The agreement is yet to be signed and among those with most at stake are the two captains of La Rose Des Vents and Le Sachal'eo, whose dramatic collision with a Scottish trawler last week was caught on video. Anthony Quesnel, captain of La Rose Des Vents, returned to Ouistreham's empty dock on Wednesday after a night at sea and almost a tonne of mackerel, sole and plaice. But, in keeping with French rules, there were no scallops until the end of the breeding season at the start of October. Their refusal to do so justified the attack last week, he argues.
For the past few years, a carefully constructed truce has kept the peace over this watery battlefield. The British agreed to ban their larger fishing vessels from the area until October, in return for extra fishing rights, and on the understanding that smaller British boats could fish there all year round.