What is the English Channel scallop dispute about?

An increasingly bitter row between French and British fishermen over the harvesting of scallops in the English Channel has been rumbling on for years.

Tuesday’s showdown between rival trawlers is believed to be among their most ill-tempered confrontations – but it is not the first.

Here, the Press Association answers questions about the dispute.

– What happened?<br>

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, around 35 to 40 French ships encircled roughly a dozen British boats, including small vessels, in the Baie de Seine, off the coast of Normandy in northern France.

Boats rammed into each other and the French fishermen were accused of hurling everything from flares to insults at their British counterparts.

Several British trawlers were damaged as a result of the confrontation.

– Why did the French fishermen act like this?

The scallop-rich waters of the Baie de Seine are a source of tension due to differing restrictions on what British and French fishermen can do there.

French authorities try to preserve scallop stocks by banning their ships from fishing in the region over the summer, a measure that ends on October 1.

This law does not apply to the British, however – who anger the French mariners by harvesting scallops during this window.

Scallops are a lucrative catch, earning companies millions of pounds each year. They are among the most expensive shellfish on shop shelves.

– So are the British in the wrong?

Not legally. The EU’s Common Fisheries Policy allows any member state with a registered fleet – including Britain – “equal access” to EU waters more than 12 nautical miles off the shore of other countries.

The Baie de Seine stretches from the coast of Normandy to considerably beyond the 12 nautical miles, meaning British boats can access it.

A deal known as the Baie de Seine agreement usually exists between the scallop industries in Britain and France that stops British boats measuring more than 15 metres from fishing scallops in the bay during this time.

Smaller vessels do not face the same limits and can continue to operate in the scalloping grounds, unlike their French counterparts.

This summer, talks to establish a similar arrangement to previous years broke down without agreement.

– Who is responsible for policing the area if each EU country has equal access?

There is a divide in the middle of the English Channel known as the median line, with Britain and France overseeing its own side.

Parts of the Baie de Seine scalloping grounds may be beyond the 12 nautical miles limit, but they are on the French side of the median line, meaning their maritime agency responds to any disruption.

– Has this happened before?

A similar episode occurred in October 2012, when 40 French vessels reportedly targeted eight UK ships in the Baie de Seine, allegedly throwing rocks and flares.

One of the ship owners caught up in Tuesday’s drama said he had seen trouble more recently.

Derek Meredith told the BBC: “It’s happened in previous years, two years ago it happened to us – not as forceful as this time I wouldn’t have said – but the same thing, the French navy were there on site and never done a thing.

“We reported it to the (Marine Management Organisation), nothing happened, it just went on deaf ears.”