The French fishermen who could sink Britain's post-Brexit ambitions

By Richard Lough

 

French workers fillet mackerels in a fish processing plant in the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, January 29, 2020. EU fishermen will lose the automatic right to fish in British waters once Britain leaves the European Union. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

 

BOULOGNE-SUR-MER, France (Reuters) - For the British government, a successful Brexit means re-asserting economic sovereignty and landing a trade deal with Europe. Trawler captain Stephane Fait and his fellow French fisherman could sink that plan.

 

Based in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France's busiest fishing port and a major European processing centre, Fait and his crew earn the bulk of their income from fish caught in British waters.

 

In negotiations on a post-Brexit trade deal that get underway after Britain's Jan. 31 exit from the European Union, Britain will say EU vessels like Fait's Notre Dame de Boulogne trawler no longer have automatic access to British waters.

 

But French fishermen won't accept that and they have leverage: pressuring Brussels via French President Emmanuel Macron to withhold the trade deal unless Britain lets EU trawlers fish its waters.

 

"Macron mustn't give an inch to Britain," the captain said as his crew unloaded 2 tonnes of squid, red mullet and whiting this week.

 

Fait, 50, said his livelihood was at risk and wants Macron to retaliate against any restrictions imposed by London with a ban on British-caught fish entering the EU.

 

The fishing row shows how just one small industry - which plays a tiny economic role but has outsize political influence - can undo Britain's ambitions of landing a wider deal that preserves its access to European markets.

 

British fishing grounds are among the richest in the North East Atlantic zone where most of the EU catch is hauled in. Current rules allow EU boats to fish as close as six nautical miles to Britain's coast, but once it leaves the bloc its exclusive economic zone will reach as far as 200 miles offshore.

 

If no new accord is reached, Fait will not be allowed to fish beyond a line down the middle of the English Channel separating French and British territorial waters.

 

It would be "very, very grave" if French boats were banned from British waters, French Farm Minister Didier Guillaume told Reuters. "There could be reprisal measures."

 

COMPETING INTERESTS

Regaining control of Britain's waters was a totem for Brexit campaigners. British fishermen say too many concessions were made when Britain joined the European Economic Community in 1973.

 

The EU Common Fisheries Policy determines how much of each fish can be caught and sets national quotas. Once Britain becomes an independent coastal state, it will operate its fish stocks independently.

 

"A rebalancing is needed," a British official said. "We believe we should have a greater share of the fish in UK waters."

 

However, a European diplomat said the objective was to "maintain the status quo" on access to British waters.

 

The European Commission says there should be no free trade agreement without a fisheries accord.

 

Another European diplomat said EU capitals would stand united on fisheries, as they did on the Irish border during negotiations on a withdrawal agreement.

 

ECONOMIC LIFELINE

Fishing is a tiny contributor to the EU's economy, providing only 180,000 jobs.

 

But it is a lifeline for coastal communities in France, as well as Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands and negotiations will go beyond just access to fishing grounds.

 

In Boulogne-sur-Mer, some 5,000 people work in refrigerated warehouses and processing plants that handle 400,000 tonnes of fish annually and distribute to markets across Europe. Less than 10% is landed at the port; fish, lobster and shellfish caught off Scotland, Norway and the Faroe Islands are often trucked in from British ports.

 

While Britain might hold the upper hand over access to its fishing grounds, British fishermen could ill-afford to turn their backs on Europe, said Aymeric Chrzan, head of the fishmonger union's local branch.

 

His message for Britain: "You can keep your fish stocks for yourself, prevent others from fishing, but you've still got to make a living."

 

(Reporting by Richard Lough in Boulogne-sur-Mer; additional reporting by Michel Rose and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris and John Chalmers in Brussels; Editing by Giles Elgood)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-01-31

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48 minutes ago, webfact said:

Trawler captain Stephane Fait and his fellow French fisherman could sink that plan.

Let´s hope they will succeed with that. 

Let's hope they don't.

"The fishing row shows how just one small industry - which plays a tiny economic role but has outsize political influence - can undo Britain's ambitions of landing a wider deal that preserves its access to European markets."

 

Let's reverse that, EU needs to preserve access to the UK...with only 430 million in Europe and a large proportion of them from poor almost 3 world countries...who cares...UK will have access to US, Australia, India, China. etc...don't these people get it yet, they are a very small fish in a very big pond

 

28 minutes ago, baansgr said:

"The fishing row shows how just one small industry - which plays a tiny economic role but has outsize political influence - can undo Britain's ambitions of landing a wider deal that preserves its access to European markets."

 

Let's reverse that, EU needs to preserve access to the UK...with only 430 million in Europe and a large proportion of them from poor almost 3 world countries...who cares...UK will have access to US, Australia, India, China. etc...don't these people get it yet, they are a very small fish in a very big pond

 

Oh they do get it...

 

You current have unfettered access to the rest of the EU.

 

The rest of these places, even in a ‘good’ trade deal, won’t offer you anywhere near that. 

Edited January 30, 20206 yr by samran

19 minutes ago, samran said:

Oh they do get it...

 

You current have unfettered access to the rest of the EU.

 

The rest of these places, even in a ‘good’ trade deal, won’t offer you anywhere near that. 

And they have "unfettered" access to the UK...oh...and saying unfettered really isnt a true description how the EU trade policy works.

4 minutes ago, baansgr said:

And they have "unfettered" access to the UK...oh...and saying unfettered really isnt a true description how the EU trade policy works.

Didn’t you get the memo? 
 

In the event of a no deal brexit, the UK will run a near zero % tariff rate. That access to the UK will continue for the EU post brexit mostly. It won’t be the other way around...

 

https://www.ft.com/content/b89dffbc-e99a-11e9-85f4-d00e5018f061

 

And the type of access you get to the EU now (for goods AND services) won’t be anywhere near replicated on all these other ambitious FTAs you want to sign. Just look up an existing FTA in the world, lots and lots of restrictions and caveats on these things. 

Edited January 30, 20206 yr by samran

The same French fishermen that escort II's by the boat-load & hand then to UKBA's nautical Uber service?

Edited January 30, 20206 yr by evadgib

Once again.

The only thing the EU wanted from Britain was MONEY.

Oh they were quite happy to take it in produce.

I knew that Edward Heath was awarded a prize of £50K the following year after UK joined and that UK press has now said that was £65K equivalent to over £1.5 million with inflation.

Britain was robbed blind and is now lucky to be out of it.

 

john

You can fool some of the people most of the time but not all of the time.

Majority of the UK fishing grounds are Scottish.

You cant bargain with something you dont own.

I would think the result of this little squabble is known in advance: the last time the French won a battle over the English was in 1066 (and even then it was only the Norman French).

52 minutes ago, jonwilly said:

Once again.

The only thing the EU wanted from Britain was MONEY.

Oh they were quite happy to take it in produce.

I knew that Edward Heath was awarded a prize of £50K the following year after UK joined and that UK press has now said that was £65K equivalent to over £1.5 million with inflation.

Britain was robbed blind and is now lucky to be out of it.

 

john

You can fool some of the people most of the time but not all of the time.

Sorry to quibble, but the actual quotation, attributed to Abe Lincoln, is -

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.

But I fully understand your meaning.

2 hours ago, baansgr said:

"The fishing row shows how just one small industry - which plays a tiny economic role but has outsize political influence - can undo Britain's ambitions of landing a wider deal that preserves its access to European markets."

 

Let's reverse that, EU needs to preserve access to the UK...with only 430 million in Europe and a large proportion of them from poor almost 3 world countries...who cares...UK will have access to US, Australia, India, China. etc...don't these people get it yet, they are a very small fish in a very big pond

 

So, you think the the UK will have access a better deal with the USA than the EU has or even equal to the EU deal? With Trump in office? Doubt it. There is strength in numbers and the UK has weakened itself as far as trade negotiations.

8 minutes ago, PremiumLane said:

You do know the EU is one of the largest trading blocs in the world, right? And yes they would like the UK to stay, it is what they have wanted all along, but the small minded little-Englanders who have no understanding of trade or how the EU operates have lied through their teeth and got the UK into this sh*tshow

"To continue impartial reality, mantra, oft repeated by the BBC, that the EU holds all the cards, is not true either. The Eurozone is teetering on recession, it depends hugely on massive balance of payments surplus with UK. No deal would tip it into recession." (Andrew Neil)

43 minutes ago, kamahele said:

So, you think the the UK will have access a better deal with the USA than the EU has or even equal to the EU deal? With Trump in office? Doubt it. There is strength in numbers and the UK has weakened itself as far as trade negotiations.

Just let them find out ....the hard way .....that reminds best..????

33 minutes ago, vogie said:

"To continue impartial reality, mantra, oft repeated by the BBC, that the EU holds all the cards, is not true either. The Eurozone is teetering on recession, it depends hugely on massive balance of payments surplus with UK. No deal would tip it into recession." (Andrew Neil)

Keep rehearsing that in front of mirror   ...or you would start doubting that from now....????

42 minutes ago, vogie said:

"To continue impartial reality, mantra, oft repeated by the BBC, that the EU holds all the cards, is not true either. The Eurozone is teetering on recession, it depends hugely on massive balance of payments surplus with UK. No deal would tip it into recession." (Andrew Neil)

Fog in the channel.

Europe cut off.

I have an idea ! Why don,t the French fish in French waters, and the British fish in British waters ????

12 minutes ago, phantomfiddler said:

I have an idea ! Why don,t the French fish in French waters, and the British fish in British waters ????

Cause most of the fish the French like - and the Brits have no taste for -  are in British waters.
 

And vice versa, you guys like a lot of cod, which are mainly not in Uk waters. 

Edited January 31, 20206 yr by samran

at last, something for the RN to do.

As usual the French want their cake and eat it..........

38 minutes ago, phantomfiddler said:

I have an idea ! Why don,t the French fish in French waters, and the British fish in British waters ????

Let me see if I understand this correctly, The British want to be granted a  special deal for access to EU markets but they don't want to grand special access to their fishing grounds.  

Again, this fishing rights issue is old news. The subject of how the UK would actually enact Brexit after departure has never been properly ascertained. It's all very well to leave the EU, but 'what then?' has been a constant unanswered question, not only by the politicians but on this site as well.

 

The government, IMO, promotes having a magic wand that would resolve all the difficulties facing the UK in ACTUALLY leaving the EU, and trading elsewhere as a single entity.  If anyone on here thinks it's going to be a walk in the park, I beg to differ in that I could see there would be many occasions when conflict over future trade agreement halts the process during 2020. Fishing rights is one of them. And the reality is that the UK needs a trade agreement with the largest single market in Europe to prosper going it alone.

 

The Tory government are due for a rude awakening and a hard slog to take the UK forward - I support this as a basic necessity for the economy, even though I consider they're not up to the job as evidenced in the past few years. It will be a long and winding road, have no doubt fellow posters.  

  

3 hours ago, Rookiescot said:

Majority of the UK fishing grounds are Scottish.

You cant bargain with something you dont own.

Scotland belongs to England

1 minute ago, Foghorn said:

Scotland belongs to England

Posts like that helps no-one.

2 hours ago, PremiumLane said:

You do know the EU is one of the largest trading blocs in the world, right? And yes they would like the UK to stay, it is what they have wanted all along, but the small minded little-Englanders who have no understanding of trade or how the EU operates have lied through their teeth and got the UK into this sh*tshow

And the eu paid British manufacturers to move to Europe so the jobs would go there . Goodbye eu not nice knowing you

1 hour ago, phantomfiddler said:

I have an idea ! Why don,t the French fish in French waters, and the British fish in British waters ????

Do fish care what borders and economic zones they live in and migrate through?

7 minutes ago, vogie said:

Posts like that helps no-one.

The Scottish get more money spent on them than the English 

8 minutes ago, vogie said:

Posts like that helps no-one.

Damn those Freudian slips... 

1 minute ago, Srikcir said:

Do fish care what borders and economic zones they live in and migrate through?

Apparently they like English waters better ,the French fished them all to near extinction