JERSEY acted with ‘goodwill’ in applying post-Brexit fishing rules, the External Relations Minister has said after the European Parliament backed ‘extreme measures’ to safeguard the rights of EU member states to fish in Jersey and Guernsey waters.
Last week, MEPs voted 619 votes to 12 in favour of urging the UK to ‘refrain from controversial actions’ in relation to issuing post-Brexit fishing licences and showed support for measures such as port closures and import bans on British boats, should EU vessels not gain sufficient rights to use the waters of the two Crown Dependencies.
The parliament’s views appeared to be endorsed at the weekend by EU fishing commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius, who would be responsible for executing their decision.
External Relations Minister Ian Gorst has defended Jersey’s position, stating that the Island has issued 131 licences to French boats to use its waters using an ‘evidence-based approach’.
At the start of last year, a new post-Brexit regime was introduced whereby Jersey was given the sole right to issue licences to fish commercially in its waters. It superseded the Bay of Granville Treaty under which responsibility for permits was shared with France.
Under the new system licences have been issued to foreign boats that could prove historical activity in the Island’s waters.
Senator Gorst has said previously that the EU Commission could take legal action under the post-Brexit trade deal with the UK, if they felt the European fleet was being treated unfairly.
He added that the Government of Jersey had not been notified of any action at this stage.
‘Jersey has shown goodwill, flexibility and openness and has complied with the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement,’ he said. ‘We have applied an evidence-based approach to fishing licences and have issued 131 such licences to French fishers. We see no reason for the TCA arbitration process to be engaged, as we have implemented the TCA provisions fairly.
‘However, it is for the EU Commission to decide if they wish to start the formal TCA dispute resolution mechanism. We have not been informed of any such process being initiated.’
Meanwhile, French fishers have again called for a meeting with Jersey’s government to discuss the licensing issue.
An ‘informal’ meeting took place in Granville between ten fishers who had lost their licences to use Jersey waters and several regional politicians, including the town’s mayor, Gilles Ménard, Normandy vice-president, Claire Rousseau, and La Manche Deputy Bertrand Sorre.
Mr Ménard said: ‘I’m worried on a personal level. The Granville fishing supply chain will be under threat in the medium term because the number of fishing boats is going to go down.’
He added that it must be clarified ‘once and for all’ whether the Bay of Granville Treaty, which before Brexit ensured shared access to Jersey’s water for French and local boats, was now ‘obsolete’.
Fisherman Raphaél Chayla added: ‘We mustn’t wait until after the election [in Jersey]. We must invite their government here, to Granville, before 10 May, to open discussions with us.’
