The heads of three regions along France's northwest Atlantic coast on Thursday called on the government to ensure British waters remain open to French fishing boats in the coming post-Brexit trade negotiations.

"Forbidding this access would effectively sign their death warrant," the presidents of the Normandy, Brittany and Hauts-de-Seine regions -- Herve Morin, Loig Chesnais-Girard and Xavier Bertrand, said in a letter.

"We must avoid a fishing fight at all costs," they said, after British officials vowed to "take back control of their territorial waters".

The French officials warned that the stakes are high for local communities dependent on fishing, with "the vast majority of their catches made in British waters."

Overall, French fishing boats generate 30 percent of their revenue from catches in British maritime territories, particularly rich in fish stocks.

On Wednesday, French MEP Pierre Karleskind, the new chairman of the European Parliament's fisheries committee (PECH), said: "We demand reciprocal access to waters, which is to say the same conditions as those we have now, nothing more and nothing less."

Many French fishing boats garner the bulk of their catch in the thriving waters off Britain.
Many French fishing boats garner the bulk of their catch in the thriving waters off Britain. AFP / CHARLY TRIBALLEAU

Britain formally ended its 47-year membership of the EU on January 31, and London and the EU will now embark on talks over future trade relations.

Fishing quotas are expected to be a particularly sensitive subject, with Britain warning that it wants to limit access to European vessels.

French officials have countered that the UK exports the bulk of its catch to Europe, indicating that British fishermen have plenty to lose if the two sides fail to reach a deal.

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