For the dozen boats from the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer which fish with the Danish seine, an agreement has just been signed after four years of negotiations.
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The agreement signed between the Belgian, French and Dutch parties concerns 21 French purse seiners, 24 Dutch and 4 Belgian. This agreement, known as the “gentlemen's agreement”, is an agreement which, on the French side, prevents seiners, these large-volume trawlers, from fishing too close to the coast and thus leaving room for smaller fishing fleets.
According to this agreement, in Normandy, purse seiners undertake not to approach less than 12 miles from the coast, less than 9 miles from the coast of Hauts-de-France and in the Strait of Pas-de-Calais at less than 6 miles from the coast.
This is an agreement that has been under discussion since Brexit, which generated several questions about the distribution of fishing zones. Indeed, the licenses issued, after Brexit, to allow French (and Belgian and Dutch) fishermen to continue to operate in British territorial waters were issued in dribs and drabs. For these three nationalities of fishermen, having less access to British territorial waters, it is therefore necessary to share space in the Channel. An agreement has just been reached regarding Danish seining.
>> Also read : Post-Brexit fishing licenses: while awaiting the outcome of the ultimatum, “disillusioned” and “desperate” fishermen
This “gentlemen's agreement” came into force on November 18, 2024. The Danish seine, a sort of large square net, is sometimes criticized for scraping the bottom and, ultimately, causing the depletion of the resource.
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If the agreement was signed by the French, they regret a little that there are double standards between French ships and Dutch ships. Pierre-Georges Dachicourt, former head of the fisheries committee, notes, in fact, that French boats measure 20 to 24 meters while Dutch ones measure 10 to 20 meters longer.
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