Saint-Helier (Jersey) (AFP)

After selling his lobster in France, Tim Corson returns to his boat on the British island of Jersey, where many fishermen like him fear they will no longer be able to sell their goods in Europe, due to the post-Brexit battle between London and Paris.

Access to the waters of Jersey - attached like its neighbor Guernsey to the British crown, but located off the French coast and with an autonomous government - has been a source of friction between London and Paris since the United Kingdom definitively left the EU in January.

The French government has asked its British counterpart to grant a final authorization to fish in the fish-bearing waters of these territories to 169 of its vessels.

But the Jersey government, to which the British have delegated this task, has so far only issued provisional authorizations - which expired for the first time on June 30, then extended for three months until Thursday - requiring French ships that they prove their previous activity in these waters.

A complicated task for small boats that do not have a satellite tracking system

"We are at the end of our patience, the fishermen are, legitimately", warned this week the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, threatening to activate, via the European Commission, "restrictive measures" if the situation does not unblock.

An evasive formula, but which could well hit the fishermen of Jersey, who fear a ban on sales in neighboring French ports, they who did not have a say in the referendum on Brexit in 2016.

- "Difficult years" -

The provisional authorizations "will be extended again, but what will happen once this new period has elapsed? This only delays, postpones, postpones, postpones" the outcome, laments Tim Corson, 28, whose the smile under the red beard fails to mask his concern.

The Jersey government finally announced on Friday that ships that did not provide all the necessary papers will have their temporary license extended until January 31.

Others will simply be denied their license, and will have to stop fishing.

French fishermen demonstrate at the entrance to the port of Saint Helier in Jersey, England, on May 6, 2021, to warn of fishing restrictions in English waters following Brexit Sameer Al-DOUMY AFP / Archives

The figures for each of these categories will be known next week, raising fears of a return of tensions, while the massive protest by French fishermen at the end of last June had already failed to degenerate into a naval battle, after the dispatch of British and French patrol boats.

"Brexit has complicated things," laments Tim Corson, unloading his large bags of bait bought in France in the small port of Gorey, overlooked by green hills and a 13th century castle.

"If we lose our market" in Europe, where they sell lobsters and scallops, "we are going to have a few very difficult years until we find a solution," laments Mr. Corson.

- "Find a balance" -

In the more industrial port of Saint-Helier, the island's capital, locals are also worried about competition from French boats, larger and better equipped.

"Big boats can fish in any weather, so they keep moving when we have to stop because we usually only fish during the day," said Chris Casey, 62, who catches bass lines, "one by one", in his 6-meter boat.

"They are all from sustainable fishing," he says, showing the labels which, attached to the gills, allow full traceability.

Some, like Don Thompson, president of the Jersey Fishermen's Association, were initially optimistic about Brexit.

But today, he declares himself "very disappointed".

"It was an opportunity to strike a balance between the size of the Jersey fleet and the number of foreign vessels fishing in our waters," he explains.

But 169 French vessels would be far more than the local fleet, he complains, saying only about 70 of them previously fished in the area.

A real problem, when "the capacity of our fish stocks is not ideal", like "at the moment", adds Stephen Viney.

The 54-year-old fisherman fears excessive "pressure" on fish stocks if too many vessels are allowed, which would make them "all losers, as restrictions will be enforced".

But, he adds, "nobody has a problem" with the French boats that were already fishing here, as they have been doing for centuries.

© 2021 AFP