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<\/p>\nBRITAIN claimed another scalp over France in the salty fishing war tonight as the trapped scallop trawler was finally freed.<\/p>\n
After being held in Le Havre for a week, a court ordered the immediate release of the Cornelis Gert Jan and its seven-strong crew.<\/p>\n
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It was detained last Wednesday for dredging two tonnes of scallops without a licence on French waters.<\/p>\n
The Cornelis\u2019s skipper, Irishman Jondy Ward, was charged with illegal fishing – plunging him into a huge cross-Channel political storm.<\/p>\n
It is another victory for Boris Johnson after a bitter war of words with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.<\/p>\n
Today Mr Ward appeared before an appeal court in Rouen, an hour from Le Havre, for a closed hearing.<\/p>\n
His legal team argued for the boat to be released and against the mammoth \u00a3125,000 bail bond, and won.<\/p>\n
Mr Ward\u2019s lawyer Mathieu Croix said: "The court followed our arguments and cancelled the seizure. The boat is free to leave Le Havre immediately without having to pay any bail."<\/p>\n
French officials claimed the boat was fishing without a licence. Its owner Macduff Shellfish denies the allegation and has blamed a possible admin error.<\/p>\n
Married dad-of-two Mr Ward, from the tiny fishing village of Burtonport, Co Donegal, gave a thumbs-up from his boat after getting the news.<\/p>\n
After the hour-long hearing Mr Ward, wearing a smart blue shirt and black trousers, said: \u201cI hope to get home today or at some stage at a later date.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere should be a decision later today.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just waiting on the decision now from the judges to see if we are free to go or have to pay bail to get the boat out.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it goes right, we will go out of here today. If not, it\u2019ll be tomorrow maybe,\u00a0\u00a0it depends.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said it has been a \u201cstrange\u201d week with the media attention.<\/p>\n
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Speaking about last Wednesday, he went on: \u201cWe were just boarded as standard in the morning. Everything went fine.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen they came back around 5pm to say that we\u2019re going to be detained because our boat was not on a European register for licensed vessels, which we had no idea about.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had all our documents on the bridge all in order. We have our licence to fish, everything like this. I don\u2019t know if it was a clerical error or what caused it, but we weren\u2019t on the list.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if that was a mistake by the UK authorities, he said: \u201cI don\u2019t know whether it was by them or what.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom our side of it, we had everything in order on the bridge. As far as I was concerned we had everything in place to be legal.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said they were fishing in the Baie de Seine, some 24 miles away from Le Havre.<\/p>\n
Mr Ward said he thinks they have been \u201ccaught in the middle\u201d of the fishing licences row, but added: \u201cI\u00a0can\u2019t say too much about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The experienced fisherman has landed himself in hot water across the Channel before – claiming to have once been pelted with stones by angry\u00a0French trawlermen during the 2014 scallop wars.<\/p>\n
The action taken by the French authorities has been over the top<\/p>\n
Mr Croix added of the court case: \u201cIt\u2019s not uncommon for this type of procedure to occur.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is uncommon is the size of the bail, which the French administration clearly set to focus minds over the fishing row.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe action taken by the French authorities has been over the top.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bail demanded by the French authorities is excessive as it is \u20ac150,000 (\u00a3127,000) where as the total value of the produce on board is \u20ac5,000 (\u00a34,243). <\/p>\n
"And the maximum fine could be \u20ac75,000 (\u00a363,656). So we asked if bail was to be made it would be set at a reasonably level."<\/p>\n
The trawler's release came as France kept up its public war of words with Britain despite growing expectations it's rolling the pitch for a climbdown.<\/p>\n
Sabre-rattling transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari bragged the "balance of power" is still in his country's favour in the row over fishing licences. <\/p>\n
He jibed: "The British have a lot more to lose by not implementing the Brexit agreement between the EU and the UK than the reverse."<\/p>\n
But just hours later French officials quietly delayed their planned revenge measures until the weekend at the earliest.<\/p>\n
Gabriel Attal hinted Paris is rowing back on the idea of waging a lonely war against the UK after failing to secure EU support.<\/p>\n
Brexit chief Lord Frost will meet France's Europe minister Clement Beaune for showdown talks in Paris tomorrow.<\/p>\n
There will then be a crunch meeting between British, French, and EU negotiators in Brussels on Friday.<\/p>\n
Eurocrats are privately confident a deal can be struck by the weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n
An EU spokesman said: "Talks have allowed us to chart the way forward and have created a positive dynamic."<\/p>\n
The latest figures reveal the row now boils down to just 34 licences for UK waters and 55 for Jersey's.<\/p>\n
And Mr Macron is under growing pressure from French fishing chiefs to drop his trade war threats altogether.<\/p>\n
Industry bigwigs begged him not to "shoot us in the foot" and warned they'll be unable to supply shops and restaurants if he goes ahead.<\/p>\n
Some skippers admitted a tit-for-tat battle with the UK won't achieve anything and urged their President to make peace.<\/p>\n
Calais fisherman Loic Fontaine, who is planning to sell his boat, said: "The English are stubborn – they won't let go.<\/p>\n
"It is better to stay friendly and to find a compromise. If we start a naval war, it won't end."<\/p>\n