New "null and void" requirements.

It is in these terms that the French Ministry of the Sea reacted on Monday 3 May to the criteria attached to London for the issuance of fishing authorizations in the Channel Islands and in particular the island of Jersey.

"It is considered that if new requirements for sea zoning or fishing gear are incorporated into the licenses, even though they have not been notified to the European Commission, they are null and void," said the ministry to AFP.

>> To read: Brexit: fishing, the eternal poison of relations between the EU and the United Kingdom

He recalled his attachment to "strict compliance with the fisheries agreement" negotiated in the context of Brexit: "If the United Kingdom wants to introduce new provisions, it must notify them to the European Commission which notifies us, which allows us to engage in a dialogue afterwards. At this stage, we discovered these new technical measures which are not applicable as they are to our fishermen ".

For Jersey waters, the United Kingdom on Friday published a list of 41 vessels equipped with "Vessel Monitoring System" (VMS, a device that records the positions of vessels) and authorized to fish since Saturday.

This list is accompanied by new requirements "which have not been concerted, discussed or notified before," the ministry told AFP.

"Where ships can and cannot go"

They consist mainly of new fishing zonings, indications within Jersey waters - to sum up, "where vessels can and cannot go".

They also specify the "number of days" that fishermen can spend at sea, "and with what gear," the ministry said.

The Ministry of the Sea informed the European Commission of these new measures which were not planned: "It is the Commission which is negotiating, so now we expect it to enter into a discussion with the United Kingdom to understand what this means and then give us its clarifications, "we said from the same source.

With AFP

The summary of the week

France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application

google-play-badge_FR