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Six months ago, I was with Laurent Merlin when we entered British coastal waters in the middle of the night.
As he guided his boat through strong waves, circling around the lobster pots, spoke of his nervousness about the uncertainty of Brexi.
Now the nervousness has turned to anxiety, mixed with anger. Fifteen days before the end of the year and Laurent, along with fishermen from the UK and across Europe, have no idea what regulations await them on January 1st.
“Everyone is really stressed out,” he says.
The nervousness has turned to anger, with fishermen like Laurent Merlin threatening to take action.
“Everyone is impatient to know what is happening, because some of my colleagues have a lot of equipment in those waters.
“Personally, at the moment I have lobster cages worth € 40,000 in UK waters.
“We don’t know whether to leave them there or bring them back. We have been told to remove them from UK waters before January 1, and if not, the Royal Navy will intervene. If Brexit really does happen, then they are dead.”
And now, where his anger was once deliberately controlled, there is the sense of fury in the making.
“We just won’t accept it. For now, we haven’t said much, because I think we still had hope, but if we end up without a deal, then we’ll all take action.”
Laurent says he has € 40,000 worth of lobster at stake
“We can’t just stay here and accept it. I absolutely believe that of the 30 ships operating here, in two years there will only be 10 left. That’s for sure.”
No industry has been as important in the Brexit negotiations as fishing.
In economic terms, it is a minnow, worth much less than 0.1% of UK GDP.
Fishing has caused a deadlock in the Brexit negotiations
But it has acquired political weight as a symbol of sovereignty, national pride and the idea of regaining control.
The complication is that there are EU countries that feel equally convinced to defend their fishermen, no matter how slight its economic impact.
France, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Spain, Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands send fishing boats to British coastal waters.
Fishmonger France Grimonprez hopes an agreement will be reached
The fish and shellfish they bring are consumed throughout the continent. And yes, there is also an intangible feeling here that fishing must defend itself.
While Michel Barnier addressed the European Parliament in Brussels, the France Grimonprez fishmonger was serving a steady stream of customers at his fishmongers a couple of miles away.
“Without an agreement, we don’t know where we are going, but to reach an agreement, as in any business, everyone must find their fair price,” he told me.
In economic terms, the catch is a minnow, worth much less than 0.1% of UK GDP.
“The laws are not very clear. For example, with scallops. French fishermen are really in control when it comes to fishing, in terms of size, how many hours they can work, etc.”
“But these same rules do not apply to British fishermen. So this already creates problems because the laws are not the same.”
Fishing has become a symbol of sovereignty and the idea of regaining control
“The problem is that in the Canal there is no wall to divide the water.
“Perhaps I am naive, but I hope that the” no agreement “does not happen. There has to be a free exchange within the agreements that are reached, otherwise it is a big step backwards.”
Pressure grows for an agreement
Across Europe, the fishing industry is waiting to see what happens next.
Livelihoods are at stake, nerves are wearing thin, and tension is mounting.
It is not only in the UK where the plight of fishermen has become a political focus.
