A flare-up in the latest scallop war has seen the Star of Jura, a Scottish boat, ordered into the port city of Le Havre on the Normandy coast by police on Monday.
The vessel was pulled aside on suspicion of catching undersized scallops, with the fishermen expected to return them back into the sea.
A Norman fishing captain expressed his annoyance: “We’re fed up. Not only do we not have the same standards, but they’re also coming to plunder the resources right in front of our homes!”
The French authorities boarded the British vessel, where they reportedly found up to one tonne of undersized scallops out of the 16-tonne load. This had been hauled up just outside of the Bay of Seine fishing zone.
This is the latest incident in the ongoing scallop scandal, as Normandy fishermen have previously accused the British of destroying their scallops bed. Their fury comes from a reliance on scallops, which generate a staggering 50 percent of their income.
The smallest size of scallops allowed to be caught, by law, is 11cm. However, the French police claim that UK fishermen are prone to using dredging equipment which allows them to catch sizes smaller than this.
According to fishing rules, dredging for smaller-sized scallops disturbs their reproduction, and fishermen are expected to release the undersized ones back into their natural habitat.
Speaking to LeParisien, Pascal, a skipper from Calvados in France said: “The English can fish for longer, with less restrictive standards and gear. And we have to watch without flinching as they plunder the deposits and threaten the resource for years to come.”
Local Norman fishermen collectively expressed their dismay at the “very penalising difference in fishing rules”.
The French scallop-fishing season runs from October 1 to May 15, yet British boats are allowed to catch them all year round in international waters.
The Star of Jura’s captain now faces a fine of up to £12,500 alongside the seizure of the boat’s entire cargo valued at around £29,000.
Following the police report, Normandy prosecutors will decide whether to take action against the captain.
France would like their British counterparts to stay north of a line running from Barfleur to Cap d’Antifer in Normandy, using only smaller vessels to avoid running down supplies.
Tensions have simmered for a while when 2018 saw a dramatic clash of the vessels, with a group of French boats reportedly attacking British boats in the Bay of Seine with rocks and smoke bombs launched.
