French fishermen block Calais port over post-Brexit fishing licence row

French fishermen blocked the port of Calais on Friday amid a dispute over post-Brexit fishing rights.

Ferries transporting trucks and passengers were prevented from entering the tunnel between Folkestone and Calais in a blockade which lasted 90 minutes.

The latest action comes after the French fishermen blockaded the port of St Helier in Jersey last May.

They are angry over not receiving more licenses to fish in UK and Channel Island waters under the terms of Britain’s post-Brexit trade deal with the EU – the Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA).

The protestors prevented two ferries that were transporting trucks

The two ferries outside the port on Friday reduced their speed until their path was clear, the MarineTraffic app showed.

The protest then shifted to the Channel Tunnel where the fishermen held up goods moving to and from Britain through the Channel Tunnel rail link.

Dover to Calais is the shortest sea route between Britain and the European Union - just 23 miles (37 km) - and has been one of Britain’s main arteries for European trade since the Middle Ages.

Before Brexit and the pandemic, 1.8 million trucks per year were routed through Calais.

Earlier in the day, fishermen blocked a small British cargo, the Normandy Trader, from docking in the Brittany port of Saint-Malo.

France says Jersey, a British Crown Dependency, has also failed to issue licences due to its fishermen under a post-Brexit deal.

The one-hour Saint-Malo protest and the larger action further east along France’s coast risk reigniting a dispute between the two countries over a mutual licensing system for fishing vessels.

They are also embroiled in a row over cross-Channel migration.

With Britain’s exit from the European Union, the two sides agreed to set up a licensing system for granting fishing vessels access to each other’s waters.

Paris says London and the Channel Island of Jersey, a British crown dependency, are not honouring the agreement.

Britain says it is respecting the post-Brexit arrangements.

In October, France briefly seized a British scallop dredger off its northern coast for allegedly operating without a legitimate permit, and both countries have this year sent patrol vessels to waters off Jersey.

President Emmanuel Macron has accused Britain of pushing his country’s patience and said the government would not yield in the dispute.

Fishing rights dogged Brexit talks for years, not because of its economic importance but because of its political significance for both Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

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