said that by the time they get out there the board will be out of our waters,’ he said.
The Deputy said that he had asked about Jersey buying a land-based radar to detect illegal fishing but was told it was too expensive.
Deputy Rondel warned about the dangers of blindly following the EU, as he was not convinced French fishermen would play to the rules.
In proposing the Draft Sea Fisheries (Trawling Netting and Dredging) (Amendment) (Jersey) Regulations, St Clement Deputy Mike Taylor acted as rapporteur for the Environment and Public Services Committee.
He said the regulations being amended dealt with trawls, nets and dredges.
The amendment introduces a ring size for scallop dredges and specifies how nets should be measured.
He said the scallop dredge measure, which included definitions of ‘scallop’ and ‘scallop dredge’, brought in a ring size of 85 mm for rings that formed the bag of the scallop dredge.
‘This is a measure that has been discussed at length and agreed with French fishermen as part of the Granville Bay regime and will apply equally to both Jersey and French fishermen.
‘It is designed to let the smaller scallops and other fish and shellfish pass through the rings and not be caught or damaged by the dredge.
This measure is over and above EU legislation but has been agreed between Jersey and French fishermen and the UK Secretary of State,’ he said.
The Deputy said the second part of the amendment deals with updating current regulations on how the meshes of nets are to be measured and sets maximum fines that may be levied.
‘These align Jersey regulations with those of the EU and will be enforceable on all vessels including French vessels in Jersey territorial waters,’ he said.
