This Is Guernsey

By Nick Mollet

FISHERMEN’S reaction to Guernsey regaining its 12-mile limit has been mixed. The UK Government has agreed that the island should control the three- to 12-mile zone.

Sark and Alderney would also see their territorial waters extended to 12 miles, but no extension will be granted until all the islands agree.

Commerce and Employment hopes to have the extension in place within 12 months.

But trawlerman Andy Le Prevost, 45, a fisherman for 25 years, is sceptical.

‘I don’t believe it’s going to happen, although I hope it does for the sake of the fleet and all the authorities fighting for it,’ he said.

‘The results we have had the last few years have given us no confidence for the protection of the industry.

‘Whenever Sea Fisheries does anything to preserve the laws, it’s thrown out on the strength of legal mess-ups. It’s not until the higher authorities get their act together that our boys up the road ‘at Sea Fisheries’ can enforce it,’ he said.

‘It’s not for want of trying at Sea Fisheries, but it’s the people above them that have mucked up.’

Dougal Lane, a fisherman for about 30 years, welcomed the moves.

‘It sounds like good news - it’s marvellous news,’ he said.

But the issues involved were incredibly complex and no controls on fishing within the 12-mile limit could be passed without the approval of the UK Government.

And he believed it could be an ‘elastic 12 months’ or possibly even longer before the extension came into effect.

‘We are now getting our 12 miles so it’s a good move - it’s a shame we had to work so hard to get it.

‘It’s nice to see the island’s authorities working for us,’ said Mr Lane.

One Guernsey fishermen, who did not wish to be named, believed lawyers were looking into the Sark situation.

‘How can Sark qualify for a 12-mile limit when they are not big enough to be classed as a territory? How can they have a territorial limit?’ he asked.

‘Why should the Guernsey taxpayer pay for Sea Fisheries to patrol Sark’s waters when they don’t put a penny into the kitty?’

Another fisherman, who also wished to remain anonymous, said the changes would have little effect as 90% of the fleet fished within a few miles of the shore.

* Guernsey introduced in 2003 a licensing system to control fishing between three and 12 miles out. That was challenged by Jersey and UK fishermen and after a lengthy appeals process the Privy Council ruled it to be unlawful in May last year, leaving those waters unprotected.