1993 Cherbourg incident The 1993 Cherbourg incident were a series of maritime incidents which took place from 26 March to 2 April 1993 between the British Royal Navy and French fishermen as a result of a fishing rights dispute in and around the Channel Islands waters . Background . The tensions around the Channel Islands waters rose high since September 1992 , when the European Union ( EU ) recognized a six - mile British limit for exclusive fishing rights around the islands . Until then , British and French trawlers operated in the zone without restrictions . The agreement left a three - mile limit from the coastline where only Jersey trawlers could fish , between the three - mile and the six - mile for any British - flagged boat and an outer area between the six - mile and the 12 - mile limit where only British and French fishing boats could operate . The Incidents . The first incident took place on 26 March , when two fishing inspectors from the Channel Islands were illegally taken on the trawler " Impatiens " to the French port of Barneville - Carteret , after the French fishing boat was challenged by the British fishery vessel HMS " Orkney " from Guernsey , which confiscated her pots . The inspectors were rescued some hours later by a French coastguard vessel . On 28 March 1993 , HMS " Blazer " was paying a visit to Cherbourg when the local fishermen learned that a boat from their fleet , the " La Calypso " , had been stopped at sea by a British minesweeper , HMS " Brocklesby " . The captain of the " La Calypso " refused to submit and set out for Cherbourg with three British fishery protection servicemen on board . A French port vessel later returned the personnel to Royal Navy control . Eight French trawlers subsequently surrounded the " Blazer " at 3 : 00 pm and angry fishermen boarded the ship . According to witnesses , HMS " Blazer " was seized while maneuvering outside the port and sailed to Cherbourg harbour by the intruders . Her crew of 16 was forced to remain below the deck for three hours , while the White Ensign was burned by the mob . French authorities subsequently put an end to the situation and forcibly expelled the protesters . The French Navy , meanwhile , dispatched the patrol boat " Coriander " to Cherbourg . On 29 March a flotilla of 36 French trawlers steamed up to Saint Peter Port in Guernsey , where a preliminary deal was agreed . After the first incidents , the Royal Navy deployed unarmed Royal Marines to conduct any future similar law enforcement operations . The marines were from 40 Commando , based at Taunton in Somerset . The " La Calypso " was eventually caught by the fishery vessel HMS " Jersey " and her master was put under arrest in Guernsey on 2 April 1993 . The skipper , Michel Mesnage , was released on bail on 3 April . A new incident took place on 30 June 1993 , when the Guernsey - based trawler " Sara P " was seized by the French Navy , and had her pots confiscated . British and French reactions . A spokeswoman for the French fishermen accused the Royal Navy of ' severe provocation ' , while the British minister of Agriculture , John Gummer , stated that " The rule of law must be upheld . I have always emphasised the need for fisheries regulations to be properly enforced throughout the EC . The regulations are there to conserve fish and the long - term interests of the fishermen themselves . " The British Fisheries junior Minister , David Curry , claimed that the conflict was caused by the French authorities failure to properly inform their fishermen about the agreement sanctioned by the EU in 1992 , and the French legislative election , which in practice left no French government to deal to at the time of the incidents . The British Agriculture Minister had met his elected French counterpart on 1 April , and they had agreed that the 1992 EU decision should be enforced . The French government eventually condemned the fishermen ' s actions . British and Cherbourg fishermen signed an informal agreement on 5 April , on the first day since the beginning of the crisis that boats from England and the islands were allowed to unload their catch in France . A definitive agreement regarding fishing around the Channel Islands and the Contentin peninsula and Brittany was reached after an exchange of notes in Paris , on 16 August 1994 .