doubleu-anker

Forget about the Falklands for a moment, as this bust up might be closer to home.

They are due for another walloping.

BBC News - Fishermen 'attacked by French' call for navy's help

500N

Maybe it's time the skippers used the French tactics against the French.
(in reference to the Ropes, rocks and attempted ramming).

Zeppelin

An excellant oppotunity to get the PPRuNe boys together to sort this out....

Lon More

as I suggested earlier, time to send in the SHARs. oh, sorry, they've been flogged off. Well maybe time to send in a carrier, of course, have to ask the Ffrench if we can borrow it first. Sending in the Andrew might be awkward anyway, especially if the Ffrogs took away their Play Stations.

Lightning Mate

One remembers gunboats.

Tankertrashnav

Of course Cornish fishermen have never, ever hassled French boats fishing just outside UK territorial waters.

Perish the thought

swordfish41

And there i was loking forward to a really good collective hate.

RedhillPhil

Having read a bit more into this story I'm afraid that I'm with the Froggies on this one. They allow the British to dredge for Scallops in their home waters but get a bit peeved when the British dredge in the self-imposed close season.

bluecode

It seems to me that the French are teaching the British a lesson in this case. They have a point even if their tactics lack diplomacy.

On the other hand maybe it's time England took back Calais in retaliation. After all England's claim to the place is stronger than Argentina's claim to the Falklands.

FLEXJET

French fishermen are angered because they had to wait, like every year, until October 1st to start fishing scallop shells, although the british ships started already on August,albeit legally according EU laws. They also suffer from the use of smaller and less equipped fishing boats.
I don't think the British can be held responsible for that situation.
The french are, as often, over regulating themselves. The Ifremer institute imposes quotas, but for the french fishermen only, like if they were living in the same world than the Irish or the British...

French bureaucrats don't give the same meaning to Sustainable development apparently...

green granite

I'm afraid I've very little sympathy with fishermen, they use bigger and bigger nets pulled by bigger and bigger boats, catch so many fish that there are virtually none left and then complain when people try to do something about it. I don't particularly like the 'S' word but the sustainability of long-lining and similar would at least give the fish a chance to increase their numbers again.

The Herring is of course the classic example of this syndrome .

ricardian

The herring fishing industry destroyed itself. I live on Stronsay which was the centre of herring fishing & curing in Orkney. The population nowadays is around 400

Ancient Observer

Most UK registered boats are owned by the Spanish, so I wouldn't waste the time of a gunboat.
Anyway, the MoD have got thousands of admirals of vice and so on to keep busy, so they don't waste their time running boats any more. they just do admin.

G-CPTN

These fishing boats were catching scallops - which means that they would be bottom-trawling rather than aiming at shoals of fish.

Once they have identified the location of the scallop-beds the scallops stand little chance of survival.

It's 'demolition' fishing.

sitigeltfel

You haven't really thought that one out. If 'England' regained Calais, the thousands of illegal immigrants that flock there would have automatic right of entry to the UK, and even more would make their way there.

vee-tail-1

No sympathy at all for the Brit sea bed destroying fish killers. In fact it might be a good thing if the French contacted Sea Sheppard to give a hand evicting them.