Fishing: French behaving in 'appalling manner' says Gardiner

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The lawyer for Jondy Ward, captain of the scallop dredger Cornelis Gert Jan, blasted the French government for being “caught in a political game”, saying the case had been blown up to something “totally disproportionate.” Mathieu Croix said the bail bond of €150,000 (£127,000) being demanded by French authorities was vastly excessive, as the value of the produce on board was only around €5,000 (£4,200).

The French government has repeatedly threatened to sanction the UK and Jersey over a perceived lack of access to British waters for its fishermen.

This is because the two governments have not granted all the licenses submitted to them for French vessels to fish in their waters in the months since Brexit.

The Cornelis was caught up in this diplomatic storm when it was ordered to divert to the port of Le Havre on Wednesday following accusations from the French that it was in their waters without a license.

Mr Ward appeared at the Court of Appeal in Rouen on Wednesday.

After deliberating this afternoon, the appeal court threw out the French authority’s demand for the boat to be held until the bond had been paid, the Telegraph reports.

The boat is now allowed to leave immediately without having to pay any fine.

After the approximately hour-long hearing, Mr Ward told reporters outside the court: “I hope to get home at some stage, today or at a later date.”

He is free to leave the coastal town, but wishes to remain with his boat, according to Mr Croix.

Mr Croix commented: “We’re clearly caught in a political game as there is a whole story spun around this entire case, whereas in fact it is a rather mundane affairs over fishing in an area that is supposedly out of bounds and about licences that may or may not have been given and catch amounts that are relatively modest.

“From then on, given the current political climate, the case blew up to levels that in our view are totally disproportionate.”

The produce the Cornelis Gert Jan had allegedly caught illegally was seized by French maritime police, Mr Croix said.

Mr Ward was arrested by maritime police along with his crew off the Normandy coast last week.

He has been charged with illegal fishing without a licence in French territorial waters.

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France previously said it could stop UK boats landing in its ports if the row over fishing licenses for French vessels was not resolved by midnight on Monday night.

However, after the UK Government threatened to start “rigorous” checks on EU fishing activities in retaliation, just hours before his own deadline, Emmanuel Macron climbed down.

On Monday night he cancelled the threats, and said that France would return to discussions with the UK and the European Commission.

Officials from the two nations, Jersey and the European Commission have been meeting for the past two days.

It is believed that the EU demurred from siding with France over its threats regarding fishing rights in the English Channel.

Macduff Shellfish, the owner of the boat, has said the vessel was fishing legally in French waters and had been caught up in the political dispute.

The Government stood firm on its position ahead of a meeting tomorrow (Thursday) between Brexit Secretary Lord Frost and his French counterpart Clement Beaune.

The Prime Minister’s spokesperson said that “our position as regards to how we grant licenses has not changed in any way.”

They added: “It’s entirely up to the French government if they want to reimpose the threats that we saw they both announced and stood back from in recent days.”

Mr Croix told the Telegraph following the appeal court’s decision: “The court followed our arguments and cancelled the seizure.

“The boat is free to leave Le Havre immediately without having to pay any bail.”

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