The latest inshore fisheries flare up between the UK and the EU over the issuing/or not of fishing licenses.

Almost 1,700 EU vessels licences have now been licensed to fish in UK waters, 117 of these in the 6-12 nautical mile zone. However, of the 47 applications made for vessels under 12m in length to fish in the UK’s 6-12 nautical mile zone, only 12 have been granted licences. Within this zone the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) requires evidence of a track record of fishing activity, and this is at the heart of the current dispute. The UK is asking for; positional data showing fishing activity in our territorial waters and data recording catches of any of the permitted species corresponding to the same date or time period as that positional data. The UK position is that has not been adequately provided in cases where the license applications have been refused.

Jean-Pierre Pont, MP for the Channel port of Boulogne, said he expected local fishermen to act. “Since the British are refusing to honour what they signed . . . the French fishermen of Boulogne-sur-Mer may be obliged, after nine 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,”

Defra has responded to the coverage Click here stating that the approach has been reasonable and fully in line with UK commitments in the TCA.

Meanwhile the Jersey government confirmed last week that it will issue 64 full licences and 31 temporary licences to French vessels to fish in Jersey waters, on top of the 47 vessels already licensed to do so earlier this year.

It has refused licences to 75 French vessels, and has given 30 days’ notice of the ending of the current transitional arrangements. Don Thompson chairman of the Jersey Fishermen’s Association, said the decision was ‘a death warrant’ for the island’s fishing industry. He fears some fishermen in Jersey face ‘certain bankruptcy’, and that the new licensing arrangements will more than double in size the number of French fishing vessels coming into Jersey’s waters. Click here

The legal roll out of tracking devices (i-VMS) to monitor location, speed and heading of England’s under-12m fishing vessels is due to start next year. Click here