Brexit LIVE: French boats ‘decimating’ Jersey scallops stock -new rules to come into force
Brexit 'is not actually done' for UK says Nandy
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From the end of April new post-Brexit rules will block access to those French vessels unable to prove a historic connection with the waters. However Jersey islanders report French ships are “making hay while the sun shines” before the new rules come into effect by dredging the sea floor in the hunt for scallops.
Speaking to The Times Don Thompson, president of the Jersey Fishermen’s Association, claimed the area was being targeted by French boats up to 65ft long using “industrial fishing methods”.
He added: “The heavy gear used by those big powerful boats just wrecks the group, there’s no two ways about it.
“That’s industrial fishing and it’s unsustainable fishing.
“Those are the scallop stocks that our fishermen will rely on for the future and they are being absolutely decimated.
“All that is being done under the amnesty provided just to appease the French by our own Government. It really is making fishermen very angry.”
Britain used to be part of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy giving European fishing boats extensive access to UK waters.
Under the trade deal agreed by Boris Johnson the EU’s share of the catch from British waters will fall by 25 percent in stages over the next five years.
After this the UK will in theory be able to completely exclude European boats but this would risk retaliatory tariffs on British goods.
Local photographer David Ferguson, who has been picturing the French boats, branded the current fishing unsustainable.
Describing his work he said: “It was more of an exercise in seeing how large these vessels were in comparison to our local fleet.
“It’s a well-known fact that continuous dredging will completely decimate the ocean floor and the breeding grounds that go with it.
“There simply has to be a better way of managing fisheries with our EU colleagues in and around our islands.”
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08:03am update: Brexit scaremongering destroyed! EU shamed over blaming UK for vaccine chaos: ‘Disgrace!’
Brexit scaremongering from the European Union has been destroyed, with one critic launching a stinging attack against Brussels over its attempts to deflect the blame onto the UK over its chaotic vaccine rollout.
Britain finally completed its full departure from the EU at the end of last year, much to the constant frustration and anger of several EU bureaucrats.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed Brexit as an opportunity to flourish outside of EU rules and regulations, while embracing the nation’s newfound sovereignty.
Britain has already provided a vaccine dose to around half of the 67 million population, and is on course to vaccinate every adult by the end of July, with the country now easing out of its current lockdown.
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New Covid data has pointed out just how slow the EU’s rollout of the vaccine is, with the bloc having immunised less than a quarter of the UK’s total.
Europe continues to come under fire for its slow vaccination programme, with even the World Health Organisation (WHO) branding the roll-out “unacceptably slow”.
A new graph has highlighted just how far behind the bloc has fallen, when compared to the UK and the US.
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