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Update
Negotiations between France and the United Kingdom on this maritime dispute must continue in the coming days. Demoralized, French fishermen deprived of authorization are losing patience.
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 took him 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 are to continue in the coming days. After discussions in Paris on Thursday, the Secretary in charge of Brexit for the British government, David Frost, will meet in Brussels on Friday with the Vice-President of the European Commission, Maros Sefcovic.