After a week of inactivity due to bad weather, North Cape left the port of Barneville-Carteret (Manche) in the morning, Saturday 11 December. Romain Davodet, the owner of this 9.24-meter caseyeur wanted to take advantage of the lull to go and unravel with his only employee the lockers damaged by the “Gusts of wind”. “It’s a classic of the holiday season, he recalls. There is a strong demand, but we cannot always fish enough because of the weather. “ In the sixteen years that he left the merchant navy to start his own business in fishing (lobsters, cakes and whelks), he has “Not the memory of a successful December”. And this outing at sea will not make up for lost time: impossible, in France, to raise the traps on weekends.
At nightfall, Romain Davodet docks at the port of Diélette, a little further north. It is the only deep-water port on the west coast of Cotentin, entries and exits are not subject to the rhythm of the tides. Ashore, he learns that the Jersey authorities have issued five new definitive fishing licenses. He will not know until two days later, Monday, if he is one of the lucky ones elected, if he will be allowed to exercise his activity in British waters beyond the deadline set for January 31 by his Anglo-Norman neighbors. . On the same day, the British government also announced the granting of 18 new licenses to French fishermen. With these 23 additional approvals, France has obtained 1,027 fishing licenses and is still asking for 81 more. For many of its peers, “The account is not there”, but Romain Davodet tries to be positive. “Licenses are trickling down, but as long as it drops, it’s a good sign. “
European fishermen are only allowed to work in UK waters if they can prove that they have fished there before
Under a post-Brexit agreement signed at the end of 2020 between London and Brussels, European fishermen are only allowed to work in British waters if they can prove that they have fished there before. And for more than eleven months, the French and the British have been arguing over the nature and extent of the supporting documents to be provided.
Unlike the largest ships, the dominant category among our European neighbors, the “small” boats, around 80% of the French fleet according to Romain Davodet, were not required to take on board VMS, a satellite geolocation system that promotes navigation. tracking of vessel position. So his North Cape uses “An old system”, GPS data that helps him locate his lockers but not to prove his position at all times. Impossible, therefore, to demonstrate that it passes each year ” about 30 % ” of his time in Jersey waters.
Since the start of the conflict, Romain Davodet, 40, has met the Minister of the Sea, Annick Girardin, on two occasions and participated in numerous meetings. His observation: although in the majority in France, boats of less than 12 meters like his are under-represented within fishing regulatory institutions. And since no one, regrets the Norman boss, seems to take their specificities into account, he claims for his peers a seat on the Fisheries Committee.