‘On Our Knees’: British Fishermen Blast French Boats for Ignoring Brexit Rules

Irritated and infuriated fishermen are demanding immediate action as tensions mount, with one MP highlighting a photo of ‘11 French vessels inside the 12-mile limit’ last week. The long-running conflict is pushing commercial fishermen to a point where they very well may break, as many struggle to earn a living while competing with larger foreign trawlers in British waters.

Fishermen are outraged, and Liberal Democrat MP Rachel Gilmour (Tiverton and Minehead) is calling for prompt action on the 12-mile limit for European fishing boats, which she says continues to go ‘unacknowledged by the regulators’. The 12-mile rule—also known as the territorial limit—prohibits foreign vessels from operating within this area. Despite this regulation, Gilmour has described a ‘never-ending’ presence of European boats in these waters, reporting the matter to the UK Government and including a screenshot showing foreign vessels within the boundary.

A vital point to remember is many frustrated fishermen have stressed that they are operating from inshore U15 boats. (These are commercial fishing vessels that measure less than 15 metres in length.)

Inshore fishermen say their way of working is far kinder to the sea. Using smaller boats and often rod and line instead of using nets, they claim their methods protect future stocks because if a fish is undersized, they simply ‘throw it back’.

Many dispute that ‘bad fisheries management’ is neglecting the ‘real problems’ facing British crews. One Devon fisherman warned that ‘vessels outside of the UK are using smaller mesh nets to catch as much as they can without any thought to sustainability.’

MP Rachel Gilmour also pointed out that non-local vessels could be ‘catching non-quota species’—the ‘mainstay of the fishery in the South West and have been for a long time for the inshore fleet’.

In a recent letter to then-fisheries minister Daniel Zeichner, the Lib Dem MP warned that the unchecked activity of foreign fishing vessels is threatening the very survival of the inshore fleet.

The letter reports that ‘fishermen (in Minehead, Somerset) have advised me that these foreign boats have been working the same area for about a fortnight now, gradually increasing in numbers as the days go on.’

Controversy ignited after Keir Starmer faced accusations of ‘selling out’ the fishing sector, following a May 2025 agreement granting EU fishermen guaranteed access to UK waters until 2038.

The deal, struck as part of post-Brexit trade talks, has left UK fishermen enraged, granting the EU fleet an additional 12 years of access to UK waters — though the 12-mile limit is still supposed to be respected under the agreement.

Cornish fisherman Jack Baker echoed the sentiment, saying, “Get EU boats outside the 12 miles to start with; all inshore boats under 15 metres want to just bring back 40 years ago, when you could just go out and do a day’s work and land everything you catch.

“There were no quotas then and no Vessel Monitoring System. I don’t mind the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) checking the boat over, but just standard safety is enough – these measures would get the industry back off its knees.”

Another local insisted it’s time to “actually stand up for our fishermen and women and stop giving all our fish quotas away to foreign vessels,” further explaining that “moving foreign boats” and enforcing the 12-mile limit would be a solid starting point. 

After 35 years in the fishing industry, retired fisherwoman Sarah Ready is now ‘fighting for fishing coastal communities off the Minehead coastline’.

She remarked, “There are two issues: the waste of millions of pounds on the Inshore Vessel Monitoring System (I-VMS) rollout and the real problem, unmonitored foreign fishing vessels in UK waters.”

In her letter to Fisheries Minister Daniel Zeichner, MP Rachel Gilmour wrote, “Our British coastal communities will continue to decline, and the UK’s ability to sustain its fishing industry will be irreparably damaged – unless there’s immediate intervention.”

The UK Government announced in April 2025 that UK fishers who can prove environmental, social, and economic benefits from their quota would be granted additional allocations.

Speaking in April 2025, then-Fisheries Minister Daniel Zeichner stated the following, “I’m delighted to see the expanded Quota Application Mechanism rewarding fishers who demonstrate clear commitments to sustainability.

“By allocating quotas based on environmental, social, and economic criteria, we’re charting a new course for UK fisheries that balances conservation with economic prosperity. It’s a vital step towards building a sustainable and profitable fishing industry as part of our Plan for Change.”

However, UK fishermen and industry experts would likely question how larger foreign trawlers, ignoring quotas and fishing within the 12-mile limit, contribute to marine sustainability.

Government data shows that the number of UK fishing vessels has ‘reduced by 52% over the past three decades, from over 11,000 to around 5,500.

Data further shows that the bulk of the UK fishing fleet, about 79%, consists of vessels under 10 metres, nearly half of which (49%) are registered in England.