>The UK government has summoned the French ambassador to the Foreign Office, as tensions over post-Brexit fishing rights threaten to boil over.
>Number 10 has faced calls to intervene and defend British fisherman after a UK boat was detained amid worsening relations.
>The scallop vessel Cornelis was ordered to divert to the port of Le Havre after the French authorities said it was fishing in French waters without a licence.
>This evening, a UK government spokesman said: “Lord Frost chaired a Ministerial meeting earlier today to consider the UK response to the measures set out by France yesterday.
>“The proposed French actions are unjustified and do not appear to be compatible on the EU’s part with the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) or wider international law. **We regret the confrontational language that has been consistently used by the French government on this issue**, which makes this situation no easier to resolve.
>“We have raised our concerns strongly with both the French and the EU Commission. As a next step, the Foreign Secretary has instructed Minister Morton to summon the French Ambassador. “
>We repeat that the Government has granted 98% of licence applications from EU vessels to fish in the UK’s waters and, as has consistently been made clear, will consider any further evidence on the remainder.”
The cod wars 3: Tokyo drift
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Prenez un grip!
Quite suspect considering the timing of the Incident and the fact the trawler harvest’s shellfish which sits at the heart of the dispute. MacDuff Shellfish of Scotland, claim that they were legally fishing for scallops. Since British fishermen have the right to fish year-round for scallops In the channel it’s hard to see what illicit activity was happening, apart from of course the crime of flying the union jack.
Some extra context on MacDuff Shellfish of Scotland:
this is the Largest cooperate fishing entity in Europe for its produce – owned by one of the Largest cooperate fishing entities in the world. This is big business and its done by the book – looking at https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC395537 and https://macduffshellfish.co.uk/legal/ MacDuff is extremely thorough, I find it difficult to believe such a large corporate entity would screw up this badly. It’s certainly improbable that the Bank of Montreal would also overlook this and grant the company more capital when even one of its vessels was not properly certified.
As the largest shellfish producer in Europe MacDuff represents an excellent target for the French, Not only do they harvest the produce (shellfish) at the crux of the dispute but they also represent the British industry standard. Furthermore, they are a Scottish brand that may potentially incentivize a slower response from the tories in order to undermine Sturgeon.
On ramène le poisson étant donné que vous avez le sel
He said, she said. The company that the boat belongs to say they did have a licence, the French are saying they didn’t. Who knows?
It seems that the political show has finally escalated enough to become an incident. It’s a bit disappointing that the cause seems to be France detaining a ship that was illegaly fishing than all of the more hostile rhetoric that French officials have been saying (the latter being far less defensible than the former).
We’ll see if the ambassadors are still capable of calming things down.
8 comments
>The UK government has summoned the French ambassador to the Foreign Office, as tensions over post-Brexit fishing rights threaten to boil over.
>Number 10 has faced calls to intervene and defend British fisherman after a UK boat was detained amid worsening relations.
>The scallop vessel Cornelis was ordered to divert to the port of Le Havre after the French authorities said it was fishing in French waters without a licence.
>This evening, a UK government spokesman said: “Lord Frost chaired a Ministerial meeting earlier today to consider the UK response to the measures set out by France yesterday.
>“The proposed French actions are unjustified and do not appear to be compatible on the EU’s part with the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) or wider international law. **We regret the confrontational language that has been consistently used by the French government on this issue**, which makes this situation no easier to resolve.
>“We have raised our concerns strongly with both the French and the EU Commission. As a next step, the Foreign Secretary has instructed Minister Morton to summon the French Ambassador. “
>We repeat that the Government has granted 98% of licence applications from EU vessels to fish in the UK’s waters and, as has consistently been made clear, will consider any further evidence on the remainder.”
The cod wars 3: Tokyo drift
[removed]
Prenez un grip!
Quite suspect considering the timing of the Incident and the fact the trawler harvest’s shellfish which sits at the heart of the dispute. MacDuff Shellfish of Scotland, claim that they were legally fishing for scallops. Since British fishermen have the right to fish year-round for scallops In the channel it’s hard to see what illicit activity was happening, apart from of course the crime of flying the union jack.
Some extra context on MacDuff Shellfish of Scotland:
– MacDuff Shellfish of Scotland is a 130-year-old company and a subsidiary of Clearwater seafood the largest shellfish producer in North America. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearwater_Seafoods
– According to their website MacDuff Shellfish of Scotland is the largest producer of shellfish in Europe. https://macduffshellfish.co.uk/17/news/
– MacDuff Shellfish of Scotland has ongoing finance agreements with a lender: The Bank of Montreal – with the most recent agreement dated 24/08/21. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC395537
this is the Largest cooperate fishing entity in Europe for its produce – owned by one of the Largest cooperate fishing entities in the world. This is big business and its done by the book – looking at https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC395537 and https://macduffshellfish.co.uk/legal/ MacDuff is extremely thorough, I find it difficult to believe such a large corporate entity would screw up this badly. It’s certainly improbable that the Bank of Montreal would also overlook this and grant the company more capital when even one of its vessels was not properly certified.
As the largest shellfish producer in Europe MacDuff represents an excellent target for the French, Not only do they harvest the produce (shellfish) at the crux of the dispute but they also represent the British industry standard. Furthermore, they are a Scottish brand that may potentially incentivize a slower response from the tories in order to undermine Sturgeon.
On ramène le poisson étant donné que vous avez le sel
He said, she said. The company that the boat belongs to say they did have a licence, the French are saying they didn’t. Who knows?
It seems that the political show has finally escalated enough to become an incident. It’s a bit disappointing that the cause seems to be France detaining a ship that was illegaly fishing than all of the more hostile rhetoric that French officials have been saying (the latter being far less defensible than the former).
We’ll see if the ambassadors are still capable of calming things down.