French fishermen are blockading Channel ports today and disrupting ferry traffic as they demand an increase to EU quotas on cod catches.
Fishing boats blocked the entry to the ports of Calais, Dunkirk and Boulogne as fishing union representatives travelled to Paris for talks with Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier.
"We're going to discuss things with the minister but we are maintaining the blockade," said Jean Thiebaut of the CFDT union.
Apart from one ferry, let through at Dunkirk to avoid sanitary problems among the hundreds of passengers aboard, ferry traffic with Britain was completely blocked, according to a spokesman for P&O Ferries.
Blockading ports is a time-honoured tactic by French fishermen and there were several episodes last year to demand help with spiralling fuel prices.
"They [the fishing vessels] string themselves across the entrance to the port and that's it, we can't go anywhere," he told BBC radio.
For years, scientists have said cod is so badly overfished in EU waters that it is in danger of extinction, and that strict catch limits are the only way to help stocks to recover.
Mr Barnier has offered to discuss financial support for fishing boats, but the government gave no suggestion that the limits could change.
Reuters