to think we should deploy the entire fleet to deter those pesky French fishing boats?

[chomalungma]

Just 4 gunboats?

Don't they know how big the channel is and the whole fishing area?
Not enough.
Our territorial waters need defending.
Deploy the fleet.

Hopefully they'll let boats bound for Ireland through.

The MV Celine and it's sister ship are huge, the two largest short-sea ferries in the world, so any blockade at Zeebrugge should be able to recognise them and let them through.

The Dublin to Cherbourg ferries have 'Irish Ferries' in big letters on the side, so they too should be easy to spot.

Your whole thread is one long piss take of the RN being deployed to protect men at sea, in our own waters

Oh FFS, nobody needs to "protect men at sea". We aren't going to war. It is this kind of jingoistic crap that has got us where we now are.

For your information, UK fishermen (and only 27% - as of 2018 - of the UK's fishermen are based on England, most are in Scotland; and that figure includes SHELLFISH fishermen who fish from shallow coastal waters) WANT a BREXIT deal on fishing! Why? Because the most lucrative fishing grounds in Europe are not British waters. ukfisheries.net/about-distant-fishing

If we don't get access to European waters then our fishing industry, what there is left of it, is screwed. So the Navy would be protecting nothing and nobody. The European fishermen won't be vaguely interested in our waters. The only time the UK has been in dispute with anyone over fishing rights it was with Iceland (not part of the EU, in case your geography is as bad as your current affairs), and Europe sided with the UK. Whether it should have done or not is a different matter - it did. But NATO did not, and in the end the UK was forced to back down over its incursions into other countries fishing waters.

Oh FFS, nobody needs to "protect men at sea". We aren't going to war. It is this kind of jingoistic crap that has got us where we now are

So crew fishing legally onboard vessels out at sea, having missiles thrown at them and their boats being surrounded and rammed don't need some kind of patrols or protection?

What do you suggest be done about it?

According to DH, this used to be normal. Before the EU fishing rights were settled the Navy was always patrolling our waters to protect our fish. I'm too young to remember

I don't understand this at all.

This is what I think is true. There used to be a free-for-all leading to low fish stocks and conflict. Quotas were agreed so each nation got a fair (first contentious point) share. The UK didn't want to fish for, or indeed eat, the fish directly around (skate is the fish I'm using for the sake of this example but no idea where it comes from). So the French want the skate, want to fish for the skate, happy to eat the skate. The UK fishermen (government?) sold off half the quotas because they didn't want to fish for or eat the skate. French fishermen caught the skate, landed the skate and ate the skate.

There is some complicated bit about the composition of the crew and where the fish lands which I don't understand.

Now, we want to tear up the agreements. I don't think we're giving back the quota-selling price (are we?) and we want to fish for the skate, land the skate in France and get the profits from the skate. With no trade deal and having reneged on the previous deal. And we want the French (who believe they have the right to fish) to agree to all this peaceably. And still let us sell them the fish (because we won't convince British people to eat skate).

I assume I have this wrong because it seems like we have the skulls on our helmets. Are we the baddies?

Don't we have to import most of the cod or haddock used for fish fingers anyway?

All this willy-waving is just what Johnson wants - another round of jingoistic bullshit to distract from the fact that he's not going to deliver what he promised. His charm does not work anywhere East of Dover and his fragile feelings were hurt last week, so he's going full Basil Fawlty.

• There is no oven-ready deal - never was; never will be.
• There is no cake - no cherries and no icing on top. Just a row of turnips waiting to be picked,
• Turns out that there are no upsides - just a long list of downsides,
• There is no Brexit dividend and Johnson hasn't mentioned it for over a year now - just a bill for £200bn and counting, spaffed on Johnson's personal vanity project,
• There are no unicorns - while Brexiters have been standing outside their front doors in the rain waiting impatiently for the delivery van to arrive, Johnson, Gove, Rees-Mogg and their crew of shits, shysters and charlatans have sneaked in the back door and have ransacked the house, taking away anything and everything of value.

I love a game of battleships. Specially when I'm winning.

Send in Priti Patel. She's the biggest repellent I can think of.

Just a row of turnips waiting to be picked

Waiting to rot in the fields more like...who is going to pick 'em?

Aww fuck it nothing better to do this evening. Im going to dig out the inflatable kayak dp bought a few years back, don a life jacket and arm myself with DS's arsenal of water pistols and the old pop gun.. fear not British fishermen I'm on my way ..

Hornblower and Styles would know how to deal with them

And Sharpe

Really we just need some retired Naval types to sit in the Channel and in other coastal waters reporting the movments back so they can be plotted on a chart. They can then send out rapid response squadrons to intercept them.

@HallFloor

According to DH, this used to be normal. Before the EU fishing rights were settled the Navy was always patrolling our waters to protect our fish. I'm too young to remember

We probably had a much bigger Navy back then.

We'd better all get used to herring and chips

It's simple - designate the waters you don't want fished submarine exercise areas and make sure it is well publicised.

Hallfloor Dh remembers spending some of his 20s tearing round the North Sea bridge watchkeeping on a Fisheries Protection vessel.

chomalungma
Don't they know how big the channel is and the whole fishing area?

FamilyOfAliens
No, they have absolutely no idea. Thank heavens you’re here to put them right

There are also posters on this thread who seriously think turnips are picked by hand

Your whole thread is one long piss take of the RN being deployed to protect men at sea, in our own waters

No, it’s taking the rise out of propaganda. It’s ridiculous. There’s been a fisheries protection unit working out of Portsmouth for quite a good few years. It’s nothing new. Fisheries protection have been patrolling our waters and ensuring compliance with regulations for a long time.

The Royal Navy and a few trawlers have women aboard too. In fact the Current Commander Fish is a woman, I believe.

There are also posters on this thread who seriously think turnips are picked by hand

There are also posters on here who think we catch the fish for fish fingers in UK waters. Hey ho.

Where's Captain Birdseye when you need him?

@GerardWay123

Where's Captain Birdseye when you need him?

Given up on fish, started picking turnips, probably

Enjoying your work at the moment op.

I totally agree, who do these bloody frogs think they are anyway stealing our fish. Johnson is our best prime minister ever! Johnson for lifelong dictator! Where do I sign up my boys to be blown up by our eternally wise leaders, in an entirely optional war with our previous close allies for no good reason, while Putin looks on laughing? Dulce et Decorum Est, after all!

There are also posters on here who think we catch the fish for fish fingers in UK waters. Hey ho.

... and that Hull has a huge fishing fleet. The number of UK registered distant-sea trawlers registered in the port of Hull is .... five.

@GerardWay123

Where's Captain Birdseye when you need him?

Surely the Clandestine Channel Threat Commander can multi task?

@GerardWay123

Where's Captain Birdseye when you need him?

Stuck in the insane Christmas queues in Asda.