The End of the Anglo-French Scallop War

Sputnik reported that Britain and France have just reached an agreement on scallop fishing in the waters off Normandy, France.

Gerard Romiti, president of the French National Fisheries Commission, said that France and Britain have reached a general agreement on fishing in the Bay of Seine. Accordingly, Britain and France have agreed to extend their 2017 fishing agreements, allowing only small British boats to fish in the area, limiting the number of scallops that British fishermen can catch in these waters. "The previous agreement regarding 15-meter British fishing boats will be limited. An agreement on the principles of operation of 15-meter British submarines has also been made," the statement said.

Meanwhile, the BBC reported that the agreement between the UK and France discussed in London has made it clear that British fishing boats smaller than 15 metres will have to comply with French fishing rules and be compensated for damages caused by the conflict between French fishing boats last week.

The terms are due to be discussed in Paris later this week but little seems likely to change. Britain has said it will “respect the French fishing ban” in the Bay of the Seine. Britain had previously agreed to a deal with France that would ban large fishing vessels from the area until October, in exchange for smaller vessels being able to fish all year round.

Thus, despite warnings from the British and French navies that they would intervene if conflict continued, the negotiation option temporarily stabilized the situation.