French fishing ships harass UK fishing ships

[Sinewmire]

This is so surreal, it's like something Private Eye would come up with.

I suppose it'll be more and more common as stuff we eat dies out.

Fishermen are calling for Royal Navy protection after claims they were attacked by French vessels.

Kevin Lochrane, from East Sussex, said he was surrounded by seven or eights boats in international waters 15 miles off Caen in a dispute over scallops.

One Scottish fisherman, Andy Scott, said he feared for his crew's safety during the incident.

Other crewmen, including from Devon, said they were also surrounded by the French fishermen.

They said the French fishermen had tried to damage their gear.
'Called for assistance'

Clinton Powell, from Devon, said: "Something has got to be done and we need naval protection."

Anton Bailey, from Brixham, claimed four French boats "threw rocks and tried to ram us".

Mr Lochrane, from Newhaven, said he had to call his crew off the deck "as it was unsafe".

"I called other vessels for assistance and when they arrived they had ropes fired at them too, and nets and ropes were put in the water to disable us."

He said a French fishing protection vessel refused to intervene.

"I've been at sea for 20 years and never seen anything like it," Mr Lochrane said.

"Our worry is if this all kicks off again then we're not getting any help from anybody.

"Maybe we could have our own naval vessel to assist us if this should ever happen again."

Mr Scott, of Dumfries-based Scott Trawlers, said three French fishermen eventually boarded his vessel and spoke to the skipper.

"He was able to satisfy them that he was legally entitled to fish there," said Mr Scott.
'Looks like premeditation'

French fisherman Claude Millinaire, who was among the protesters in the Baie de la Seine, told French television station TF3: "It's robbery. We work intelligently to preserve fish stocks.

"We leave them to grow during the summer and then it's others who come and reap the benefits. We are not OK with that."

Liberal Democrat Transport Minister Norman Baker, who is MP for Lewes, said: "So far unverified reports suggest that up to 40 French boats surrounded five British vessels who appeared to be fishing legally, albeit in French waters.
Kevin Lochrane said one of his crew was hit by a rock Kevin Lochrane said in 20 years at sea he had "never seen anything like it"

"That looks like premeditation and attempt to intimidate. Clearly we have to establish the facts."

Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon said: "UK vessels have a legitimate right to fish in these waters and France must continue to provide adequate protection to UK fishermen.

"We are monitoring the situation and will continue to keep an open dialogue with our French counterparts."

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency contacted French coastguards, who sent a patrol vessel to the area and said the French authorities were "continuing to monitor the situation".

The French Government says there is nothing it can do to stop the British boats, because they are in French waters perfectly legally.

Mr Powell, who was fishing on board The Golden Fleece Two, said: "None of our skippers could get away with it: we'd be locked up and legal action taken right away."

Original storyhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19907813

I'd be pretty interested to hear the French version of events, although I guess their comments in the article, namely they farmed those fish and fishing them now is depleting the stocks, makes sense. The video clip is labeled "The French claim British vessels are taking advantage of local conservation measures"

[weemadando]

So ships from one nation are ignoring another nation's conservation, licencing and quota systems and just doing whatever the fuck they want?

None of this is surprising at all. Fisheries is one gigantic global clusterfuck dedicated to the complete decimation of ecosystems and mass extinctions in the headlong pursuit of the tiniest profit margins. And no matter what any territory does, it's reforms will just be seen as giving others a carte blanche to loot the joint.

[Vehrec]

Iceland's coast guard went to war with the Brits for the Codfish at least twice, didn't they? And the British Navy responded by convoying the fishing fleet, much to their disgust.

[Sea Skimmer]

Three times, caused each time because Iceland unilaterally claimed large areas of international waters as its own, extending its claims three times, and refused to arbitrate each time until after the British demonstrated a strong military response. Eventually the limits of its claims were recognized in the modern concept of an economic exclusion zone, but that was near forty years after the first cod war. If not for NATO is is likely the British would have just opened fire and put the Icelandic coast guard on the bottom. Especially after the British agreed to the 50nm limit and Iceland then went and claimed 200nm. More then one ship was almost sunk in the ramming incidents as it was.

[Zaune]

This is news I could have done without hearing this soon after the Conservative Party conference brought to light a bunch of legislation reminiscent of the kind of castle-doctrine Internet Tough Guy bullshit that would get you banned from this forum...

[Korto]

Who else remembers the old Goodies episode?

[Memnon]

So ships from one nation are ignoring another nation's conservation, licencing and quota systems and just doing whatever the fuck they want?

None of this is surprising at all. Fisheries is one gigantic global clusterfuck dedicated to the complete decimation of ecosystems and mass extinctions in the headlong pursuit of the tiniest profit margins. And no matter what any territory does, it's reforms will just be seen as giving others a carte blanche to loot the joint.

It's kind of an awkward position because, apparently the EU regs and British regs result in an advantage for British boats. There's only a certain amount EU regs allow, and the British season starting earlier results in less left for the French.

Link in French, goodplanet.info

British fishermen, who are not subject to European regulations on fishing are allowed to fish Coquilles St. Jacques scallops 36 days a year off the French coast. French fishermen wanted to express that they're fed up with this quota situation being increasingly difficult to manage. For French fishermen, their English counterparts have all the time necessary to exploit the resources of Saint-Jacques area before fishing was officially opened in Europe.

Milliner for Claude, skipper of the Challenge, said that "the 2012-2013 season started badly; our English friends are in the process of looting the area and swept away thousands of tons to sell from England back to France for the price of breaking the shell. If the authorities do not take their responsibilities, the conflict will harden as the survival of the scallops is at stake. "

Another French source, agrees with the other one and adds some detail on quotas

There is no way to prevent the British fishing in the Bay of Seine, only to check it.The thing we can do legally is to check the size of the regulatory taken shipboard by the English and Scottish," said an expert from the ministry. French fishermen demanded, as a precaution, a closure of the fishery until the end of November to the south of a line stretching from Barfleur (Manche) to Cap d'Antifer (Haute-Normandie), a "emergency measure" to preserve the resource. The French are subject to quotas (3.5 tons this year, according to IFREMER, down by 1 ton). In addition, the fishery opened on the French side on October 1, while the British fish from August 1. And their boats easily measure 30-35 feet longer than the French ships. The situation is even more tense since some deposits affected by the toxin domoic acid were closed.

Aren't trade flare-ups just so much fun?

[Vehrec]

Three times, caused each time because Iceland unilaterally claimed large areas of international waters as its own, extending its claims three times, and refused to arbitrate each time until after the British demonstrated a strong military response. Eventually the limits of its claims were recognized in the modern concept of an economic exclusion zone, but that was near forty years after the first cod war. If not for NATO is is likely the British would have just opened fire and put the Icelandic coast guard on the bottom. Especially after the British agreed to the 50nm limit and Iceland then went and claimed 200nm. More then one ship was almost sunk in the ramming incidents as it was.

Well, it wasn't entirely unilateral, since the US was in the process of claiming all the mineral rights of it's continental shelf at the time, and was also forbidding fishing in certain international waters to prevent harvesting of Salmon, as the Japanese had done before they could reach their spawning rivers. Similarly, the Iclandic people, flush with nationhood, could see that fish species that spawned closer to shore were doing better than the ones spawing in then international waters. And they did it in stages, first 4 miles, then 12, prompting the first war, then the 50 mile limit, which began the principle of simply cutting trawls of violators. In 1973, thirty-four Latin American, African and Asian nations unilaterally expanded their zones to the 200 mile limits, making the October 15, 1975 declaration of the same by Iceland a bit of a Johnny come Lately. Everyone except GB and west Germany complied with every extension. No French or Spanish trawlers fought the Cod Wars.

And don't forget that Iceland had a grand total of one and only one resource they could freely convert on the international exchange. Iceland extended it's waters because the fisheries was the only thing that had lifted them out of the middle ages, and because as was plain to see, the Catch was getting smaller and being overfished. It is quite understandable that they rammed British ships, cut nets, and even fired life shells in the defense of their nation's very livelihood.