Securing a new agreement to end the scallop wars in the English Channel would be "the right outcome", Fisheries Minister George Eustice said.
Talks between British and French officials and industry representatives are being held in London after clashes between fishermen harvesting the shellfish off the coast of northern France.
About 35 French boats confronted five British craft off the coast of northern France last week, with UK crews reporting that rocks, smoke bombs and other projectiles were hurled at them during the confrontation.
The clashes have occurred in a scallop-rich area known as the Baie de Seine off the coast of Normandy.
National regulations allow British ships to fish legally in the area all year round, but French fishermen are banned from taking the molluscs between May 15 and October 1 to conserve stocks.
The clashes came after the breakdown of a 2013 agreement in which larger British vessels agreed not to fish in parts of the area, so they would be abiding by same conditions as the French fleet, in return for gaining more fishing opportunities.
It broke down this year after the French industry said they wanted the deal to be extended to smaller British boats.
"We all recognise the solution really is if we can get the voluntary agreement similar to the one that has stood the test of time over the previous five years, something similar to that back in place," Mr Eustice said.
"We have officials from the French government, our own officials, both sides of the industry coming together to discuss this again, to see if they can get to back up an agreement similar to that which has pertained for the previous five years, which is the right outcome on this, if they can get a solution along those lines. "
He also said he had received assurances from his opposite number Stephane Travert that additional resources had been put in place to the area - which is France's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the seas - to ensure there were no further problems.
"He was clear they are putting additional gendarmerie and resources to have the capacity there to deal with any further outbreaks," he told a hearing of the parliamentary Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) Committee.
But Mr Eustice said he was not aware of any prosecutions of French fisherman following the conflict.
Quizzed on whether, in light of the clashes, the UK had the resources to protect fishing in British waters after Brexit, he said preparations were being put in place, such as more protection vessels and looking at drone technology to assist with monitoring.
And he said: "It's already the case we manage enforcement in our EEZ, we just have to abide by EU laws in our EEZ where in the future we will be an independent coastal state."
Questioned on the impacts of a no-deal Brexit, he said: "The industry has nothing to fear from a no-deal Brexit, because fishing is one of the key areas where we would gain by having that more rapid control of our waters.
"Whether we have a deal or don't have a deal, our view is we become an independent coastal state."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel