Scallop Wars: French and British Fishermen Fight With Throwing Stones and Clashing Boats (VIDEO + Photos)
35 French fisher boats and five British vessels had a big fight in the English Channel over scallops.
Nexter.org found out how this happened and why.
Source: Getty
What really happened
On Tuesday morning 35 French boats surrounded five British vessels in the English Channel trying to protect a scallop bed, which led to an angry standoff.
While the French threw smoke bombs and stones, and shouted insults at the British, some French ships even rammed British ones. As a result, three ships were damaged.
“The French went to contact the British to stop them working and they clashed with each other. Apparently, there was stone-throwing, but no injuries,” said Normandy fishing chief Dimitri Rogoff.
The French accuse the British of unfair competition in international waters.
According to French law, the period of fishing scallops in the English Channel is prohibited from May 15 to October 1 due to the preservation of the population. In British law, though, there is no such measure. Norman fishermen often left with the remnants, which seriously hurts their incomes.
The relationship between French and British fishermen remains tense over the past few years over the scallops. They were able to find a compromise before, but this time the fishermen could not agree.
“For the Brits, it’s an open bar – they fish when they want, where they want, and as much as they want,” said Normandy fishing chief Dimitri Rogoff. “We don’t want to stop them from fishing, but they could at least wait until 1 October so that we can share.”
Source: cornwalllive.com
Britain’s scallop fishing industry supports more than 1,200 jobs and is worth about £120m a year. “Scallops are a flagship product for Normandy, a primary resource and a highly sensitive issue,” said Rogoff.
For the Normands the problem will be solved if Britain crashes out of the European Union next year without a deal. “After 29 March 2019, they would be treated as a third party and would no longer have access to these areas,” he said.
Although, the pro-Brexit organization Fishing for Leave called French fishermen “hypocrites” as over the past 40 years they caught 60% of the fish in British waters.
Who is right, who is wrong? What do you guys think?
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