FRENCH fishermen have vowed a new “Battle of Trafalgar” as a man in a soldier’s uniform was seen firing a musket towards the blockade around Jersey.
The row over fishing rights between Britain and France has ramped up as two Royal Navy gunboats were deployed and a French navy vessel speeds towards the Channel Islands.
Claude La Vaullée, a Norman skipper who has fished off Jersey for 40 years, told Ouest France that he and other fishermen had equipped their vessels to “re-stage the Battle of Trafalgar”.
Trafalgar was a famous naval battle during the Napoleonic Wars – which raged from 1803 to 1815 – that saw the Royal Navy defeat the combined forces of France and Spain.
French sailors are furious as Jersey authorities rejected some applications for fishing licences in the island’s waters – potentially costing them income.
Some 70 vessels this morning moved to blockade the entrance to the port of St Heiler as Royal Navy vessels HMS Tamar and HMS Severen lurked nearby monitoring the situation.
And in a bizarre video apparently filmed this morning at Jersey’s famous Elizabeth Castle, a man in a tri-corner hat was seen loading and firing musket at the French boats, reports ITV.
The clip shows the man – who appears to be also wearing a high vis jacket and has been identified as a member of re-enactment group the Jersey Militia – loading his period weapon and blasting towards the coast in a puff of smoke.
Twitter users were tickled by the video by the peculiar video, with one saying “I love this man” and another adding “The French really haven’t learnt from history have they?”.
Others added “Absolutely brilliant. Repel the invaders” and one said “Give that man a knighthood now!”.
Jersey Heritage communications manager Suzi Austin declined to comment on the video when approached by The Sun Online.
What we know so far:
- Around 100 French vessels descend on Jersey just after 6am
- French fishermen were seen setting off flares near the harbour
- They are protesting over new post-Brexit fishing rights
- Boris Johnson sends two Royal Navy ships to the island
- French Navy sends military ship to Jersey
- UK ministers could be drawing up plans to “retaliate”
The comparisons with Trafalgar and the man with the musket also come coincidentally as France yesterday marked the 200th anniversary of Emperor Napoleon’s death.
French president Emmanuel Macron said the tyrant was “part of us” – but insisted the day was a commemoration rather than a celebration.
And in the present day, the row over fishing is the latest in a series of disputes between Britain and EU countries post-Brexit.
David Sellam, head of the joint Normany-Brittany sea authority, told The Local: “We are confronted by people who are not trustworthy.
“Jersey has been taken over by an extremist fringe, who want to reduce French fishing access and profit from Brexit.
“We’re ready for war. We can bring Jersey to its knees if necessary.”
Jersey’s authorities have dismissed the row as a misunderstanding, and said there is no time limit on granting more licenses.
External Relations Minister Ian Gorst insisted they will grant more rights to the French fishermen should they need them, and the licences granted on Friday were based on proof of past fishing activities.
Angry fishermen set off flares as dozens of French boats began steaming in just after 6am as the huge row over fishing rights intensified
Locals said tensions are running “very high” today as footage shows boats descending on the small island – just 14 miles from the French coast.
Jersey fisherman Josh Dearing described the scene at the port of St Helier on Thursday morning as “like an invasion”.
The 28-year-old said: “There were a few hand-held flares and smoke flares going off and apparently a few maybe bangers and stuff going off from the French.”
He said the French fleet was mostly made up of “big French dredgers and trawlers” of about 12 metres or more.
Mr Dearing added: “It was quite a sight. It was impressive, I looked from the shore this morning and it was just like a sea of red lights and flares already going off at sea. It was like an invasion.”
He said there had been rumblings about a planned protest a few days ago but he had not been sure if it was “serious or empty threats”.
He added: “The French being the French, they don’t mess around. They can blockade their own harbours – they wouldn’t think twice about coming and doing it to us.”
Mr Dearing said he was “absolutely” pleased to hear on Wednesday night that Royal Navy vessels were being deployed to patrol the waters around Jersey.
He said: “We’re completely unprotected in Jersey. We’ve got nothing except for a few police officers. We don’t have a police boat, we don’t have a navy boat, we don’t have anything to protect us.
“The French can be hostile. All of our livelihoods are in that harbour and if they wanted to they could cause damage.”
Supermarket bosses on the island today warned their shelves will be empty by Saturday unless the Royal Navy can stop French trawlers blockading the port.
Stocks of bread, fruit, fresh meat and vegetables will be gone if freight ships cannot deliver their crucial daily supplies, CEO of Jersey Co-op Mark Cox said.
Mr Cox said the island is relying on the Royal Navy ships HMS Severn and HMS Tamar to make sure the French boats back off.
The last freight ship, Commodore Goodwill, arrived in Jersey at 4.30am and there is another scheduled for tonight, but supermarket chiefs fear it may not get through.
Mr Cox told The Sun: “The port is a lifeline to the island and it is absolutely critical that the freight vessels can get into the port.
“It’s vital that those routes are kept clear, the shelves will be bare within two days if the port is blocked.
“At this stage we are reliant on the Royal Navy to keep the freight ships coming into the island on a daily basis.”
The furious cross-Channel bust-up escalated after one of Macron’s key allies threatened to pull the plug on the tiny island’s electricity and French fisherman vowed to blockade ports to cut off food and medicine.
French Maritime Minister Annick Girardin threatened to cut off the island’s power of which 95 per cent is generated on the continent and supplied by three underwater cables.
The UK called the menacing words “surprising and disappointing” – but Jersey boatmen warned blocking St Helier would be an “act of war”.
Tobias Ellwood slammed France’s “shameful behaviour” and pleaded for calm.
The ex-defence minister added: “It would be wise to dispatch a Royal Navy Off Shore Patrol Vessel to the area to observe and report.”
But local fisherman Steve Viney, 55, told The Sun: “It would be an act of war, it would be amazing to see the French try but I think they would be disappointed when they arrived and realised we won’t stand for it.
“The fact that the EU is threatening an island is off the scale, they like to think they are civilised but clearly that’s not true because this is something that Russia or China might do.”
Murray Norton, chief executive of Jersey Chamber of Commerce, said the French have been heavy handed in their threats.
Mr Norton said: “The French threats are disproportionate considering we are talking about only a handful of fishing licences which are in dispute.
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On Wednesday Mr Gorst held talks with Marc Lefevre, the president of the La Manche region of northern France, on the “difficult set of issues relating to fishing licences”.
No10 said France should lodge a complaint using the dispute mechanism set up in last year’s Brexit deal if it has a problem rather than immediately making threats.
A UK Government spokesman said: “We are working closely with the EU and Jersey on fisheries access provisions following the end of the Transition Period, so trust the French will use the mechanisms of our new treaty to solve problems.”
A Whitehall insider added: “They should be using the mechanisms of our new Treaty to solve problems – that is exactly what it is there for.”