Fishermen from 35 French, five British boats fight heatedly over scallops

Paris — French maritime authorities are appealing for calm after fishermen from rival French and British fleets banged their boats in ill-tempered skirmishes over access to the scallop-rich waters off France’s northern coast.

Maritime official Ingrid Parrot described a muscular confrontation between 35 French boats and five British ones in international waters on Tuesday morning as “very dangerous,” although there were no injuries. She said French maritime authorities “really hope things will calm down.”

Parrot said there are problems every year between French and British fishermen over access to lucrative scallops, but it’s usually without the violence that was captured by a French TV crew. Their video showed boats banging hulls and at least one firework rocket being launched.