2021 Jersey dispute

Fishing permits

When Jersey's Environment Minister John Young announced that Jersey would be taking full control of its territorial waters in December 2020, he expressed hope that a new system would better ensure the ecological conservation of fishing stocks in the Island's waters. On 14 February 2020, 100 Jersey fishermen and supporters staged a protest in St Helier for action to be taken against overfishing. The president of the Jersey Fishermen's Association stated during the protest that "It's all about the marine environment and taking care of it and looking after it for future generations."

The TCA says that "each Party shall grant vessels of the other Party access to fish in its waters reflecting the actual extent and nature of fishing activity that it can be demonstrated was carried out during the period beginning on 1 February 2017 and ending on 31 January 2020 by qualifying vessels of the other Party in the waters and under any treaty arrangements that existed on 31 January 2020."

On 25 January 2021 the Government of Jersey and EU Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius agreed to formalise the amnesty period that Jersey had introduced, allowing French boats over 12 metres (39 ft) long to continue to fish until the end of April 2021. This was intended to enable EU fishermen to gather and submit the necessary evidence of their historic fishing activities in Jersey waters.

On 23 April 2021 Jersey implemented the provisions of the TCA in its domestic legislation through amendments to the Sea Fisheries (Jersey) Law 1994 and Sea Fisheries (Licensing of Fishing Boats) (Jersey) Regulations 2003, which defined the process for licensing of fishing boats operating in its waters.

The change means that Jersey now controls fishing activities for EU boats in Jersey waters which is of concern especially to French fishermen. According to the Normandy and Brittany fishers' federations it affects 250 of their fishing boats, about 900 families and 2,000 jobs on land.

The new permit system came into force for vessels over 12 metres (39 ft) long equipped with vessel monitoring systems (VMS) at the end of the amnesty period on 30 April 2021, and the Government of Jersey issued 41 permits, with a further 14 pending as of that date, out of 344 requests. When the fishermen received their licences via email there was surprise that they came with conditions, some of which were specific to their boat, including:

• how many days a boat may fish in Jersey waters, ranging from 7 to 170 days per year
• what species they may target
• what fishing gear can be used, and how dredging can be done
• temporary exclusion from sea bream spawning grounds to enable scientific research to take place

However, Jersey later suspended these extra conditions and also allowed for additional types of positional data to be accepted as evidence of historical fishing in addition to VMS such as AIS, logbooks, chart plotters and other written information, as well as GPS.

Young clarified that the fishing licensing scheme will allow Jersey to monitor and control an environmentally sustainable level of fishing in Jersey's territorial waters. Young further stated that; "Our fishing has been unsustainable because of overfishing in the past and I've been clear about that and there will need to be conservation measures. What we've got is a framework of licensing that creates a fair way of doing it, so both ourselves and the EU nations can have sustainable fishing."

On 29 September 2021, the Jersey government issued a total of 142 fishing permits, but stated they had rejected permits for 75 French vessel citing that they "do not meet the criteria and have either not fished in Jersey waters during the relevant period or have not been able to evidence their activity". In reciprocity, Jersey boats that have traditionally fished in French waters are expected to be given a permit to continue by the French authorities. As of 28 June 2021 only three Jersey fishing boats had applied for such a permit. A similar licensing regime exists for Jersey boats that wanted to continue to fish in Guernsey’s territorial waters. When that was introduced, only 18 of the 165 boats in Jersey's fishing fleet were granted licences, having provided sufficient proof of a track record of fishing in the area controlled by Guernsey.

The temporary licences expired on 1 February 2022, with 130 vessels permanently licensed. Young said that the island now intended to focus on the 'nature' and 'extent' clauses which were intended to limit how many days the boats could fish in Jersey waters, the species they could catch and the equipment they could use. Around 30 boats that had been given temporary licences would no longer be able to fish in Jersey waters, having not produced the evidence required. By 9 March 2022, one more boat had received a permanent licence, bringing the total to 131.

Dispute

In February 2021, Jersey fishermen protested over their concerns that French fishing boats were exploiting the amnesty period by overfishing in Jersey's waters. Further concerns were raised in April that French fishing trawlers were using unsustainable fishing methods such as dredging during the amnesty period. Young accused French trawlers of "breaking the spirit of the amnesty" and that due to recent dredging by French trawlers that Jersey's marine ecology "won't take this for much longer and, if it goes on, we will have to close the area off for years".

The TCA says that "each Party shall notify the other Party of new measures as referred to in paragraph 1 that are likely to affect the vessels of the other Party before those measures are applied, allowing sufficient time for the other Party to provide comments or seek clarification." The French government said that these conditions had not been discussed previously and therefore had no effect. It complained at how the system had been implemented, calling the new rules "completely unacceptable" as they dictate where ships can and cannot go.

Jersey may not have received the information that the French fishermen provided to evidence their historic fishing activity in Jersey's waters. When a French fishing boat applies for a licence, the request is submitted by the French local authorities to the EU who forward it to the United Kingdom Single Issuing Authority (UKSIA) who forward it to Jersey. In an interview with France Bleu, Jersey politician Deputy Gregory Guida, a Frenchman by nationality, said "what we received was of very poor quality. The French administration sent us horrors: missing or duplicated documents of boats with just the minimum 10 days to issue licences without additional information to determine the importance of their annual activity in our waters." Normandy politician Sénatrice Gosselin told the fishermen that the missing documents may have been lost somewhere between the committee that checks that the information is complete, the Direction des pêches maritimes et de l'aquaculture (DPMA), the Minister of the Sea and Brussels. The Normandy Regional Fisheries Committee (CRPMEM) called her comments "irresponsible" and described the situation as "formidably complex".

French fishermen may have believed it was sufficient to produce evidence of ten days of fishing to receive a permit for the whole year, while in fact they needed to produce a minimum of ten days of evidence, plus evidence for the most days per year they had fished in the island's waters in the past three years.

6 May protest

Norman and Breton fishermen met in Granville on 3 May, with some intent on blockading the port of Saint Helier on 6 May in protest at the system.

In the evening of the 5 May, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said "any blockade would be completely unjustified" and announced that the Royal Navy would send two patrol vessels to monitor the waters around Jersey as a precautionary measure. He also held meetings with Senator John Le Fondré, the Chief Minister of Jersey and Senator Ian Gorst, the island's Minister of External Relations, telling them of the need for a "de-escalation in tensions".

On 6 May, HMS Severn and HMS Tamar arrived off the south coast of Jersey where they maintained a presence and monitored the situation from a distance, but did not intervene. Later two French patrol boats, Athos and Thémis began patrolling just outside of the twelve nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi) limit, remaining in French waters.

Between 50 and 60 French fishing boats including trawlers and smaller craft entered the Saint Helier Harbour area, remaining outside the pierheads and for a time obstructing the freight ferry MV Commodore Goodwill from leaving her berth. Some lit distress flares and others displayed banners. The fishermen communicated amongst themselves over marine VHF radio. They were joined by a Jersey oyster fisherman supportive of the French on his converted landing craft, the Normandy Trader. One of the French fishermen said that having just spent €3m on two new trawlers he could go bankrupt if not allowed to continue to fish in Jersey waters on the same basis as before.

A member of the Jersey Militia reenactment group was seen at Elizabeth Castle firing a musket towards the French boats. A French fishing boat was filmed appearing to ram one of the only Jersey boats in the vicinity of the protest – a speedboat driven by a local entrepreneur who is alleged to have taunted the Frenchmen. Jersey's harbourmaster later investigated the altercation, but no charges were brought.

At 11:40 am, two hours of discussions began in Saint Helier Harbour. In order to respect COVID-19 social distancing rules, Jersey officials aboard Jersey's fisheries protection vessel the Norman Le Brocq came alongside the Normandy Trader which had representatives of the French fishermen aboard. The lead representative from Jersey was its Assistant Minister for The Environment Deputy Guida — a fluent French speaker. Senator Gorst said the talks were positive, however a spokesman for Normandy fishermen said the talks put them "deeper into deadlock", and warned that retaliatory measures would be taken if this did not get resolved.

The protest ended at around 2 pm. Boris Johnson said the Royal Navy vessels would remain in place, but both ships left the area that evening. The protest was front-page news on most UK national newspapers whereas there was minimal coverage in France.

On 19 May, the French trawler Alizé 3 was intercepted illegally fishing in restricted bream breeding grounds. The trawler had been told by French authorities that French fishermen were allowed to fish wherever they wanted, despite the risk of breaking Jersey law. In August, another French trawler was accused of illegally fishing 1.2 tonnes of protected bluefin tuna in Jersey's territorial waters.

Closure of ports in Normandy to Jersey fishermen and freight

Jersey exports much of the fish that is caught locally by its own fishing fleet to France, landing it at the ports of Carteret, Granville or Saint Malo. Jersey boats registered with North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission can land crustaceans and fin fish they have caught, as these species are exempt from the EU sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) requirements for an Export Health Certificate. However, specific French permission is required before each landing. Scallops, clams and whelks cannot be landed into the EU without a health certificate. On 10 March 2021, Jersey fishermen blocked the island's harbour to draw attention to being prevented from landing their catch in French harbours since Brexit. The day after the 6 May protest, a Jersey fishing boat was prevented from landing its catch of cuttlefish in Carteret by French fishermen who lined the quay.

On 7 May, the Manche government formally notified the Government of Jersey that it was suspending the landing of catches by Jersey boats in Granville, Carteret and Diélette until further notice. Jersey's government said it considered the ban to be non-compliant with the terms of the TCA and it would appeal to the European Commission. The ban was temporarily lifted on 10 May but was reinstated the following day and extended to prevent freight movements. Jersey businesses that regularly export fish to France were warned that even if the ports were officially open to Jersey exporters, local fishermen may obstruct them trying to offload their produce.

On 7 September, Jersey's Environment Minister told a scrutiny panel that work to rebuild relationships had led to better cooperation with the French, and the Government of Jersey was "not getting the complaints that [it] used to with landing, hostility, or anything of that nature anymore, that has gone away".

18 September protest

At midday on 18 September, between 100 and 150 fishermen, their families and officials gathered on Armanville beach, Pirou to highlight the licensing issue and put pressure on the Jersey authorities. The beach is where Normandie 3, one of the three undersea electricity cables to Jersey is buried.

Reactions

On 3 May, the Normandy region and the Manche department closed their combined offices in Jersey, which were set up in 1995, to protest their discontent and lack of understanding. The Maison de Normandie reopened on 1 July.

On 5 May, the Maritime Minister Annick Girardin said France was "ready to use ... retaliatory measures" including cutting off the island's power supply from France. Former UK Secretary of State for Defence Penny Mordaunt wrote in a letter to the UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Kwasi Kwarteng that the proposed £1.2bn AQUIND Interconnector between Normandy and Portsmouth which would supply up to 5% of the UK's electricity needs should not proceed because of the risk that it would "become politicised and involved in any future discussions, in particular on fishing".

On the evening of the protest the UK Government issued a statement saying that under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, Jersey authorities have a right to regulate fisheries in their waters and that they continue to support them in exercising those rights.

In the week after the protest, MEP Stéphanie Yon-Courtin suggested that the EU could apply economic sanctions by restricting agreements permitting Jersey to sell its financial services to EU citizens, and accused Jersey of being a tax haven. She said Jersey should withdraw from the TCA and revert to an agreement similar to the previous Granville Bay treaty that would provide more access to Jersey waters for French fishermen.

The European Commission spokesperson Vivian Loonela said UK was breaking the Brexit trade deal. The UK Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs George Eustice called the threat to shut down electricity to Jersey "disproportionate and unacceptable".

Related disputes

In October 2020, the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the Fisheries Act 2020. It includes a 'permissive extent clause' that would enable the Government of the United Kingdom by an Order in Council to extend the provisions of the Act to cover the Crown Dependencies to bring them into line with the UK's international obligations. This move caused outrage in Jersey as it was seen to be contrary to Jersey's constitutional relationship with the UK. It was reported that the UK intended to cede Jersey's territorial waters as a bargaining chip in order to secure a better deal with the EU. This was denied by the British government.

Attempts to resolve the dispute

During the discussions on the day of the protest, the Government of Jersey committed to setting up a telephone number which the French fishermen could use to speak directly with fluent French-speaking staff in its marine resources team as an addition to the formal diplomatic channels. On 12 May, Girardin called for this to be suspended.

Jersey extended the time that boats over 12 metres (39 ft) had to provide additional evidence of their historic fishing activities in the area until 1 July. However, on 12 May, Girardin wrote to the EU Commissioner Sinkevicius asking for all licences to be renewed until 30 September, without the new requirements that were imposed by Jersey. On 18 May, the Alizé 3 — a 16-metre (52 ft) French fishing boat from Granville — was alleged to have fished in an exclusion area where scientific research was due to take place. Jersey's fisheries protection vessel Norman Le Brocq intercepted the fishing boat whose skipper was adamant that he had permission to fish there. Deputy Guida said that Jersey would be lodging a complaint with the European Commission.

As of 19 June, with two weeks before the 1 July deadline, the Jersey authorities had not received any further data from French boats over 12 metres (39 ft) to evidence the extent that they had historically fished in Jersey's waters.

When questioned by the House of Lords' European Affairs Committee, the Ambassador of the European Union to the United Kingdom João Vale de Almeida said the way to resolve the dispute was to "use the instruments we created, the bodies we set up within the withdrawal agreement, the joint specialised committees within the Trade and Corporation Agreement, a number of committees and working groups" — a governance structure he described as "complex" — rather than unilateral measures.

On 28 June, Jersey media reported that the EU had recently requested a further extension to the transitional arrangements, and Jersey had agreed to do so until the end of September. The 47 larger boats equipped with tracking systems would continue to be able to fish, along with 177 smaller boats that had applied for licences, and the rules about the number of days that the French boats can fish and the gear that they can use would temporarily not apply. This time would enable "constructive discussions" to continue, and more historical catch data to be submitted and analysed during July. In exchange, Jersey sought assurances that the three of its fishing fleet that had requested permits to continue to fish in French waters would be granted them, and that the French would honour the terms of the trade deal by continuing to allow Jersey boats to unload their catch in France. As of 10 September 2021, the UKSIA listed 177 boats under 12 metres (39 ft) that had been authorised to fish under the transitional arrangements until 30 September 2021.

On 6 September, French prime minister Jean Castex wrote to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen that there was a lack of "political will" to resolve the dispute, and called for a consultative body to be established, similar to those in place under the Granville Bay agreement.

On 7 September, Senator Gorst informed the House of Commons Justice Select Committee that the TCA made clear that it was up to Jersey to issue the licences, that there was no automatic transition from the previous treaty, and that the Island's government wanted to work through the technical details and data to respect the historic fishing rights of the French but "no more and no less". While the communication was more positive, Jersey "still did not have all the data" and was pushing all parties for the data via Brussels.

In January 2022, France's Europe Minister Clément Beaune said the French could take legal action, which Jersey's Environment Minister understood to mean they could ask the EU to invoke arbitration mechanisms that are built into the Withdrawal Agreement. As of 9 March 2022, no such complaint had been filed. President Macron had told Brittany and Normandy that they could negotiate directly with Jersey, alongside the formal route between Jersey, the UK, the EU, France and the regions, and the first such meeting had taken place.

The 'nature and extent' part of the licensing agreement that covers which species of fish each boat can catch, where and in what quantity remains under discussion as of December 2022, together with the rules on replacement vessels. Jersey's new Environment Minister, Deputy Jonathan Renouf was seeking approval for a change in the regulations so that there is more flexibility in how similar a replacement fishing boat needs to be to the old one. This would allow for the replacement to be slightly longer or have a bigger engine, for example.

EU compensation scheme

A €60m EU-funded compensation scheme is intended to provide individual support to fishers that failed to be granted a licence, or to enable them to exit the profession.