Fishing row LIVE: France announces plan for series of attacks on UK and Jersey

The French European secretary has announced he stands with French fishermen on the licencing issue in British waters.

In a statement posted to Twitter, he said it was unacceptable that Britain was breaking the rules agreed during the post-Brexit negotiations.

Clement Beaune said: “We can no longer accept the UK’s failure to comply with the Brexit agreement and guaranteed rights to our fishermen.

“With Annick Girardin, we 100 percent support French fishermen and we will define in the coming days the response measures with regard to the British.”

#P\u00eache | Nous ne pouvons plus accepter le non-respect par le Royaume-Uni de l’accord #Brexit et des droits garantis \u00e0 nos p\u00eacheurs. Avec @AnnickGirardin , nous soutenons \u00e0 100% les p\u00eacheurs et nous d\u00e9finirons dans les prochains jours les mesures de r\u00e9ponse \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9gard du pic.twitter.com/2PmJ41gJMe

\u2014 Clement Beaune (@CBeaune) September 29, 2021

The fishing feud could spark a “bilateral crisis” after a series of unpleasant incidents between Britain and France, according to a French former ambassador.

Gérard Araud, who was the French ambassador to the US until 2019, said the fishing dispute "will be the final spark which will lead to a full fledged bilateral crisis."

He wrote in a tweet: "Brexit is inexorably producing what the EU was designed to avoid, coming back to old feuds."

France must respond decisively to Britain, he added.

Industry chiefs have warned of "ongoing tensions" and "toxic relations for decades to come" with European rivals over access to valuable seafood stocks in the Channel and the North Sea.

They say that unruly French trawlermen will continue to cause disruption around Jersey and Calais in the post-Brexit feud over access to our fishing grounds.

Barrie Deas, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, said: "I think France is where any frictions will arise, partly because its fishing industry has a tradition of militancy and securing political support by militancy."

Mr Deas said tensions were unlikely to cool until European skippers come to respect Britain's hard-fought Brexit freedoms.

French fishing boats protesting in front of Saint Helier port in May (Image: GETTY)

The Normandy Fisheries Committee has praised Jersey for announcing which vessels will be granted licences and permitting a 30 day notice period but say the situation is still “not satisfactory”.

A spokesperson said: “At last Jersey is showing clarity and notifying fishermen of their licences.

“Moreover, they are introducing a 30 days’ notice, which allows the fishing companies to turn around.

“They have made mistakes, but today they are choosing to discuss the conditions of licences and the question of replacement vessels.

“However, the situation is not satisfactory.”

Frexit figurehead Florian Philippot has called the idea that the UK is to blame for the current fishing fued “naive”.

Mr Phillippot said: “France blames UK on fisheries: so naive!

“That’s the difference between a country that has become sovereign again and France, a province of the EU, obliged to complain to Brussels and Germany hoping to be able to fight back!”

“Let's be free! Frexit!”

La France accuse le Royaume-Uni sur la p\u00eache : quelle na\u00efvet\u00e9 ! #Frexit

\u2014 Florian Philippot (@f_philippot) September 30, 2021

The French maritime minister has revealed the nation’s retaliatory measures to being denied fishing licences will be announced “early next week”.

Annick Girardin told Europe 1 radio: “We have a timetable of actions that will be announced early next week… on the European level, the national level, and of course toward the British and also our neighbours in Jersey, which will indeed include retaliatory measures.

President of Brittany Loïg Chesnais-Girard has expressed a “deep feeling of anger” at the UK’s behaviour during the fishing fued and has asked the EU to intervene.

He said: “Since yesterday, I have a deep feeling of anger.

“This situation is unacceptable!

“I stand with our Breton fishermen and we want permanent licences.

“The UK cannot dismiss almost 200 years of history and fishing agreements between the Channel Islands and France in this way.

“I call on the European Union to take all possible retaliatory measures to allow such a decision to be reviewed.

“Together, fishermen, authorities, the European Union, we must stand together to ensure that the UK comes to its senses.

“Because if fishing in British territorial waters and the Channel Islands is vital for some of our Breton fishermen, access to our Breton ports is just as vital for Jersey fishermen.”

Parce que si la p\u00eache dans les eaux territoriales britanniques et les \u00eeles anglo-normandes est vitale pour certains de nos p\u00eacheurs bretons, l\u2019acc\u00e8s \u00e0 nos ports bretons l\u2019est tout autant pour les p\u00eacheurs de Jersey.

\u2014 Lo\u00efg Chesnais-Girard (@LoigCG) September 29, 2021

Patience is running thin in Paris after a series of incidents which French officials perceive as disrespectful to the Brexit agreement.

One adviser told President Emmanuel Macron: “We hear (British Prime Minister Boris Johnson) repeat how much he loves France and just how wonderful he thinks we are.

“But the fact is, the behaviour of the British is not that of an ally.”

Fishing and the Northern Ireland protocol are two key issues causing tensions between the nations.

The National Federation of Fisherman’s Organisations has accused the government of having “sacrificed” their industry in order to secure an agreement .

“The Brexit Balance Sheet” report concluded UK fishing fleets will incur losses of approximately £64 million or more a year.

It means over £300million will be lost by 2026 when the current fishing arrangements agreed with the EU comes to an end.

The Government claimed an increase in quotas for fish meant the industry would benefit from an additional £148million by 2026.

However, the report says the majority of the increase in quotas is unlikely to be usable for various reasons, meaning there is little monetary value in the uplift.

France will decide within the next two weeks on their retaliation measures after Britain and Jersey refused dozens of French fishing boats a licence to operate in their territorial waters.

France’s maritime minister Annick Girardin said the retaliation could involve energy supplies, educational exchanges, trade flows and rail links.

Paris threatened to cut off power supplies to Jersey earlier this year.

Britain and France have both also deployed maritime patrol vessels to the waters around Jersey in May after a French trawlers sailed in protest to the Channel island.

The president of Brittany has warned the EU has the strength to make itself heard and force the UK to back down in the fishing fued.

Loïg Chesnais-Girard said: “It is unacceptable to put our fishermen in this situation, unacceptable to disrespect the treaties and unacceptable to behave this way.

“Vessels that fish occasionally at ten, 20, 30, 40 or 50 percent of their activity in UK waters must be recognised with a licence.

“This was the agreement signed last December and it must be respected – it is essential.

“Negotiating is about the ability of member states to agree.

“There are issues of trade and energy at stake as well.

“I think that the EU has the capacity to make itself heard, and simply make them respect the treaties.”

#BonjourBretagne @LoigCG r\u00e9agit \u00e0 la d\u00e9cision d’interdire de p\u00eacher aux bretons dans les eaux de Jersey #Brexit pic.twitter.com/MsI6QyhmPd

\u2014 T\u00e9b\u00e9o & T\u00e9b\u00e9sud TV – Les T\u00e9l\u00e9s Locales Bretonnes (@TebeoTV_Tebesud) September 29, 2021

The president of the regional fisheries committee in Normandy has warned of fast escalating tensions as the fall out from the fishing fued continues for a second day.

Dimitri Rogoff suggested the situation had deteriorated to the point that fishers were now preparing to blockade Jersey's main port.

"They are ready to attack [Jersey's capital] St Helier.

“It is tense, very very tense," he said.

The post-Brexit agreement negotiated by the European Union provides that European fishermen can continue to sail into certain British waters, provided they are granted a licence.

A licence will be given to them if they can prove that they have previously fished there.

While some of the applicants may have previously had permits to fish in Jersey's waters, the EU-UK trade agreement provided rights only to those who could prove that they had actually operated in those waters for at least 11 days over the previous three years.

But French fishermen complain that this is very difficult to prove.

From 2026 onwards, European fishermen are to forgo a quarter of their catches in British waters, which corresponds to a loss of revenue of around € 650 million per year.

Ian Gorst, Jersey's minister for external affairs, said he was open to any of the 75 rejected boats providing fresh evidence in support of a permit.

However, he admitted there was a danger of reprisals from fishing communities affected, especially in Brittany.

Mr Gorst said: "I think we acknowledge that feelings are running high in the fish community in the north of France and I hope that there aren't any blockades, but we are not naive enough to not recognise that we really do need to work together to alleviate concerns and make progress because that does remain a possibility."

Jersey's minister for external affairs, Ian Gorst, insisted the licence application program had been “pragmatic” and thorough.

The Jersey government issued 64 full licences and 31 temporary licences to French boats, on top of the 47 vessels already licensed earlier this year.

But a further 75 French boats had their applications rejected because "they do not meet the criteria and have either not fished in Jersey waters during the relevant period or have not been able to evidence their activity", the government said.

"These 75 vessels are being given 30 days' notice of the end of the transitional arrangements, after which they will no longer be able to access Jersey waters."

75 French boats do not meet criteria, insists Jersey minister (Image: GETTY)

French maritime minister Annick Girardin has accused the British authorities of acting unfairly and has called for the licences to be given to France.

She said: "I want the licences back.

"The British wanted to divide us with this decision which comes after many months of discussions.

“We have provided all the necessary information, we have transmitted all the requested data.

“This new kick from the British is the demonstration of their unwillingness to respect their commitments.

“I now appeal for European solidarity to move towards a balance in our relations with our British neighbours."

French maritime minister Annick Girardin (Image: GETTY)

The French government spokesman, Gabriel Attal, has raged at the UK decision to reject a wave of fishing license requests.

He said the decisions by the UK and Jersey authorities were "totally unacceptable and inadmissible" and "contravene the agreement that was signed in the framework of Brexit".Mr Attal continued: "We are going to continue and step up our work with the [European] Commission to move forward on this issue, and also to study possible retaliation measures that could be taken if the agreement is not respected.”

France criticises UK's 'unacceptable' fishing decision

French fishermen could block the Channel Tunnel linking France and the United Kingdom in a brutal retaliation, French member of parliament Jean-Pierre Pont threatened today.

Mr Pont  is a member of parliament for President Emmanuel Macron’s ruling La Republique en Marche party, representing the coastal town of Boulogne-sur-Mer.

He said: “Be warned, s ince the British are refusing to honour what they signed, as with other Anglo-Saxons in another area, the French fishermen of Boulogne-sur-Mer may be obliged, after 9 months of useless patience, to envisage ways to retaliate against the UK – for example by blocking ports or the entry of lorries towards the UK through the tunnel.”