The anger of French fishermen over the slow issuance of fishing licenses in UK waters erupted into a protest in Boulogne-sur-Mer.
According to the French edition of News Front, fishermen began to block the trucks with fish that arrived from Britain in the largest European center for processing seafood.
After Brexit, European fishermen are forced to contact the UK authorities to continue fishing in British waters. Permits were supposed to be issued quickly, but instead about 80% of the French fishing fleet in Haute-de-France is awaiting a license.
“We thought it was a matter of days. Four months later, we have made very little progress”, – said Bruno Margollet, head of a large fishermen’s cooperative in Boulogne-sur-Mer.
About 80 fishermen lit flares on the embankments of this port city, blocking the road to trucks with barricades.
About two thirds of the fish caught in the UK are exported to the mainland. In the first weeks of the year, when the country left the European Union, there were problems with supplies.
That said, French fishermen say their livelihoods depend on access to British waters, where they fish for mackerel, blue whiting and squid. Bruno Margollet said French fish stocks are at risk of depletion if fishermen are unable to access British waters.