Captain of detained fishing trawler issued French court date

The captain of the British fishing trawler detained by French authorities off the coast of Le Havre early on Thursday morning has been instructed to appear in court next year, according to French prosecutors.

Le Havre’s deputy prosecutor Cyrille Fournier said the man had been ordered to appear in court on August 11, 2022, on a charge of operating in French territorial waters.

Macduff Shellfish, the vessel’s owner, says the boat was operating legally.

Environment Secretary George Eustice has said the Prime Minister Boris Johnson may have the opportunity to address the ongoing fishing row with the French President at this afternoon’s G20 talks in Rome.

He told Sky News’ Breakfast programme this morning that: “The Prime Minister may have an opportunity to meet Macron [this afternoon], and they are gathering at Cop26. We want to defuse this issue but the truth is we haven’t done anything wrong.”

He added that France are unlikely to enforce any reactive measures “until Tuesday probably at the earliest… if they do bring these into place, well, two can play at that game and we reserve the ability to respond in a proportionate way.”

In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme earlier today, he also echoed comments made by former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith made yesterday, claiming that Emmanuel Macron was using the ongoing fishing permits row with the UK to gather support ahead of next year’s presidential election.

Eustice told the BBC that “there is an election coming up and it may be that is a factor in this,” in regards to the dispute.
Eustice told MPs yesterday morning that the UK will “stand squarely behind Jersey” and explained that the detained trawler was granted an EU fishing permit, and that it was “unclear” why it had been removed from the list of permitted vessels.

Foreign secretary Liz Truss has summoned the French Ambassador Catherine Colonna to meet with Britain’s Europe Minister Wendy Morton this afternoon.

The French government has threatened to hike tariffs on energy, customs, and limit port access in the wake of the detainment.