WHITBY trawlers made their feelings clear over their treatment by the government by blockading a French boat in Whitby Harbour.
Skippers from Whitby blocked in the Saint Josse on Monday which landed in Whitby last week with 13 tonnes of fish.
The protest was peaceful and Whitby skipper Richard Brewer said it was nothing personal against the French crew and they were carefu
l not to put the boats crew in danger.
"We just wanted to make our point," he said.
"At the same time we did this, French boats held a blockade of their own ports and their government has agreed to help them with fuel subsidies and relief.
"We want our government to help out the British fishing industry and do the same."
There were strong feeling in the town last week when the French trawler landed in the town at a time when many of the Whitby fleet have had their quotas stopped.
David Frampton, skipper of the Defiant, was furious after returning to harbour on Wednesday having had to dump five boxes of whiting.
And he said around half of them would have been dead by the time they hit the water.
"It's just not viable for me to go to sea and then dump all this. And then we see this French boat landing fish we have to throw back in Whitby" he said.
"It's a disgrace. I've been a skipper for 47 years, but at the moment its costing me more in fuel than I can catch.
"We can't go on throwing fish away like this," said Mr Frampton.
This week the French government has offered its fishing industry 110m euros (£88m) after action from its fishermen, in the form of blockades, and the Whitby fisherman want the British government to support its fishing industry in the same way.
The cost of fuel has more than doubled, spending costs for fleets in the UK spiralling.
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The full article contains 351 words and appears in Whitby Gazette Friday newspaper.
