MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Fishing quotas dispute forces cancelling of Dover/Calais ferries

British lorries stuck near Ashford as a consequence to the French blockade

Ferry operator P&O has cancelled all Dover to Calais crossings due to a blockade by French fishing boats. The blockade at the port of Calais is also causing motorway disruption in Kent, police have said.

Fishing fleets have been stopping ships entering or leaving Calais, Boulogne and Dunkirk since Tuesday, in a dispute over fishing quotas.

The French general workers' union CFDT has threatened to blockade Eurotunnel and Eurostar on Thursday.

P&O has said the protest was costing £1m a day and it was preparing a compensation case against the fishermen. The ferry operator has not said in which jurisdiction such a compensation case might be heard.

Services to Boulogne and Dunkirk have also been called off until further notice, P&O said.

Norfolkline passenger Charles Suckling, who was stranded at Dunkirk overnight, said the French Red Cross had been handing out thermal blankets to passengers who were in their cars, and also setting up camp beds and sleeping tents in the ferry terminal building.

The French army had also arrived to deliver food rations, he added.

However P&O spokesman Chris Laming said blockades were lifted temporarily overnight, allowing the ferry operator to repatriate 3,000 passengers who were waiting on the quayside.

He said: “We got them all home by about two o'clock this morning, but at six o'clock, eight fishing boats went back into the port of Calais and the whole thing kicked off again.”

Mr Laming said fishing vessels had strung themselves across the entrance to the port, and the blockades operated “on the principle that we dare not run them over”.

French fishing unions have said they are protesting at ever tougher EU-imposed quotas, and demanding the French government take a stand on their behalf or offer more financial assistance.

On Wednesday, French ministers refused protesters' demands for increased cod quotas, but said they might offer extra financial support.

Agriculture minister Michel Barnier said he would meet industry representatives to discuss further support for fishing boats in difficulty, but the government offered no suggestion the quota limits would change.

Government spokesman Luc Chatel said France obtained a 30% increase in cod quotas in the Channel, in the latest annual negotiations.

The EU has said that limiting the size of fishing catches is the best way to stop stocks being wiped out through over-fishing.