THE European Parliament is ‘feeding fuel to a fire we really need to get beyond’ in relation to the rights of French vessels to fish in Jersey waters, according to the president of the Jersey Fishermen’s Association.
Don Thompson was speaking after the European Parliament recently endorsed what he called ‘extreme measures’ for the safeguarding of EU member states’ rights to fish in Jersey and Guernsey waters.
MEPs voted in favour of urging the UK to ‘refrain from controversial actions’ when distributing fishing licences. Support for a series of measures, including port closures and import bans on British vessels, were suggested if fishermen from EU member states were not granted the right to fish in the Crown Dependencies’ seas.
The potential measures were backed by Virginijus Sinkevicius, EU Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries.
Reacting to the decision, Mr Thompson expressed his belief that the EU was ‘politicising’ the issue instead of working to resolve it. Mr Thompson said last week’s announcement revealed ‘purely political rhetoric that is unhelpful’.
Since the stand-off between the Government of Jersey and French fishermen began last year, Jersey has executed an ‘evidence-based approach’ in its issuing of 131 licences to French boats, according to External Relations Minister Ian Gorst.
Last week, an ‘informal’ meeting took place in Granville between local and regional French officials and a group of fishermen who had not been issued licences to fish in Jersey waters. The negotiations culminated in calls to meet Jersey government officials in Granville before 10 May to discuss a way forward bilaterally.
Despite similar ongoing negotiations between French fishermen and officials, Mr Sinkevicius has insisted that the lengthy fishing dispute’s end is in sight.
He said: ‘We have managed to obtain the majority of licences we asked for. Our sole intention remains to continue building strong and constructive relations with the United Kingdom.’
Mr Thompson disagreed with the EU Commission’s assessment of the situation, saying that negotiations between Jersey and the EU had barely touched on the ‘extent and nature’ clause of Jersey’s post-Brexit Trade and Co-operation Agreement with the EU.
With this in mind, Mr Thompson added that both sides of the dispute still had ‘the most important stage [of negotiations] to go yet’.
The TCA has superseded the Granville Bay Agreement, which allowed Norman and Breton fishermen to fish freely within Jersey’s jurisdiction until February 2021.
Jersey’s addition of the ‘extent and nature’ clause to the TCA enables the government to assess French vessels’ historical fishing practices before granting licences to fish.
Mr Thompson also claimed that French fishermen had been flouting EU and Jersey regulations by switching off AIS marine tracking devices while they were sailing and said ‘licences should be revoked’ for these actions.
