Despite 83 more fishing licences, French fishermen plan to maintain protests

Fishermen in northern France are still threatening to block British imports, even after significant pressure on London saw them granted 83 additional licenses to operate in UK waters this Monday.

Britain had first agreed to issue 23 more licenses to French fishermen this Saturday, in an attempt to calm ongoing tension over this issue. Following France’s insistence, its fishermen are entitled to 80 more licenses, the European country is still requesting more ahead of the EU deadline.

French fishermen said that they would maintain the blockade of British goods planned for December 23 in Calais.

The French government says it will seek to help fishermen whose license applications have not been accepted.

Under the agreement signed at the end of 2020 between London and Brussels, European fishermen can continue to work in British waters as long as they can prove that they were fishing there long before Brexit.

But for more than eleven months, the French and British have been arguing over the nature and extent of the evidence to be provided, particularly for new trawlers.

With the 23 approvals announced on Saturday, France had already obtained 1,027 post-Brexit fishing licenses.

Since Sunday in Brussels, European ministers responsible for fisheries have been meeting to set quotas for 2022 in EU waters.

At the same time, negotiations are underway between the Commission and London to set annual quotas for the waters shared by the EU and the UK by the end of December.

French fishermen unions are “dismayed by the news of only 23 new licenses,” telling reporters they “felt betrayed and abandoned by the European Commission,” which could take legal action against Britain over this issue.

London deployed two gunboats this last May, when dozens of French fishing vessels gathered off the island of Jersey, in the canal to protest the licenses, prompting France to send a ship as well.

France and Britain have been critical of each other over the fishing issue, in addition to migrants crossing through the canal, post-Brexit trade arrangements, and the UK’s recent controversial submarine sale to Australia.