UK-France fishing spat deepens

ROME — French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stuck to rival positions Sunday in their countries’ post-Brexit dispute over fishing in the English Channel, with France maintaining its threat to impose sanctions starting Tuesday that could include a blockade of British boats.

The two leaders held a 30minute meeting on Sunday morning while attending the Group of 20 nations summit in Rome, and each addressed the escalating tensions over the granting of fishing licenses as they held separate news conferences at the end of the meeting.

“I don’t want any escalation, but we must take things seriously,” Macron said “My wish is not to go toward retaliation measures...It’s rather to find an agreement.”

France has threatened to bar British boats from some of its ports and tighten checks on boats and trucks carrying U.K. goods if more French vessels aren’t licensed to fish in U.K. waters by Tuesday. Paris has also suggested it might restrict energy supplies to the Channel Islands — British Crown dependencies that lie off the coast of France and are heavily dependent on French electricity.

Macron said he invited Johnson to work on a “methodology” for granting more fishing licenses to French ships.

“The ball is now in their court. If the British don’t do any significant move, (retaliation) measures starting from Nov. 2 will need to be implemented,” the French president said. “I would deplore it. But what we cannot do is not respond and not defend our fishermen.”

Fishing is a tiny industry economically, but one that looms large symbolically for maritime nations like Britain and France. Britain’s exit from the economic rules of the 27-nation European Union at the start of the year means the U.K. now controls who fishes in its waters.