Thaw in tensions with Britain after French fishermen end stir over rights

On Thursday, Britain and France sent navy and coastal patrol ships to waters near the Channel island of Jersey as tensions spiralled between the two neighbours.

French fishermen started leaving the British isle of Jersey on Thursday evening and ended a protest over post-Brexit fishing rights, after the U.K. and France sent military patrol ships to the area.

French fishing boats return home following their protest in front of the port of Saint Helier off the British island of Jersey. (AFP)

Representatives of the fishing fleet, who are upset at the conditions attached to licenses needed to operate in the area, said they had made their point and will be heading back to France.

On Thursday, Britain and France sent navy and coastal patrol ships to waters near the Channel island of Jersey as tensions spiralled between the two neighbours. The posturing was sparked by a protest by French fishing boats, which gathered outside Jersey’s main port, raising fears of a blockade.

That prompted British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to send two royal navy gunboats to the area, with France following suit with two of its own coast patrol vessels.

The British navy vessels HMS Severn and HMS Tamar arrived in Jersey’s waters to “monitor the situation,” the UK government said on Thursday, while people in the French military said “the situation is very calm overall”.

Earlier in the day, the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, appealed for tensions to be defused. “...obviously we call for restraint and for calm, and for discussing the issue at stake between the two stakeholders calmly,” spokesperson Dana Spinant said at a daily briefing in Brussels.