The English Channel scallop fishing dispute, also called the Great Scallop War or guerre de la coquille, occurred on 10 October 2012 or 8 October 2012, between British and French fishermen in the

Channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

off the coast of

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

, France. The dispute arose because of a difference in fishing restrictions between the two countries. British

scallop Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve mollusks in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related families ...

fishers are allowed to fish for scallops year round, whilst French scallop fishers are not permitted to fish between 15 May and 1 October each year. Other confrontations took place in the same area on 28 August 2018 and 13 October 2020.

2012

Approximately 20 French fishing boats surrounded five British fishing boats and, according to the British fishermen, tried to ram the British boats, throwing rocks and nets and attempting to damage their propellers and engines. French fishermen claim their actions were in response to the British boats being inside the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

Common Fisheries Policy The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the fisheries policy of the European Union (EU). It sets quotas for which member states are allowed to catch each type of fish, as well as encouraging the fishing industry by various market interventions. I ...

fishing exclusion zone; British fishermen deny that they were within the exclusion zone. The British

Marine Management Organisation The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is an executive non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom established under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, with responsibility for English waters. The MMO exists to make a significant cont ...

informed French authorities; the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

intervened and a meeting took place between the French and British fishermen to resolve the dispute.

2018

On 28 August, 35 French fishing boats tried to prevent several British fishing vessels from catching sea scallops off the

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

coast.Scallop war: French and British boats clash in Channel
/ref> Violence began when three large British trawlers were chased by the French fishing boats. British trawlers ''Golden Promise'' and ''Joanna C'' were damaged after being rammed and hit by stones, metal shackles, petrol bombs and rocket flares, and were eventually forced to seek shelter at

Brixham Brixham is a coastal town and civil parish, the smallest and southernmost of the three main population centres (the others being Paignton and Torquay) on the coast of Torbay in the county of Devon, in the south-west of England. Commercial fish ...

. Scottish

dredger Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...

''Honeybourne III'' attempted to ram a number of French boats after a fire erupted on board; three French vessels were also damaged. The Scottish trawler eventually docked at Shoreham. The violence was condemned by both British and French officials. Talks started on 5 September but by 12 September had failed to conclude, owing to British and French intransigence. The

vowed to intervene in the event of future clashes. Subsequently, a "crab war" developed in which the British claimed that the French fishermen deliberately damaged their

crab pot Crab traps are used to bait, lure, and catch crabs for commercial or recreational use. Crabbing or crab fishing is the recreational hobby and commercial occupation of fishing for crabs. Different types of traps are used depending on the type o ...

s. This violence was also condemned by both British and French officials.

2020

Further incidents occurred in 2020. On 13 October two British boats, ''Golden Promise'' and ''Girl Macey'', based in

, were in the Baie de Seine, near the 12-mile French territorial limit. One of the boats was surrounded by five French boats, the other by fifteen. Flares, oil and frying pans were thrown at the British boats by the French. The French boats also jammed frequencies used by the British trawlers.

References

{{Reflist History of the English Channel Fishing in France Fishing in the United Kingdom Conflicts in 2012 France–United Kingdom relations Fishing conflicts 2012 in France 2012 in the United Kingdom 2012 in international relations October 2012 events in Europe 2018 in France 2018 in the United Kingdom 2018 in international relations August 2018 events in Europe Maritime incidents in France

2012

2018

2020

See also

References