Guernsey fishing ban in EU waters 'temporarily lifted'

Fishermen from Guernsey, Alderney and Sark have been banned from fishing in EU waters since 1 August

A ban on Bailiwick of Guernsey fishermen working in EU and UK waters will end on Wednesday.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) introduced the ban over the lack of quotas being enforced in Guernsey.

The ban came with the suspension of the Fisheries Management Agreement (FMA), which has not yet been reinstated.

Negotiations over the issue of quotas are due to continue, but reintroducing the fishing ban has not been ruled out.

A Defra spokeswoman said: "The MMO [Marine Management Organisation] is continuing to work to avoid the early closure of any fishery.

"Uncontrolled overfishing by Guernsey vessels does put significant pressure on our fisheries, which is why this situation must be resolved."

She said the move was not an admission the UK was in the wrong, but it had "lifted the suspension in order to create helpful conditions for the negotiations".

Guernsey's catches are included in the English non-sector quota - the area of sea including the England Channel - and currently make up about 75% of the ray and skate quota.

The spokeswoman said: "The issue in this dispute though is that quota restrictions are set to help maintain the health of the stock and must be abided by.

"The FMA contained numerous paragraphs that obliged Guernsey to control their fleet in line with the rules of the CFP [Common Fisheries Policy]. Other Crown Dependencies continue to do so.

"While we hope that the negotiations will be successful, the MMO reserves the right to suspend the licences in future, should this become necessary."

Guernsey's Chief Minister Jonathan Le Tocq said he was "happy the UK has seen sense".