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Agreement reached on permanent fishing licences for French vessels

11 December 2021

​Following an intensive period of discussions between the Government of Jersey, the United Kingdom and the European Commission, a resolution has been reached to the technical exercise to determine the number of fishing licences to be issued to French boats to fish in Jersey waters.


This includes an agreement by Jersey to provide an additional five permanent licences to applicant vessels who have recently provided further information demonstrating that they fished in Jersey waters for the required time under the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). A further seven applications by Jersey vessels to fish in EU waters will also be determined under the terms of the TCA. 

Other EU vessels currently issued with ‘temporary’ licences, who have not yet provided the necessary evidence, will not be able to fish in Jersey waters from 31st January 2022.

The Minister for the Environment, Deputy John Young, commented:

“These five vessels were in the ‘temporary’ licensing category, where some limited data had been provided. Thanks to the cooperation between Jersey, the European Commission and UK Government, further data has now been received and the technical exercise can be brought to a conclusion. 

“As a result, I can grant these vessels permanent licences according to the evidence requirements under the TCA. This brings the total number of permanent licenses issued to French vessels to 130. It is also important that we will see Jersey’s seven applications determined.”

“We can now begin the important work of progressing the nature and extent of fishing in our waters as set out in the TCA, including by these vessels; confirming what species fishermen are permitted to catch, the period they can do so, and the measures required to conserve our fish stocks.”

The Minister for External Relations, Senator Ian Gorst, said:

“This technical process has been an intensive one, requiring close diplomatic cooperation between Jersey, the United Kingdom and European Commission. Ministers and officials have met regularly in recent days and had productive discussions with UK Secretary of State Eustice and European Commissioner Sinkevičius. As a result, we have been able to reach an evidence-based resolution that concludes our technical discussions.“ 



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