SCALLOP WARS!
British and French boats ram each other in angry Channel clash
BRITISH and French fishermen rammed each others’ boats in a Battle of Trafalgarstyle clash in the Channel yesterday over ‘scallop pillaging’.
Rocks and bottles were thrown between vessels and emergency flares fired as four British boats were surrounded by at least 40 from France.
Hulls were damaged in the dawn confrontation before police finally intervened in the Seine Bay.
At one stage a small French vessel was caught between the far larger Sussex-based Honeybourne III and La Rose des Vents, from Normandy. ‘F*** off! F*** off!’, the French shouted during the battle which was caught on film.
At least three boats suffered damage, according to local reports. Tensions have been high between both countries for at least 15 years of ‘Scallop Wars’.
The French want the British to stay north of a line running from Barfleur to Cap d’Antifer, both in Normandy, and to use only small vessels to avoid running supplies of the shellfish down.
After the clash yesterday, Frenchman Anthony Quesnel, the 26-year-old skipper of La Rose des Vents, said: ‘We may have won the battle, but we may not win the war.’ He claimed his boat was damaged as he helped lead a fleet to confront the British.
Barrie Deas, of Britain’s National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, said: ‘We are advising all parties to be calm as, from the video clips, some vessels are manoeuvring very dangerously.
‘We have raised the matter with the British Government and asked for protection for our vessels which are fishing legitimately.
‘The deeper issues behind the clashes should be settled by talk ing around the table, not on the high seas where people could be hurt.’ Normandy fishing chief Dimitri Rogoff said: ‘The French engaged the British to stop them fishing and they clashed.’
Mr Rogoff said the British were ‘pillaging’ part of the multi-million pound scallop supply which is important to both the French and British economies. He accused the British of not respecting a previous gentleman’s agreement.
He insisted: ‘French regulations require French fishermen not to exploit scallops between May 15 and October 1. The British do not have to respect this.’
French boats currently only have the right to fish for scallops from October 1 until May 15 to allow local stocks to breed and regenerate. The British have no such limit, although in previous years an agreement has always been worked out that allowed both sides to harvest fairly.
This year no agreement is in place and French fishermen claim the British have turned up in big numbers to strip the scallop beds leaving nothing behind for when the French will eventually be allowed to join in. Normandy fishermen also complain that the British bigger trawlers – around double the size of their own – can freeze the scallops directly on board. ‘Scallops are a flagship product for Normandy, a primary resource and a highly sensitive issue,’ said Mr Rogoff.
He added if Britain crashes out of the European Union next year without a deal, this would solve the problem for the French as access to the waters would end.
The pro- Brexit organisation Fishing for Leave denounced the ‘hypocrisy’ of French fishermen, claiming that they have caught 60 per cent of the fish in British waters over the past 40 years
Macduff Shellfish, which owns the Honeybourne III, last night declined to comment, describing the clashes as an ‘industry issue’.
‘We’ve won battle but not the war’