A British fishing boat has been accused of carrying out a 'life-threatening' attack on a French ship in the latest escalation of the 'scallop wars'. Officials across the Channel claimed the vessel had cut one of the trawler's cables in a deliberate attack in the early hours of January 15 between Brighton and Dieppe.
There are fears the allegation marks a re-ignition in the conflict between both sides amid a history of each continually accusing the other of trespassing and breaking fishing regulations. Henk Senior and Rose de Cascia were the two vessels involved by the English and French respectively as they traipsed through English waters.
The "attack" allegedly took place an hour after the two ships had passed each other as an Englishman reportedly threw a grappling hook which caught on the cable linking the French boat to its net. They then tugged on the cable which brought the trawler astern and it subsequently broke, causing the French vessel to lose its net.
Etienne Dachicourt, the co-owner of the French trawler, told Ici Nord: 'There have always been intimidating maneuvers. We've been warning since Brexit that there would be problems of cohabitation in the English Channel. But you don't put people's lives at risk. The fisherman went on to consider what might have happened if the trawler had 'flipped over', adding the crew would be lost and six people would die. There are fears the allegation marks a re-ignition in the conflict between both sides amid a history of each continually accusing the other of trespassing and breaking fishing regulations file image.
Other French officials like Xavier Bertrand, head of the Hauts-de-France region, dubbed the events an 'exceptionally serious incident'. This is not the first alleged attack of recent months as in arch last year, Mr Bertrand condemned UK fishing bans in 13 marine protected areas off the French coast.
