- European fishermen are threatening to block the Port of Calais in the event of a no-deal
Brexit . - EU countries would lose access to British
fishing waters if negotiators fail to strike a trade agreement. - French, Belgian, and Dutch fishermen would react by preventing ferries carrying British goods from docking at the Calais, the head of Normandy's regional fishing committee warned.
- "If we are deprived of our fishing grounds, we will not watch the British supply the French market," he said.
- Boris Johnson's government plans to deploy four ships to patrol UK waters and arrest European fishermen who illegally them in a no-deal scenario.
European fishermen are threatening to blockade the port of Calais and stop ferries exporting UK goods to the European Union if they are excluded from British waters in the New Year.
France, Belgium, and Holland would be among the most impacted EU member states if the bloc fails to strike a free trade agreement with Boris Johnson's UK government before the end of the Brexit transition period, as from January 1 their fishing industries would lose access to British waters with immediate effect.
Dimitri Rogoff, who heads Normandy's regional fisheries committee, warned that in this scenario, French fisherman would try to stop ferries transporting British goods from docking at Calais, effectively cutting off the UK's primary route to its largest trading partner.
"If we are deprived of our fishing grounds, we will not watch the British supply the French market," he told French radio station France Info in comments reported by The Times of London newspaper. "There will therefore be blockages to ferries, since this mainly happens by ferries. And on that, we are quite clear and determined."
He told the radio station that he expected fishermen in Holland and Belgium to do take the same course of action, in the latest indication that a no-deal outcome could lead to unprecedented chaos in the English Channel.
Rogoff was responding to the recent
The Royal Navy is set to deploy four, 80-metre-long ships to patrol British territory that reaches 200 nautical miles from the shore if there's no Brexit trade deal, while navy police are set to have the power to board European boats and arrest their crews.
Rogoff said: We've seen this before a long time ago and we hoped never to see it again in this Europe, which is one of sharing resources... Now the UK has decided to leave but from there to sending warships, it's unimaginable."
One member of President Macron's party said the government should stop trying to prevent migrants from crossing the English Channel to the UK.
"France must immediately stop monitoring migrants on their way to Great Britain. Let the British manage!" Boulogne deputy Jean-Pierre Pont told Delta FM.
"At least their warships will be used for something, rather than shooting at our fishermen."
Fishing is one of a handful of issues that UK and EU negotiators are trying to reach a compromise on in their attempts to negotiate a free trade agreement before the end of the year.
At around 0.1%, the fishing industry's contribution to the UK economy is negligible. However, the industry was at the heart of the Brexit campaign's emotive "Take Back Control" message, and many British fishermen believe the industry declined as a result of the UK's membership of the EU.
UK and EU negotiators have up to now failed to agree on what share of fish caught in British waters European fishermen should be able to keep under the terms of a new trade deal, and how long the phase-in period for these new arrangements should last. Most fish caught by British fisherman in the UK waters are exported to Europe, while around two-thirds of fish eaten in Britain is imported.