Brexit sends ripples of uncertainty down France's coast

BOULOGNE-SUR-MER, France (AP) — Long lines of trucks carrying stockpiles for British companies jam the highways leading to France's northern port of Calais, while in the coastal town of Boulogne-sur-Mer, French fishermen pull in their lines and fear that battles over fishing rights will soon erupt.

Up and down France's northern coast, the uncertainty of Brexit is causing ripples of chaos and frustration.

With just three weeks left to go before Britain is completely out of the European Union, no one knows if there will be a post-Brexit trade deal or a chaotic economic rupture between the two sides. Britain left the EU on Jan. 31 but remains in its massive market until the end of the year. That means, barring a trade agreement, New Year's Day could herald quite a hangover for businesses on both sides of the English Channel.

For Mathieu Pinto, a 28-year-old French fisherman, a no-deal Brexit will disastrously impact his right to fish in British waters, where he says he makes “between 70% and 80%" of his yearly income.

Pinto is based in France's coastal town of Boulogne, home to Europe’s largest fish-processing center. He had just returned from a night fishing sea-snails or whelk when he spoke to The Associated Press. He worries that his days of making a living in the family business could be numbered.

“(A no-deal Brexit) will already impact us hugely. And then we are going to have to share our French waters with foreigners as well,” he said.

That would mean fighting for fish in French maritime territory alongside northern EU neighbors from the Netherlands and Belgium, which he says could create an impossibly tense situation. There is simply is not enough catch to go around without access to UK waters, he said.

"There will be war. Let’s not hide it. There...