Paint – more talk needed with French
A LOT more talking is going to be needed before the issue of French fishermen using local waters reaches a firm conclusion, said the president of the Guernsey Fishermen’s Association.
Barry Paint, pictured, was speaking as Guernsey announced its roadmap for the issuing of licences to French fishermen in a long-awaited post-Brexit trade deal.
While figures on how many applications have been made by the French fleet for Guernsey licences have not been disclosed, yesterday’s announcement by the UK that only 12 of 47 applications had been approved – news which made the front page of the Daily Telegraph – led to a claim that this amounted to a ‘declaration of war’ from a French official.
Mr Paint said that no local fishermen had been involved in any talks, but he praised the efforts of Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq, Policy & Resources lead for external relations.
‘We have got to have goodwill on both sides and I think Deputy Le Tocq has tried very hard to maintain that goodwill. I’m very pleased with the way he has handled things.’
He said talks are still going on: ‘There’s a lot of fine detail and there’s got to be a lot more talking yet.
‘There’s got to be a fine balance between looking after our interests and trying to appease the French because they’ve been used to doing things quite differently.
‘The main thing is to preserve our stocks but equally not to upset them so much that we can’t land our catch in France.’
