By: V4 Agency
French fishermen would ban British products from the French ports if they would be banned from fishing in British waters after Brexit. On Sunday, it was announced that the British Government will use the Royal Navy to keep EU vessels out, raising the issue of separating merged EU fisheries.
Normandy’s regional fisheries committee is planning to blockade the port of Calais and other ports close by, stopping the influx of British products. The action was taken after it came to light that French fishermen would be unable to use British waters after Brexit.
Dimitri Rogoff, head of the committee, expected the initiative to be backed by Dutch and Belgian fishermen, who would similarly be banned from British territorial waters. “If we are deprived of our fishing grounds, we will not idly watch the British supply the French market,” he declared.
The threats pose a serious danger. If such a blockade were effected, apart from the obvious economic implications, passenger and other freight traffic on the English Channel would be severely restricted.
The initiative came shortly after the British government announced it had begun preparing legislation to authorise the Royal Navy’s River-class patrol ships to arrest and occupy vessels fishing in British waters without a license.