| 1993 Cherbourg incident | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 HMSBlazer, one of the Royal Navy's craft involved | |||
| Date | 26 March – 2 April 1993 | ||
| Location | Cherbourg Harbour, France 49°39′54.70″N1°40′21.45″W / 49.6651944°N 1.6726250°W /49.6651944; -1.6726250 | ||
| Caused by | Fishing rights dispute between Britain and France | ||
| Resulted in | Royal Navy ship boarded, ensign burned French trawler captured, skipper arrested | ||
| Parties | |||
| |||
  Location within France | |||
The1993 Cherbourg incident were a series of maritime incidents which took place from 26 March to 2 April 1993 between the BritishRoyal Navy and French fishermen as a result of afishing rights dispute in and around theChannel Islands waters.
The tensions around the Channel Islands waters began to rise in September 1992, when theEuropean Union (EU) recognised a six-mile (5.2 nmi; 9.7 km) British limit forexclusive fishing rights around the islands. Until then, British and French trawlers had operated in the zone without restrictions.[1] The agreement left a three-mile (2.6 nmi; 4.8 km) limit from the coastline where onlyJersey trawlers could fish, an area between the three-mile and the six-mile limits for any British-flagged boat, and an outer zone between the six-mile and the 12-mile (10 nmi; 19 km) limits, where only British and French fishing boats could operate.[2]
The first incident took place on 26 March, when two fishing inspectors from the Channel Islands were illegally taken on the trawlerImpatiens to the French port ofBarneville-Carteret, after the French fishing boat was challenged by the British fishery vesselHMSOrkney fromGuernsey,[3] which confiscated herpots.[4] The inspectors were rescued some hours later by a French coastguard vessel.[2][3] On 28 March 1993,HMSBlazer was paying a visit toCherbourg Harbour when the local fishermen learned that a boat from their fleet,La Calypso, had been stopped at sea by a British minesweeper,HMSBrocklesby. The captain ofLa Calypso refused to submit and set out for Cherbourg with three British fishery protection servicemen on board. A French port vessel later returned the personnel to Royal Navy control.
Eight French trawlers subsequently surrounded theBlazer[1] at 3:00 pm and angry fishermen boarded the ship. According to witnesses,[3] HMSBlazer was seized while manoeuvring outside the port and sailed to Cherbourg harbour by the intruders. Her crew of 16 were forced to remain below the deck for three hours, while the ship'sWhite Ensign was burned. French authorities subsequently put an end to the situation and forcibly expelled the fishermen fromBlazer and placed them under arrest. TheFrench Navy, meanwhile, dispatched the patrol boatCoriander to Cherbourg.[1]
On 29 March a flotilla of 36 French trawlers steamed up toSaint Peter Port in Guernsey, where a preliminary deal was agreed.[2] After the first incidents, the Royal Navy deployed unarmedRoyal Marines to conduct any future similar law enforcement operations. The marines were from40 Commando, based atTaunton in Somerset.La Calypso was eventually caught by the fishery vesselHMSJersey and her master was put under arrest in Guernsey on 2 April 1993.[5] The skipper, Michel Mesnage, was released on bail on 3 April.[6] A new incident took place on 30 June 1993, when the Guernsey-based trawlerSara P was seized by the French Navy, and had her pots confiscated.[4]
A spokeswoman for the French fishermen accused the Royal Navy of "severe provocation", while the Britishminister of Agriculture,John Gummer, stated that "The rule of law must be upheld. I have always emphasised the need for fisheries regulations to be properly enforced throughout the EC. The regulations are there to conserve fish and the long-term interests of the fishermen themselves."[5] The British Fisheries junior Minister,David Curry, claimed that the conflict was caused by the French authorities' failure to properly inform their fishermen about the agreement sanctioned by the EU in 1992, and theFrench legislative election, which in practice left no French government to deal with at the time of the incidents.[2] The British Agriculture Minister had met his elected French counterpart on 1 April, and they had agreed that the 1992 EU decision should be enforced.[5] The French government condemned the fishermen's actions.[7] British and Cherbourg fishermen signed an informal agreement on 5 April, on the first day since the beginning of the crisis, that boats from England and the islands were allowed to unload their catch in France.[8]
A definitive agreement regarding fishing around the Channel Islands and theCotentin peninsula andBrittany was reached after an exchange of notes in Paris, on 16 August 1994.[4]
