British-French Jersey Standoff Eases As Trawlers Withdraw ibtimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ibtimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The French naval policing boats Athos, which has a large machine gun on its front deck, and the unarmed Themis were sent to keep watch on waters between France and Jersey, French maritime authorities said. The deployment came after Britain on Wednesday directed two naval vessels, the HMS Severn and the HMS Tamar, to also patrol the waters around the island, a self-governing British Crown Dependency near the coast of northern France.
French fishermen steamed into Jersey waters to protest new post-Brexit rules requiring them to submit their past fishing activities in order to receive a license to continue operating in the island s waters. French fishing communities claim some boats that have operated around Jersey for years have suddenly had their access restricted.
French fishermen angry over loss of access to waters off their coast gathered their boats in protest Thursday off the English Channel island of Jersey, the flashpoint for the first major conflict between France and Britain over fishing rights in the wake of Brexit. Dimitri Rogoff, who heads a grouping of Normandy fishermen, said about 50 boats from French ports along the western Normandy coast joined the protest Thursday morning, gathering their fleet off the Jersey port of St. Helier.l He said the protest over licenses for French fishermen was not an attempt to blockade the port but rather a peaceful method of voicing anger over reduced access to Jersey waters.
For an island of just 45-square-miles that is mere spitting distance from the shores of mainland France, Jersey has often played an outsized role in British history.
During the English Civil War, it was Jersey that offered sanctuary on two occasions to King Charles II after the execution of his father, Charles I, by Oliver Cromwell’s parliamentarians. In 1649, Charles II was proclaimed King of England in St Helier’s Royal Square.
Charles II’s son, James, later granted the island’s governor, George De Carteret, a vast tract of land in North America which, named for the island, would become the state of New Jersey.
LONDON Vessels from Britain s Royal Navy and French police boats patrolled Thursday near the English Channel island of Jersey, where French fishermen angry about losing access to waters off their coast gathered for a maritime protest. The irate mariners set off flares and entered the island s main harbour, in the first major dispute between France and Britain over fishing rights in the wake of Brexit. The European Union appealed for calm, but also accused the U.K. of not respecting the terms of the post-Brexit trade deal agreed to by the two sides. The naval policing boats Athos and Themis were sent to keep watch on waters between France and Jersey, French maritime authorities for the English Channel and North Sea said. The deployment came after Britain on Wednesday directed two naval vessels, HMS Severn and HMS Tamar, to also patrol the waters around the island, a self-governing British Crown Dependency near the coast of northern France.