The United Kingdom announced on the evening of Tuesday 28 September that new licences would be issued to French fishing vessels in the 6-12 mile zone.
The UK government has granted 12 additional licences out of the 87 still awaiting a response. In total, only 100 licences were granted out of 175 applied for.
The French Ministry of the Sea “takes note” of this decision, “despite nine months of intense work in accordance with the procedure laid down in the cooperation and trade agreement”.
For Annick Girardin, Minister of the Sea, this is a “new refusal by the British to implement the terms of the Brexit agreement (...) I have only one watchword now: to obtain permanent licences for our fishers, as provided for in the agreement. French fisheries must not be held hostage by the British for political purposes”.
The Channel Island of Jersey said on Wednesday that it would grant 64 permanent and 31 provisional licences to French vessels to fish in its waters, but rejected 75 applications. These new post-Brexit licences are in addition to 47 licences already issued since the beginning of the year.
The 75 rejected vessels will have to “cease all fishing activity in Jersey waters within 30 days”.
Link to the Jersey press release: https://bit.ly/3zRS3BO; and the French Ministry press release (in French): https://bit.ly/3ihlkQE (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)