September 12, 2018 — Relations between France and the United Kingdom have been less than cordial over the past few weeks as the U.K.’s under-15-meter scallop fleet has exercised its right to fish in French waters.
French scallop fishermen, who are currently banned from taking any scallops themselves until the scallop breeding season ends, clashed with their European counterparts in a series of dangerously aggressive high-seas manoeuvres caught on camera.
The fracas arose because, under the terms of the E.U. Common Fisheries Policy, fishing fleets from any member state have equal access to E.U. waters. However, individual countries can limit access to E.U. fleets within 12 nautical miles of their own coastlines. This means that U.K. boats can fish for scallops year-round in the Baie de Seine area off the north coast of France, despite French law preventing its own fleet from fishing between 15 May and 1 October to conserve stocks.
Read the full story at Seafood Source