1993 Cherbourg incident

The tensions around the Channel Islands waters began to rise in September 1992, when the European Union (EU) recognised a British limit for exclusive fishing rights around the islands. Until then, British and French trawlers had operated in the zone without restrictions. The agreement left a limit from the coastline where only Jersey trawlers could fish, an area between the three-mile and the six-mile limits for any British-flagged boat, and an outer zone between the six-mile and the limits, where only British and French fishing boats could operate. == The incidents ==

The first incident took place on 26 March, when two fishing inspectors from the Channel Islands were illegally taken on the trawler Impatiens to the French port of Barneville-Carteret, after the French fishing boat was challenged by the British fishery vessel HMS Orkney from Guernsey, On 28 March 1993, HMS Blazer was paying a visit to Cherbourg Harbour when the local fishermen learned that a boat from their fleet, La Calypso, had been stopped at sea by a British minesweeper, HMS Brocklesby. The captain of La Calypso refused to submit and set out for Cherbourg with three British fishery protection servicemen on board. A French port vessel later returned the personnel to Royal Navy control. Eight French trawlers subsequently surrounded the Blazer On 29 March a flotilla of 36 French trawlers steamed up to Saint Peter Port in Guernsey, where a preliminary deal was agreed. The skipper, Michel Mesnage, was released on bail on 3 April. A new incident took place on 30 June 1993, when the Guernsey-based trawler Sara P was seized by the French Navy, and had her pots confiscated. == British and French reactions ==

A spokeswoman for the French fishermen accused the Royal Navy of "severe provocation", while the British minister of Agriculture, John Gummer, stated that "The rule of law must be upheld. I have always emphasised the need for fisheries regulations to be properly enforced throughout the EC. The regulations are there to conserve fish and the long-term interests of the fishermen themselves." British and Cherbourg fishermen signed an informal agreement on 5 April, on the first day since the beginning of the crisis, that boats from England and the islands were allowed to unload their catch in France. A definitive agreement regarding fishing around the Channel Islands and the Cotentin peninsula and Brittany was reached after an exchange of notes in Paris, on 16 August 1994. == See also ==