The Scottish trawler Cornelis-Gert-Jan, immobilized in France for a week for having fished more than two tons of scallops without a valid license, left the port of Le Havre shortly after 6 p.m., noted a journalist from Agence France Presse (AFP).
The ship cast off after a decision by the Rouen Court of Appeal, which authorized it “To leave Le Havre immediately without having to pay a deposit”, announced to AFP the lawyer of the captain, Mr.e Mathieu Croix. The Rouen court ruled on Wednesday that the fishing vessel boarded by France off Le Havre could leave the Norman port immediately and that its captain did not have to post a bond to take back his boat, the lawyer said.
A deposit of 150,000 euros had been requested beforehand by the French authorities, against a backdrop of tensions between Paris and London over the access of French fishermen to British waters after Brexit. For mee Cross, the Cornelis-Gert-Jan and its captain, the Irishman Jondy Ward, were only pawns used by France in its conflict with the United Kingdom.
This boat, specializing in scallop fishing, was boarded overnight from Wednesday to Thursday by the French authorities before being diverted to the port of Le Havre as part of a tightening of the controls carried out by the French authorities in the Channel, while France is in conflict with the United Kingdom over post-Brexit fishing licenses. In the Bay of Seine, two English fishing vessels had been fined by the French maritime gendarmerie during checks on Wednesday.
The captain of the Cornelis will be tried in August 2022 by the Criminal Court of Le Havre. He will appear for “Acts of unauthorized sea fishing in French maritime or salt waters by a vessel outside the European Union”, had specified, Friday, the deputy prosecutor of Havre, Cyrille Fournier. The captain faces a fine of 75,000 euros and administrative penalties, according to the prosecution.