Latest news with #FrenchMaritimeAuthorities
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Fisherman caught in diplomatic row with France breaks silence
A British fishing skipper whose boat was seized by the French has accused them of threatening his livelihood. Phil Parker said the French maritime authorities had seized 200 whelk pots and robbed him of £6,000 of fishing income by impounding the Lady T for six days before releasing it for a bond of €30,000 (£25,200). He also faces a fine of €45,000 (£38,000) on top of the bond if found guilty by a French court of 'non-authorised fishing in French waters' in a boat from outside the EU. Speaking publicly about the incident for the first time, Mr Parker told The Telegraph that he intended to fight the case to the bitter end, claiming he had been only 288 metres into EU waters when his boat was stopped by the French. He has the backing of British fishing industry leaders, who have accused the Labour Government of selling out the British fleet, and said the treatment of the Lady T showed the French were not interested in partnership. The Lady T, based in Eastbourne, East Sussex, was intercepted by the Pluvier, a French navy ship, on May 22 for 'non-authorised fishing in French waters'. Four days later, the vessel, which was accused of fishing for whelks without an external waters licence, was allowed to return to Britain following the payment of the bond. Mr Parker said that he failed to realise that his boat's licence to fish in the waters where he was stopped had not been renewed when he set sail. But he said the French maritime authorities behaved vindictively by impounding his boat rather than letting him off with a warning. He said: 'I was bang in the middle of the English Channel. Thirty miles from the English coast and 28.9 miles from the French coast. But they stopped me and jumped on board, even though I was only 288 metres inside the 30-mile EU waters line. 'For some reason, the boat's licence to be in those waters had not been reissued, as it is automatically every year, so they said I was fishing illegally. 'I could understand it if I had been inside their 12-mile French waters limit, but it was in the middle of the English Channel. All I needed to be there legally was a bit of paper I thought we had.' The seizure of the Lady T came just days after Sir Keir Starmer granted EU fishermen access to British waters for another 12 years in a deal critics fear will damage the industry. One industry source said: 'Nobody across the fishing fleet sees any fairness in the deal. It's terrible news for the whole of the industry. We are less protected than they [the French] are under the new deal. And then they go and seize a boat like The Lady T. 'Yes, the boat should have had the right paperwork, but the French should have exercised some discretion, especially as it came just after the new deal was agreed. They should just have had some stern words with the skipper and sent him on his way, not seize the boat. 'You'd have thought the French, especially the French government, would have handled it differently given the circumstances of the deal. But that's not how the French seem to do things.' After being seized, the Lady T was taken to Boulogne, where it was held for six days. Its crew stayed in local accommodation, but Mr Parker remained with the boat, with no toilet or shower, to ensure its safety. 'I couldn't just leave the boat. Eventually, after six days, they got my €30,000 deposit and I got to sail back. I could still get fined on top of that, which I'm not very happy about,' he said. Mr Parker claims the French maritime authorities appear determined to put him and other fishermen like him out of business. 'It's not nice having this prosecution hanging over me,' he said. 'But I'm going to fight this.' Despite the uncertainty Mr Parker, who has a wife and six children, has no choice but to continue fishing, this time with the external waters licence he should have had when his boat was seized. This has now been issued, allowing him to set sail once again. But his task has not been made any easier by the seizure of 200 of his 800 whelk pots, which he will have to replace. These were taken despite Mr Philips maintaining that when his boat was stopped he only had a small number of whelks from the EU side of the Channel in them. 'I've been fishing for 14 years and I would never break the law, but for some reason that bit of paper, the licence we needed, hadn't come, so technically I was in the wrong,' he said. 'I thought I was simply doing the job I've done for years. You'd have thought they could have been a bit more lenient with me.' Following the seizure of the Lady T, Olivier Lepretre, the chairman of the regional fishing committee in northern France, suggested it had been intercepted in a tit-for-tat spat. The skipper and owner of Pierre D'Ambre, a French-registered vessel, were fined £40,000 at Newcastle magistrates' court in April after pleading guilty to bottom-trawling in a prohibited area of the offshore Brighton marine conservation zone. Mr Lepretre said last week: 'Until now, the French government has always favoured discussions to repression, as opposed to the British government which always imposes rules that are more and more restrictive, and more and more counterproductive for French fishermen. 'There comes a moment when you have to say: stop.' Another French official said at the time that the Lady T was 'looking for it' after entering exclusive French waters. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. 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Asharq Al-Awsat
19-05-2025
- General
- Asharq Al-Awsat
1 Person Dies When a Boat Overloaded with Migrants Sinks in the English Channel
One person died when a boat overloaded with migrants broke up during an attempted overnight crossing of the English Channel, the 12th migrant killed so far this year in the treacherous waterway between France and Britain, The Associated Press said. French and British rescue services together picked up 61 people alive overnight Monday who were pitched into the sea off the Pas de Calais coast in northern France, among them a woman and her child who required hospital treatment for hypothermia in the French port of Boulogne, French maritime authorities said in a statement. A French Navy helicopter also spotted a body in the water that was picked up by a British lifeboat — the 12th person killed while attempting the crossing this year, according to the French maritime authorities' count. French maritime authorities said they sent out an emergency message for assistance when the boat sank, prompting British boats and an aircraft to join the rescue operation with French vessels and the French helicopter carrying a medical team.
