“morale is no longer there” among French fishermen

Boats at the quayside and not just because of the weather conditions. At the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pas-de-Calais), some have been moored for several days and will not leave again, for lack of a license to fish in English waters. For the fisherman Loic Fontaine, the finding is alarming: like him, a dozen fishermen are reluctant to give up the job. “Morale is gone“, he laments.” If there is no way out with this famous license … I am 45 years old, I have always done this job and my son is with me. I embarked on the same galley, “he breathes.

French fishermen have been waiting for the respect of post-Brexit commitments for almost a year. For Laurent Geoffrey, a still unlicensed fisherman, the situation is becoming untenable. “We have already waited ten months for the State to be with us“, he says.”We can’t wait any longer, because if we don’t fish, we don’t have a salary“, continues the fisherman who is now working at a loss. Negotiations between France and the United Kingdom are due to resume on November 5 at the European Commission.