Channel clash may just be the start

THE dangerous scenes played out in the English Channel on Tuesday night, with French fishing boats ramming British scallop trawlers, are no joke.

It is foolhardy in the extreme to put lives at risk in open waters – but this could merely be a taste of the future under Brexit.

Trade barriers can lead to disputes, and these can turn into bad-tempered clashes.

Calm heads and candid talks must replace this crazy aggression reminiscent of the Icelandic Cod Wars of the 70s.

British boats have always fished the French coast and have the right to do so under EU law even though French national laws prevent their own fishermen taking stocks in the closed season.

But as well as small boats from the English coast, big scallop trawlers further complicate the situation.

One of the vessels attacked on Tuesday night was the Honeybourne III, registered at Peterhead. It is a Scottish vessel but it belongs to a Canadian-owned company.

It is a reminder that if we are to sort out fishing rights post-Brexit we also have to sort out fair distribution of Scottish fishing quota to Scottish owned boats.

This Scallop War is like a shipping forecast of what might happen under Brexit. If we withdraw from a common rule book we can’t replace it with battles at sea.

The rights of English boats to fish off France and French boats to come to UK waters were there long before the Common Fisheries Policy.

Scottish boats sell their catch into the European single market and need that to remain open. Sharing of the common resource has to continue after Brexit.