Ex-Policy and Resources Committee president Pierre Horsfall warned that going nose to nose with French officials over the Granville Bay Treaty could do more harm than good to the industry.
Fishermen in Jersey have urged politicians to renegotiate the treaty, which was agreed in its current form in 2000, to allow Jersey to have control over permits given to boats to fish in the Island’s 1,400 sq km of territorial waters.
Currently, the French issue permits for their boats and Jersey for its vessels. Locals have concerns that post-Brexit, French fisherman struggling to fish in UK waters may look to Granville Bay as a plan B – putting further pressure on the already struggling fish stocks.
And officials in Brittany, Normandy and Hauts-de-France have now called on Paris to tell British fleets that there will be ‘no access to the EU market’ via France if French and other European fishermen are blocked from British waters post-Brexit. French operators fear that if they cannot fish in British waters – as part of the wider Brexit deal – it would be ‘tantamount to signing their near-death sentence’.
Tensions have already risen between Guernsey and French fleets after Brexit ended the London Fisheries Convention, which allowed French fishermen to fish in their waters. Now the French have to apply for a licence from Guernsey, a change that has resulted in furious crews and market officials in Normandy reportedly telling the Sarnian fleet it is no longer safe for them to enter their ports.
Today, Mr Horsfall, who spent 12 years negotiating the Granville Bay Treaty, said Jersey had to tread carefully.
‘The answer lies in the treaty. Trying to open it up again is a mountain to climb and in the meantime you can stir up a hornet’s nest. If people start trying get involved at a fisherman’s level it could stir up rather like what is happening in Guernsey,’ he said.
‘I genuinely believe the best way to get a result is to go through the proper channels laid down in the treaty rather than trying to do something confrontational that will prove negative.’
A large proportion of the Jersey fishing fleet’s catch is landed in France. There are fears that damage to the diplomatic relationship could affect the ability to land produce there.
Environment Minister John Young told scores of fishermen at a protest in the Royal Square this month that negotiations had got nowhere so far, and that he was due to hold further talks with Paris.
Mr Horsfall stressed that the current deal was not perfect, but was far better than before the Millennium, when there were no limits on the number of French boats that could fish in any part of Granville Bay – except within Jersey’s three-mile limit.
He said any proper negotiation over changing the deal would require input from the UK foreign Office – something that was unlikely in the current Brexit climate, he added.
‘If the French stick to the rules they will seek to maintain a sustainable fishery,’ he continued.
‘If there are still issues, there is an arbitration process for disputes to be resolved.’
According to a document summing up the treaty, written by Sir Michael Birt, the Attorney General at the time negotiations were ongoing in 1990s, permits were only to be issued to vessels with links to ports bordering the bay and those ‘with a track record of having fished there within two years immediately prior to 30 June 1998’.
The treaty also established a Joint Advisory Committee of fishermen’s representatives, scientists and government officials. The JAC was set up to manage the number of permits issued to vary the ‘fishing effort’ and help manage stocks.
Don Thompson, president of the Jersey’s Fishermen’s Association, told the JEP that there are about 420 French boats that are able to access Jersey waters through the treaty – 392 of which have active permits. He said that only ‘67 have economic links to the area’. Jersey has about 75 full-time boats with permits under the treaty and 130 in total.
