The impounding of a British fishing vessel in France was a tit-for-tat measure after a French boat was fined £40,000 for breaching UK maritime rules, a senior French fishing industry figure has said.
The 10m-long vessel, which is based in Eastbourne, has been taken to Boulogne-sur-Mer on the Channel coast and could be seized under a French crackdown on British boats caught fishing without authorisation.
The spat erupted despite last week’s trade agreement between the EU and the UK, which was sealed after Sir Keir Starmer agreed to give European fishermen access to British waters for a further 12 years.
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Although French fishermen stand to benefit from the deal, many remain suspicious of Britain, particularly after one of their boats was fined in a landmark case last month after pleading guilty to entering the Brighton Marine Conservation Zone.
Olivier Leprêtre, chairman of the regional fishing committee in northern France, suggested the British boat caught in French waters — which is named Lady T, apparently in honour of Margaret Thatcher — had been impounded in response to the £40,000 fine imposed on the French vessel by Newcastle magistrates.
He said: “Until now the French government has always favoured discussions to repression, as opposed to the British government which always imposes rules that are more and more restrictive, and more and more counterproductive for French fishermen.
“There comes a moment when you have to say: Stop.”
A French official said the Lady T was “looking for it” after entering France’s 12-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone on Thursday. “One moment it was in French waters, the next moment it was next to them,” they added.
Philippe Sabatier, Boulogne deputy prosecutor, said a judge would decide whether to seize it.
France’s Channel maritime prefecture said the British vessel had been intercepted by the Pluvier, a naval patrol boat, after being caught in French waters without authorisation.
It added: “This operation shows the vigilance of the state’s services when it comes to protecting fishing resources and their determination to ensure respect of the regulations. It sends a signal to those who would be tempted to come and fish illegally in French waters.”
Nigel Farage has criticised the fishing agreement under the new UK-EU deal
KIRSTY O’CONNOR/PA WIRE
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, said: “It’s all one-way traffic, the French can fish up to our six-mile line for 12 more years and we have no force of law over their actions. But if one British boat is in a contested area, there is hell to pay.”
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Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, denounced France’s “shameful double standards” contrasting what he said was tough action against the British fishing vessel, with a failure to take similar measures to prevent illegal migrant boat crossings.
He said: “This year alone, the French have failed to stop 13,000 illegal immigrants crossing the Channel, taking no action whatsoever at sea and often ushering the illegal immigrants into UK waters.
“Yet when a UK fishing vessel is in French waters all of a sudden they are magically able to act. If the French can now intercept boats then they should start stopping the boats with illegal immigrants, as international law obliges them to do.”
But Leprêtre depicted the French as victims of British intransigence. He said British boats had fished for scallops in French waters “for years” while flouting strict rules. “And our fishermen don’t say anything. But since Brexit, the British government has not stopped coming up with rules that prevent our boats from fishing in good conditions,” he said.
He said Starmer had given French boats access to British waters but “we can’t catch anything” in them.