“There is nothing new,” Girardin told France Inter the day after her speech at the Fisheries Conference held in Saint-Pol-de-Leon, in the far northwest of the country, where she mentioned the possibility of setting up a compensation fund for vessels that do not obtain the necessary fishing license.

This possibility angered many fishermen, who interpreted this “fleet exit plan” as a defeat and a capitulation in the current negotiations with London, something denied by the minister, who assured that “we will fight” to obtain the 150 fishing licenses that are missing, compared to 900 already obtained, according to her calculations.

Girardin insisted that the “(Government’s) priority is to obtain licenses”, but “that does not prevent us from planning the future of the sector” seeking to compensate those who are left out.”

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