Gunboats dispatched to Jersey in UK/French fishing rights conflict
A degrading jingoistic spectacle played out this week between the UK and France over fishing rights in the waters around Jersey.
Up to 60 French fishing vessels blockaded the island’s St Hellier’s port for several hours Thursday, overseen by two Royal Navy gunboats and two French military vessels.
Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands and home to just over 100,000 people. Located 14 miles from the French Normandy coast and 85 miles south of the UK, it was brought under the English/British crown with the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066, remaining so when King John surrendered his claim to the Duchy of Normandy in 1259.
Two Royal Navy vessels are now patrolling waters around Jersey amid concerns of a possible blockade of the island, as the row between France and Jersey continues to escalate over post-Brexit fishing rights. HMS Severn and HMS Tamar have been deployed by the UK Government to “monitor the situation” at the Channel Island amid a protest by French fishing vessels at the port of St Helier over the lack of access. It follows a warning from French maritime minister Annick Girardin on Tuesday that the country is ready to take “retaliatory measures”, accusing Jersey of dragging its feet over issuing new licences to French boats.
The Athos boat travelled along the River Seine from Rouen to Le Havre then around Cherbourg towards Jersey - after two UK Navy vessels began patrolling waters around the island.
Emmanuel Macron sends French gunboat to Jersey as tensions rise in fishing protest Nicholas Cecil UP NEXT
Tensions escalated dramatically on Thursday after a French gunboat headed towards Jersey as Royal Navy ships tracked a flotilla of Normandy fishing boats protesting against post-Brexit licence rules.
Around 70 fishing boats were massing off-shore, with some firing flares amid talk over maritime radio early this morning of a blockade of the island’s main port of Saint Helier.
Two Royal Navy ships, HMS Tamar, which is equipped with machineguns and a helicopter landing pad, and HMS Severn, were tracking the demonstration from a distance. The stand-off escalated mid-morning after it emerged that the French maritime gendarmerie vessel Athos, armed with a cannon, would be arriving in the area “imminently” on a “patrol mission”.