Jersey and Guernsey: two approaches to cross border fishing management
Résumé
Located in an indentation in the northwestern coast of France, the British Crown dependencies of Jersey and Guernsey were a contested zone during the long period of conflicts between England and France that finally ended in 1815. But this history of confrontation has continued in another guise with regard to territorial claims on the maritime region surrounding the Islands. The drive to partition the ocean is a universal and relatively recent phenomenon. In this regard, negotiations over the Channel Islands' coastal waters, first expressed in the 1838 Fishing Agreement (intended to ensure a sharing of the rich fisheries in the area between Jersey and France), is regarded as one of the first of its kind. However, it took more than a century and a half for the process to be finalised in 2000. The establishment of marine borders between the Channel Islands and France involved the necessity of taking the historic rights of French fishermen into account. There are two opposing aspects of this issue. In essence, the Islanders' territorial claim on the sea reflects their desire to claim a protective and encompassing space. French claims are more economically driven, since French regional fishermen depend to a large extent on exploiting the marine resources adjacent to the Channel Islands. The two Channel Island bailiwicks have taken up radically different standpoints in this matter. During the last decade of the 20th century, which was characterised by open disputes between French fishermen and Guernsey authorities, a lack of dialogue was patent. On the other hand, cross-border management of fishing resources, including fishermen, authorities and scientists from both countries, has been implemented around Jersey. The paper will address and analyse these different approaches and identify the importance of establishing a consistent juridical background, which could moreover be supplemented by the setting up of a marine park in the Norman-Breton Gulf that might include the maritime region around Jersey.
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