It is a decision that looks like a way out of the crisis. Guernsey announced Wednesday to grant 40 fishing licenses to French boats, which will thus be able to continue fishing in its waters after February 1, 2022. By adding three other boats which will replace vessels which have left the French fleet, Guernsey will ultimately grant 43 licenses for 58 requests. For the remaining 15 boats, “any additional data will be examined,” the government of Guernsey said in a statement.
These boats will be able to fish in the 6-12 nautical mile zone off the Channel Island, as was the case before Brexit. This announcement came in the midst of a standoff between Paris and London over post-Brexit fishing licenses, the French government accusing the British of granting too few.
“The fight” continues for “111 licenses”
The issue of fishing licenses is, however, less problematic with Guernsey, which Paris considers a “reliable partner” in the negotiations, than it is with London and Jersey. European fishermen can indeed continue to work in British waters provided they can prove that they were fishing there before. But the French and the British argue over the nature and extent of the supporting documents to be provided.
Since January 1, 2021, France has obtained around a thousand fishing licenses in British waters and the Channel Islands, but Paris is still asking for around a hundred. The granting of 43 definitive licenses by Guernsey is “excellent news”, but “the fight” continues for “111 post-Brexit licenses” still to be obtained for French fishermen, declared Wednesday the French Minister of the Sea, Annick. Girardin.
The European Commission recently asked London to settle the post-Brexit dispute over fishing licenses with France by December 10.