This plan could concern more than a hundred vessels divided between Brittany, Normandy and Hauts-de-France, but fishermen have not finished worrying about the consequences of Brexit.
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| SAMEER AL-DOUMY / AFP |
On November 26, 2021, French fishing boats, including the "Welga", a 7m boat, deprived of its fishing license in Jersey waters since the beginning of November, blocked the entrance to the port of Saint-Malo. as fishermen planned to block ferry traffic to two other Channel ports and the movement of goods through the rail tunnel between France and the UK in protest at post-Brexit fishing rights.
It is the epilogue of a diplomatic-commercial battle of more than a year between Paris and London, arbitrated by Brussels. France finally obtained 1,054 fishing licenses from the UK and the Channel Islands, allowing holders to continue fishing in their waters, as before Brexit. For the dozens of fishermen who have remained on the floor or whose activity has been drastically reduced, the government has planned an “individual support plan” , or a fleet exit plan for the boats that will be destroyed. "It is not with lightness of heart that we accept a fleet exit plan, but we have been waiting for this decree for months: finally, business leaders will be able to organize themselves, move forward" , said declared to Agence France-Presse Hubert Carré, director general of the National Committee for Maritime Fisheries and Marine Farming.
Read the report: Post-Brexit fishing licenses: the island of Jersey is in the middle of a battle that goes beyond it" "No destabilization of a fishing port"
The Secretary of State for the Sea, Hervé Berville, defended "a plan which does not lead to the destabilization of a fishing port or an auction and, therefore, which does not contribute to the weakening of our fishing capacity” in a statement. This plan could concern more than a hundred ships distributed between Brittany, Normandy and Hauts-de-France. The conflict escalated in 2021, with London going so far as to send two patrol boats off Jersey, while Paris threatened to cut power to the Channel Islands.
According to the decree published in the Official Journal on Thursday, any vessel subject to a request for aid must have carried out fishing activities for at least 90 days a year during the last two years preceding the year of the date of submission of the request. The ship must have “entered the fleet before January 1 , 2021” and meet at least one of the following conditions: justify a dependency of at least 20% of the total value of sales of its catches made during the reference year 2019 or 2020 in British waters, Jersey or Guernsey; not hold a fishing license giving access to the British 6-12 mile zone or the Channel Islands and justify a prior activity in this zone; have a dependency on one or more specific fish stocks, generating at least 20% of the turnover. November 18, deadline for submitting an application
The overall envelope of the device is currently 60 million euros, financed by the European Commission. The amount of aid is calculated for each vessel according to its power, and the beneficiary is prohibited from fitting out a new vessel or increasing its fishing capacity "during the five years following payment of the aid" . This prohibition "is an additional constraint" , regretted Mr. Carré. For the national committee, the renewal of the ageing French fleet requires the fitting out of more modern, more comfortable and quieter ships, and therefore more powerful. The fishermen had proposed the principle of a stock exchange, to scrap the oldest boats and keep the most modern, but this was not accepted, in particular because the gauges and fishing capacities of the outgoing vessels and those of the beneficiary vessels would not have corresponded. Fishing masters have until November 18 to submit a request for assistance. Concerns for the future If their application is accepted, they undertake to take their vessel out of the fleet within ninety calendar days.