Post-Brexit fishing: "I don't want to change jobs, but I have to"

Lionel Gougelot (in Calais) and Jacques Serais, edited by Solène Leroux 2:44 p.m., November 04, 2021

REPORTING

Are we heading for a real naval battle?

For French fishermen, the situation has become so difficult that some have decided to stop their activity and sell their boats.

Installed in his cockpit, Loïc Fontaine observes, resigned, the map of this fishing area in British waters, banned for ten months now.

"At that time I should be on the other side of the center line, which is in English waters."

Only 45 minutes by sea from Calais, it made 50% of its whelk catches.

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A job "at a loss for a year"

It is now limited to French waters, with a resource which is running out and which does not compensate for the loss of turnover.

"We have already been working at a loss for almost a year. Every month, we lose between 10,000 and 15,000 euros in cash. I'll let you do the math. After a while, it's more viable."

Added to this is the increase in diesel fuel.

The wages of the crew had to be lowered.

So the fishing boss threw in the towel with bitterness.

"I only did that: I started at 19, I'm 45. I don't want to change jobs, but I have to," he laments.

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Is the page definitively turned?

"I just have to sign for the sale of my boat" confirms the fisherman, not without regret: "I invested money, I got some guys on board ..." A crew that finds itself "in the same galley" as Loïc Fontaine.

"With a blow like that, I don't think they have the morale to do this job yet."

If he is preparing to mourn the open sea, the fisherman still hopes that a Franco-British agreement will allow some of his fellow fishermen to survive.

But the agreement between the two countries is long overdue. 

Final negotiations

To the point that some wonder if they should hope for real progress or the application of sanctions in the coming days? The balance tilts more for the first option. On the French side, the ultimatum which planned to prevent British ships from unloading their cargo in our ports has been postponed several times this week. Paris also threatened to tighten customs controls on trucks coming from the United Kingdom. With the temporary cancellation of these threats, France wants to show goodwill. The big problem is that France and the United Kingdom today have a real problem of mutual trust.

Will Clément Beaune succeed in convincing the British Minister of Brexit?

Barring a coup, the last word in this conflict will be pronounced tomorrow, at a final meeting at the European Commission in Brussels.

It remains to be seen whether the capital of the European Union will be conducive to de-escalation.

It will be the moment of truth, advance an adviser who continues "If nothing moves this time, it will be necessary to act".