NEAR-misses with massive supertankers ploughing through the English Channel make fishing perilous in the area where a French boat went down yesterday, an experienced Jersey fisherman said this morning.

Former Deputy Mike Taylor said that he had heard of many skippers reporting close shaves with much larger vessels while working off Alderney.

‘We used to have a dozen crab boats fishing in the English Channel on the neap tides, and I heard a number of them talking about near misses,’ said Mr Taylor, who is the chairman of the Jersey Fishermen’s Association.

He added that the fishing community across national boundaries understood the dangers of going to sea and would be thinking of the crew and their families.

‘It is tragic and my heart goes out to them,’ he said.

‘We have regular meetings with French fishermen and I will contact my colleagues in Normandy to send my commiserations.

It happens all too often.

It is a constant worry being run down in the English Channel – it’s the busiest shipping lanes in the world.’