The UK government is probing the incident with a British vessel detained in France over lack of a fishing license, Environment Secretary George Eustice said on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th October, 2021) The UK government is probing the incident with a British vessel detained in France over lack of a fishing license, Environment Secretary George Eustice said on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, the French Sea Ministry said that the British boat was caught fishing in its waters and subsequently escorted to the French port city Le Havre after the maritime patrol had discovered that it had no relevant license.
"My officials are investigating the circumstances around this vessel that is being detained in France. It is too early to be able to identify precisely what happened but I have seen reports that it was on the list originally and then appeared not to be on the list but it is something I have asked our officials to urgently investigate," Eustice told the parliament.
The second UK vessel caught in the French waters earlier in the day was fined for non-compliance with orders of the maritime patrol team.
On Wednesday, France said that it will impose sanctions against the United Kingdom on November 2 over its refusal to issue enough fishing licenses for French fishermen to access British waters under the Brexit trade deal. London slammed the announcement.
In late September, the UK Ministry of the Environment reported that 1,700 vessels from the EU received licenses to fish in the UK waters, of which 117 were issued to vessels from the EU for fishing in a zone of 6-12 nautical miles. The ministry issued only 12 licenses to French fishermen, having considered 47 applications.
