France impounds UK vessel accused of unlawful fishing | EUROtoday

A British fishing vessel has been impounded by the French authorities, accused of illegally fishing of their waters.

It was seized within the English Channel and is being held on the port of Boulogne, unable to depart whereas the French authorities take into account bringing a prosecution.

The vessel was stopped at sea by the French Navy on Thursday evening, with its crew alleged to have been fishing in French waters and not using a licence.

The incident comes days after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was criticised by British fishermen over his reset cope with the European Union, which supplies EU fishing vessels entry to UK waters for 12 extra years.

The Foreign Office mentioned it was providing assist to a British nationwide in France and was in contact with native authorities.

“As the vessel remains subject to an ongoing investigation by French fisheries authorities, we are unable to comment further at this time,” a authorities spokesperson added.

According to the French Coastguard, the navy patrol vessel Pluvier was conducting inspections of their waters in a single day on 23 May, discovering the British vessel to have been allegedly working and not using a licence.

The fishing vessel was diverted to Boulogne “for the purpose of initiating prosecution”.

The Conservatives accused the French authorities of “shameful double standards” over the arrest.

Shadow house secretary Chris Philp mentioned that they had didn’t cease 1000’s of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats, accusing France of “taking no action whatsoever at sea and often ushering the illegal immigrants into UK waters”.

“Yet when a UK fishing vessel is in French waters all of a sudden they are magically able to act. If the French can now intercept boats then they should start stopping the boats with illegal immigrants – as international law obliges them to do.”

The UK and the EU have struck a deal that covers fishing, commerce, defence, vitality and strengthening ties in quite a few coverage areas nonetheless up for negotiation.

A key a part of the deal entails giving European fishing boats an additional 12 years of entry to British waters in alternate for alleviating some commerce frictions.

Critics from the Conservatives and Reform UK described the deal as a “surrender” to the EU, whereas the Liberal Democrats mentioned the federal government had taken some “positive first steps” to rebuilding ties with Europe.