Fishing Wars

British fishermen were dredging for scallops in the Channel when rocks were thrown at them from nearby French boats. Photo courtesy: Damien Meyer/AFP/Getty Images

British fishermen have been attacked by French boats in the Channel, raising fears of battles among rival boats over resources as quota limits bite and declining stocks make fishing ever more difficult.

The British fishermen were dredging for scallops in an area west of Le Havre, a lucrative fishing ground, when they were attacked with rocks thrown from nearby French boats, which attempted to block their path.

They called for help from the UK coastguard and Royal Navy, but were told that a French naval vessel would be sent. When it arrived, according to the men, the French authorities refused to intervene, angering the British fishermen and raising fears that a similar confrontation could happen again.

"We were like sitting ducks," said Kevin Loughran, skipper of the Vertrouwen, a 23-metre scallop dredger which was first to be attacked. "Someone could have been killed."

Loughran says he was fishing about 15 miles west of Le Havre, an area within bounds for British fleets, which may not fish closer than 12 miles from the French coast, on Monday morning when his boat was surrounded by about eight or nine French vessels, which obstructed the Vertrouwen's path.

Loughran called other British fishing vessels in the area, and about six came to his aid. Shortly afterwards, the attackers were joined by other French boats, taking the number to about 40, according to the UK's Marine Management Organisation, which monitors British boats.

According to Loughran and others, the French started to throw rocks, and to try to damage the propellers and engines of the British boats by throwing nets in them. Flares were also set off by at least one French vessel, according to the witnesses. One of the Vertrouwen's five crewmen was injured by a thrown rock, though not seriously.

Andrew McLeod, owner of the Van Dijk which was one of the boats attacked, said: "This was extremely dangerous behaviour – there could have been a collision and a boat could have been sunk."

A French naval vessel was sent but according to the British fishermen it failed to intervene. When the French fishing boats eventually moved off, crew from the naval vessel then boarded some of the UK boats, demanding to inspect them. "That seems to have been intended to make them lose even more fishing time," said McLeod.

The UK Maritime Management Organisation told the Guardian that the French authorities were dealing with the matter. French coastguards and the French embassy did not return calls.The British fishermen are planning a return to the same scallop beds on Thursday and are calling for a UK fisheries protection vessel to be placed in the area as a neutral observer. "I am hoping for a nice quiet trip with no trouble," said Loughran.

Fisheries minister, Richard Benyon, said: "We are aware of the situation involving UK scallop fishermen on 8 October. The Marine Management Organisation are working closely with French authorities and will continue to encourage action should any further incidents take place. UK vessels have a legitimate right to fish in these waters and France must continue to provide adequate protection to UK fishermen. We are monitoring the situation and will continue to keep an open dialogue with our French counterparts."

British vessels are allowed only 36 days of fishing in the best scallop grounds, which include the Channel and about extend to about half the main scalloping areas. They are also limited in the size of scallops they can take, to those over 110mm. Channel scallops tend to be of lower quality than those from some other areas, but they are relatively plentiful, and currently fetch about £1 a kilo - a poor price, according to Loughran.

The MMO said: "As soon as we were made aware of the situation we contacted the French authorities and encouraged them to intervene. They did and are continuing to deal with this matter. We believe issues should be dealt with by the country in whose waters any such incident occurs. We are continuing high-level negotiations with our French counterparts to seek assurances that these issues will not recur."

Incidents such as this have been rare, but not unknown. In 2002, the British scallop dredger Philomena was allegedly attacked by French fishermen about 20 miles off Brest.

Capt. Richard Phillips: Victim of Overfishing? You Be The Judge!

In this photo released by the U.S. Navy, Maersk-Alabama Capt. Richard Phillips, right, shakes hands with Lt. Cmdr. David Fowler, executive officer of USS Bainbridge after being rescued by U.S Naval Forces off the coast of Somalia on Sunday April 12, 2009. (AP Photo/ U.S. Navy)

The entire world breathed a sigh of relief on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009, when Captain Richard Phillips, was freed from his Somali captors. As everyone knows Captain Phillips and his crew were taken hostage by Somali pirates. Capt. Phillips courageously offered himself as hostage; so, his crew would be set free.

The theory is being put forward now that Captain Phillips and his crew are actually the victims of overfishing. How can a hostage-taking be linked with overfishing? The theory is:

Thousands of Somalis once made their living as fishermen. The waters around the coastline of Somalia once teemed with fish providing an adequate living for the fishermen, their families and all the trickle-down businesses that flourished because of the fishing trade. However, Somalia has been without a central government for nearly two decades; so, there is no government body that is actively and effectively protecting the country’s rights to its coastline. Foreign countries have been willing to take advantage of this; and, exploit the fisheries off Somalia’s coast leaving the nets of the local fishermen empty.

WE (wealthy Europeans) have overfished and overexploited our own stocks; so, now we feel justified in helping ourselves to theirs. This from Johann Hari, columnist for the London Independent:

More than $300m worth of tuna, shrimp, lobster and other sea-life is being stolen every year by vast trawlers illegally sailing into Somalia's unprotected seas. The local fishermen have suddenly lost their livelihoods, and they are starving. Mohammed Hussein, a fisherman in the town of Marka 100km south of Mogadishu, told Reuters: "If nothing is done, there soon won't be much fish left in our coastal waters."

But never let it be said that Europeans take things out without putting something else back in. In return for the fish they were harvesting illegally within Somalian waters, they repaid them with mysterious barrels thrown over the side of equally mysterious European ships.

Coincidentally, it was about this time that the coastal population began to get sick. Strange rashes developed accompanied by nausea. There was an increase in the number of deformed babies being born among the coastal populations. Then came the 2005 tsunami.

Give things a heck of a shaking and it’s amazing what pops out. Hundreds of dumped, leaking barrels were washed up on shore. People within close proximity to the barrels developed radiation sickness with over 300 eventually dying.

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy to Somalia, told Johann Hari: "Somebody is dumping nuclear material here. There is also lead, and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury - you name it."

Again from Johann Hari:

Much of it can be traced back to European hospitals and factories, who seem to be passing it on to the Italian mafia to "dispose" of cheaply. When I asked Ould-Abdallah what European governments were doing about it, he said with a sigh: "Nothing. There has been no clean-up, no compensation, and no prevention."

Watching your loved ones starve (sometimes to death) brings a special kind of desperation and many of the fishermen took matters into their own hands. Many of these “pirates” began as vigilante patrol squads challenging vessels that were either fishing illegally or dumping toxic waste in Somali waters and demanded they pay a tax. This proved ineffective and these vigilantes organized into the “pirates” you see today.

The New York Times has an enlightening interview with a Somali “pirate” (given after his capture) who assisted in taking a Ukrainian vessel carrying a huge load of weapons to the Sudan.

So…you be the judge? Is Captain Phillips really the victim of overfishing? Thoughts, comments, musings, ramblings on this subject welcome.