Channel Shellfish Wars, Goading British Toads of Jersey Against French Frogs

The French and the British have been at it again.  Brexit has only intensified the war-whoops by not fully issuing fishing licenses to all French fishermen as promised.

The current focal point is the Channel island of Jersey and its flush of shellfish-rich waters. 

 Jersey residents are nicknamed toads.  A prominent toad statue overlooks their port city of St Helier bearing witness to their amphibian pride. 

The British slang word for the French is “frogs”.  This was derived many years ago from the French penchant for eating frog legs. 

Threats and retorts have dragged on, so you might say it has been a slug war of French froggy tit for British toad tat that is not over yet!

Jersey and Guernsey, known as the Channel Islands are Crown Dependencies of the UK. Guernsey has been involved in these squabbles too but to a lesser extent.   

By the way, Guernsey residents are nick-named donkeys,  much more flattering in my mind.   Amazing that no one thought of nicknaming them cows?

Both are located off the coast of France, in the Bay of Saint Malo.  Jersey the smaller of the two is only 12 miles from the coast of France.

In the past, they were heavily touristed by the French.  Victor Hugo spent almost 20 years in exile living on Guernsey, three of them in Jersey.

English is the official language of both and both use the Pound Sterling as their currency.  Each one is self-governing by bailiwicks and all citizens are considered British nationals.

Guernsey and Jersey were part of the Duchy of Normandy till 1204, so there are some old cultural links as well.  Another vital one is the French undersea cable providing electricity to Jersey.

Talks have heated up to the extent that France threatened to cut off Jersey’s electricity if they didn’t deliver the licenses as promised.

The ongoing France-UK squabbles around fishing rights off coastal waters have been going on for over 10 years.     

Most recently it’s been Jersey withholding fishing licenses to fish around their water brimming with shellfish and fish.

When the Uk was in the European Union, the fight was focused mainly over scallops.  There was a lot of griping about British fishermen fishing for scallops in shared waters when the French weren’t allowed by seasonal laws.

Some British boats have been chased out of French waters, and or blocked from entering French ports.

Scallop fishing is highly regulated in France. French fishermen can only fish for scallops from around the first of October to the middle of May.

These laws were placed to protect stocks by not fishing during months when scallops were busy reproducing.

The Brits didn’t care and were constantly being chased off for stealing scallops prohibited from being taken from French waters.

Off-season scallops from the UK and beyond waters do appear on the market here, mostly in huge supermarkets.

My favorite possionnerie (fish market) will only offer French procured scallops within the allotted season.

Jersey has accused the French of deep dredging around the island.  The majority of scallops are fished off the coast of Normandy, so being deprived of some waters only 12 miles off the coast is provocative of French anger.

The French have retorted by blocking ports and even some of the ferries plying the English Channel between France and England.  Recently, trucks blocked the Euro channel rails.

Macron has been in talks with Boris Johnson, who has promised to issue more licenses to French fishermen.   But, it’s been snail slow, with the British blaming the French for sending in uncompleted documents.

I suspect if and when this political tug of war subsides, the Brits and French will find something else to fight about.

There seems to be an eternal unspoken cultural need to pester each other with one-upmanship rivalry.  If it’s not the Jersey toads or the Guernsey donkeys, then it will be the mainline British “rosbifs”!

I must confess a strong liking to the well-marbled Angus beef imported from the UK and Ireland, as well as the excellent lamb from Wales.

At times, I have bought off-season scallops from the rivaling North Atlantic waters off-limits to French fishermen and Scottish salmon.

Sadly fishermen on both sides have been financially impacted by Brexit.  UK fishermen now have to wait for sanitary approvals for their shipments into France and the EU.

I love whatever is good from any country and hope good intentions and free trade will prevail between the frogs, toads, donkeys and rosbifs!