French fishermen attack Devon fishing boats in scallop war

Nevermind the scallops… French fishermen have allegedly attacked Devon-based fishing boats with petrol bombs, as a shellfish ‘war’ hots up in the English Channel.

Smoke bombs, rocks and insults were also allegedly hurled at fisherman from Devon, reports the BBC.

The clash, involving around 35 french boats and five UK boats – including two boats from Brixham – happened around 12 nautical miles (22km) off the Normandy coast, near the Bay of Seine.

UK registered boats are allowed to fish the French coastal area, but their French counterparts claim British fishermen have “pillaged” shellfish stocks.

Normandy fishing chief Dimitri Rogoff told the BBC: “The French went to contact the British to stop them working and they clashed with each other.

“Apparently there was stone-throwing, but no injuries.”

A fisherman from the Newlyn based boat AjazPZ36 tweets: “It’s all kicking off scallop fishing in the channel, French fisherman throwing petrol bombs now onto UK fishing vessels.”

Footage from France 3 Normandie showed some boats were damaged in the skirmish, with three suffering holes.

Two Devon-based boats, Golden Promise and Joanna C, returned to Brixham harbour with damaged windows. The crews alleged they were surrounded and had rocks and metal shackles thrown at their boats.

And another video published by French media appears to show a Scottish scallop dredger, the Honeybourne 3, colliding with nearby vessels.