At Hartlepool Fish Quay the angry fishermen mounted a blockade after a French trawler tried to land its catch and load it onto a lorry bound for the continent. There were around 15 outraged fishermen barricaded the entrance to the Quay after the fishing vessel, le Precurseur, landed to unload its catch onto a waiting lorry to be transported to Boulogne. It is said that the fishermen have been prevented from catching any white fish after meeting their EU quota restrictions, while the French vessel was allowed to catch fish on their doorstep and transport it out of town.
According to the fishermen the French vessel was much larger than any boat moored tn Hartlepool. The town fishermen campaigned for improvements to the quota system and a new scheme is set to be launched to lift restrictions and monitor the effect on stocks. After the protest the French vessel was sent back to sea without unloading its catch at around noon, when they refused to budge.
Fisherman Ronnie Buglass, 47, of Naisberry Park, Hartlepool, told that the demand of the fishermen was right as the foreign men are fishing on our doorstep and we are not allowed to. He added that the town fishermen have been forced away from their own coastline to catch prawns off Scotland because they do not have any quota left for white fish like whiting, cod and plaice.
Keith Williams, manager of the Hartlepool Fish Company, which operates the fish quay, informed that the boat went on its way back to Boulogne. There was no fish overlanded. A spokeswoman for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said legally there is nothing wrong with French fishermen fishing in waters around the UK and under the Common Fisheries Policy they are shared waters.
