SEND IN THE ROYAL NAVY!
British fishermen call for military back-up as French blame Channel clashes on Brexit
BATTERED British fishermen demanded Royal Navy protection yesterday in their ‘scallop wars’ with the French.
They urged Theresa May to send in gunboats to combat ‘piracy on the high seas’ after being rammed by French boats in the English Channel.
A dozen British vessels were surrounded by a 40- strong flotilla that sailed from three Normandy ports shortly before dawn on Tuesday. In clashes in the Bay of Seine, boats smashed into each other and rocks, shackles and flares were hurled by the French.
Gallic officials blamed Brexit for the flareup. Normandy fishing chief Dimitri Rogoff accused the British of ‘looting’ scallops and threatened to ban UK fishermen after we withdraw from the EU.
French laws restrict their fishermen to a scallop season of October 1 to May 15, to allow stocks to replenish – but British fishermen can gather scallops year-round. South East Cornwall’s Tory MP Sheryl Murray said: ‘British boats are doing nothing wrong ... yet we are seeing this sort of thuggery.’
She called for assistance from the Royal Navy’s Fisheries Protection Squadron, as did Derek Meredith, 50, the owner of Devon scallop boats the Golden Promise and Joanna C.
His skipper, Brian Whittington, said: ‘It was a bit of an experience. They just wanted to sink us – end of.’ Crewman Ashley Wilkes said: ‘It was quite scary. They were just a few feet away and they were trying to ram us, push us into tankers and they were throwing rocks and smashing windows.’
Videos showed a small French fishing boat colliding with a British vessel before the Honeybourne III, a large Scottish scallop dredger, collided with the Frenchmen.
The Honeybourne III was covered in scars yesterday as it was moored back in Shoreham, Sussex, while the Golden Promise and Joanna C returned to Brixham harbour in Devon with smashed windows. Three French boats reportedly had holes in their hulls.
Mike Park, chief executive of the Scottish White Fish Producers Association, branded the French attack ‘criminality and high seas piracy’. And Jim Portus, of the South Western Fish Producers Organisation, which represents most of the dozen British vessels involved in the Normandy clash, said: ‘All the French, about 40 French vessels, were orchestrated to go and intercept the British fisherman.
‘They not only hurled abuse but rocks and paint pots and cans of oil and shackles. Flares were fired by the French and this caused immediate danger to the people on board.
‘I want boats back in that area in the next 24 hours. They are entitled to be there and they shouldn’t be harassed or in danger. So we need protection resources in the Channel. It amounts to piracy on the high seas. The Navy should be there to protect and support the British vessels.’
The Fisheries Protection Squadron comprises three gunboats. HMS Mersey and HMS Tyne are each manned by 20 troops and armed with a 20mm cannon and two machine guns, while 2,000-ton HMS Clyde has seven machine guns and a cannon.
The Navy’s oldest frontline squadron, it was commanded by Horatio Nelson two decades before Trafalgar. Its mission is to ‘Protect the British fishing industry’ and its area of operations includes ‘the west coast of Europe’.
But Mr Meredith said: ‘There is never any sign of the Royal Navy. They are supposed to be protecting British fishermen and they have dedicated warships for this task but all they do is tell us to keep away from waters we are legally entitled to fish in. What’s the point of that?’
Environment Secretary Michael Gove said: ‘It is important we talk to the French government and make sure those fishermen who are fishing legally get protection as they go about their work.’
However, leaked text messages showed Tory MPs have accused Mr Gove of ‘ weakness’ over the row. In a group discussion on the messaging app WhatsApp backing naval intervention, the Daily Telegraph revealed Mrs Murray had asked colleagues: ‘Whatever are Michael and [Fisheries Minister George Eustice] thinking about? They are showing weakness ... I feel badly let down.’
A Whitehall source said: ‘There is no suggestion from anyone that the British fishermen involved are acting illegally and they should not have to put up with this.’
However, the source said it was ‘unrealistic’ to expect the Navy to intervene as the clashes happened on the French side of the Channel, ‘and it is up to the French authorities to uphold the law and ensure British fishermen can go about their lawful business’.