Guernsey yet to issue fishing licences for French vessels

The States says it will finish reviewing evidence in October before issuing fishing licences to French boats

A final decision on which French fishing boats have successfully applied for a licence to fish in Guernsey waters has not yet been made.

The States said all Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) licences will be issued by 1 December.

The licences will take affect from 1 February 2022, and interim measures will remain in place until then.

Earlier, Jersey announced it has issued 64 licences to French fishing boats, and refused 75.

When the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020, it also withdrew from the London Fisheries Convention 1964 and so ended the access right for French vessels in the Bailiwick of Guernsey's territorial waters.

Since then interim arrangements have been reviewed monthly, and have now been extended until 31 January.

'Good relationships'

Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq, Policy & Resources Committee lead for external relations said: "The TCA has given the Bailiwick new powers and control over our territorial waters that could not be exercised in the same way when the UK was a member of the EU.

"We value our good relationships with Normandy and La Manche and I hope that the roadmap which we are announcing today provides certainty about how our fisheries relationship with France will operate in the future."

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