FRENCH fishermen have demanded Emmanuel Macron make good on threats to cut the power to Jersey after the 100 ship blockade broke up after the arrival of the Royal Navy.
Furious trawlermen raged as the row over fishing rights goes on – and blamed the British for failed talks over access to the waters around the Channel Island.
Read our Jersey stand-off live blog for the very latest updates
Cyril Piraud, skipper of a Normandy boat called The Pearl, was among those who set sail for Saint Helier, Jersey’s capital, and staged a protest at post-Brexit rules diminishing their right to work in local waters.
The blockade turned ugly following a series of boat rammings and flares being lit, and the row remains at a standstill despite a French delegation meeting with Jersey officials.
And tensions ratcheted up as two British gunboats – HMS Severn and HMS Tamar – loomed nearby during the blockade, with two French patrol ships also arriving on the scene.
Frustrated sailors have now echoed a call by French minister Annick Girardin to cut off electricity to Jersey, which is supplied by underwater cables from the French mainland.
“I wonder why we even went to see them,” fumed Mr Piraud.
He went on: “We’re calling on Annick Girardin, the Minister of the Sea, to put her threats into action.”
President Macron’s government could technically call on EDF, the state-owned energy company, to pull the plug on Jersey, which is a British Crown Territory.
Laurent Blondel, captain of the Close Isle (Prequ’Ile), another French fishing boat, meanwhile boasted he had “symbolically” blockaded Commodore Goodwill, a British vessel, docked in Saint Helier.
“We do not agree with the licenses and restrictions that we were given,” said Mr Blondel.
“Before, we were given licenses to fish as we wanted, without restrictions, but this changed.”
What we know so far:
- Around 100 French vessels descend on Jersey just after 6am
- Boris Johnson sends two Royal Navy ships to the island
- French Navy then sends two military ships to Jersey
- French boats RETREAT away from Jersey after Navy steps in
- Don’t mess with us, warns Navy Admiral
- Jersey supermarkets will be ‘EMPTY in just two days’
- French fisherman vow new ‘Battle of Trafalgar’
Mr Blondel told the Ouest France news outlet that the dispute would continue until Britain backed down.
French boats retreated following the talks, despite earlier pledging to re-enact 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.
We’re ready for war. We can bring Jersey to its knees if necessary
David Sellam
Claude La Vaullée, skipper of Le Cach, had said: “I’ve refuelled the boat – we’re ready to restage the Battle of Trafalgar.”
The furious Mr La Vaullée, who has been fishing off Jersey for more than 40 years, said he had now been given the right to “11 hours fishing a year” in the area.
Romain Davodet, another French fisherman, said they had been told that the Jersey decision “were irreversible” and around 250 vessels faced disaster, along with “more than 2,000 jobs ashore”.
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 showed boats descending on the small island – just 14 miles from the French coast.
This afternoon, Boris Johnson offered his “unequivocal support for Jersey” after speaking to the island’s authorities as the fishing row escalated.
Warning “any blockade would be completely unjustified”, Mr Johnson vowed the navy vessels would “remain in place” after being scrambled to patrol the Channel waters.
The British boats are armed with 20mm and 30mm cannons, which can fire 700 rounds a minute at a range of 1,300 yards.
The furious spat erupted after the island – which is under Britain’s protection – slapped French trawlers with post-Brexit fishing licence requirements.
Following today’s blockade, UK ministers are now said to be drawing up plans to “retaliate” by reviewing energy links with France.
According to the Telegraph, Britain could buy electricity from the Netherlands instead.
Meanwhile, government sources have accused the French of sinking lower than the island’s Nazi occupiers in the Second World War.
A source said: “At least when the Germans invaded they kept the lights on.”
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.
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.
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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.”
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.