Territorial Waters for Lord Seigneurs of Fiefs of Guernsey

Guernsey is a self-governing dependency of the Crown  with its own directly elected legislative assembly, its own administrative, fiscal, feudal, and legal systems, and its own courts of law.

Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency located in the English Channel, has control over its fishing rights within its territorial waters. The extent of Guernsey's territorial waters is determined by international law and extends up to 12 nautical miles (approximately 13.8 regular miles or 22.2 kilometers) from its coastline. Within this zone, Guernsey has sovereignty and control over fisheries management and regulations. https://www.jerseylaw.je/publications/jglr/Pages/JLR1006_Falle.aspx   

However, through cases like La Paz Holdings, the foreshore, fishing rights, and territorial waters in front of the foreshore belong to the Seigneur or Dame who has feudal and manorial rights to the beach, treasure, fish, seaweed and waters.

There are roughly 24 private fiefs on the Island. Based on the existing maps, there may only be 10-15 fiefs that actually have sovereign foreshore and beach territory exposed to the ocean and Fief Thomas Blondel is one of them.

The   Bailiwick of Guernsey   (French  :   Bailliage de Guernesey  ; Guernésiais  :   Bailliage dé Guernési  ) is a self-governing British Crown Dependency   off the coast of Normandy  , France, comprising several of the Channel Islands  . It has a total land area of 78 square kilometres (30 sq mi) and an estimated total population of 67,334.

The Fiefs of Guernsey are co-equal with the Crown or King Charles on the land holdings.  The Crown Estate   is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom   belonging to the British monarch   as a corporation sole  , making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's private estate.  ^{[2]  [3]  [4]  [5]} 

Wikipedia articles say that: The sovereign   has an official, but not personal claim to the estate, is not involved with the management or administration of the estate, and has no control of its affairs. For all practical purposes it is state property,  ^[7]  and in part funds the monarchy. With this statement said, then the fief owners are sole owners of the foreshore and territorial waters as the Crown may have abandoned the rights.

While Guernsey claims 12 miles, the Seigneur of Fief Thomas Blondel claims 200 miles from 3 different foreshore areas in Guernsey. Beyond the 12-mile limit, Guernsey's fishing rights are subject to international agreements and negotiations with neighboring countries, primarily France, as well as the European Union. These agreements govern access to fishing grounds and the allocation of quotas for various fish species. The specifics of these agreements can change over time and may vary depending on the political and economic circumstances.  Since, Fief Blondel was not a part of any of these territorial waters, seabed, seasted, island, and reef/rocks agreements, the owner of these foreshores and waters maintains independent and sovereign rights over any and all lands, rocks, reefs, seabed, fishing, oil and gas, minerals, port, and marina rights related to such territory.

The Crown Estate plays a major role in the development of the offshore wind energy industry in the UK. Other commercial activity managed by the Crown Estate on the seabed includes wave and tidal energy, carbon capture and storage  , aggregates, submarine cables and pipelines and the mining of potash  . In terms of the foreshore, the Crown Estate issue licences or leases for around 850 aquaculture sites and owns marina space for approximately 18,000 moorings. As of 2020  , marine holdings had a value of £4.1 billion.  ^[77]

The seigneurs of fiefs in Guernsey historically held certain fishing rights associated with their fiefdoms. A fief is a piece of land in Guernsey that is subject to feudal tenure, and the Seigneur or Dame is the feudal lord who historically held authority over the land and its resources, including fishing rights. These rights go back over 1000 years.

These fishing rights varied from fief to fief and were typically inherited or granted as part of the feudal system. The rights could include the privilege to fish in specific areas or to collect certain types of seafood, such as oysters or seaweed, within the boundaries of the fief. These days, the rights may extend to the seabed out 12-200 miles with regard to off shore rigs and oil exploration.  https://gov.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=3857&p=0 

In some legal instances,  The Guernsey Government had to pay people with rights to the foreshore and business that would be damaged for loss of earnings. Along the southern shores of the Braye du Valle had been salt pans, their owners receiving compensation for their loss.  ^[1]  The saltpan businesses receiving £1,750, with the other owners being paid £1,500. In total £3,250 was paid out.  ^[5]

With the Crown Islands - The fiefs own the seabed below high water mark to the 12-mile limit and also owns minerals and petroleum (the property in all minerals existing in natural condition; all mines for the working of such minerals; and all petroleum existing in natural condition) on, in or under the sea bed beneath the extended territorial sea and retains the rights to coal in the territorial sea. 

When the foreshore was gifted to the public, many lawyers specified that parts of the foreshore are subject to fiefs and owned by the Private Lord Seigneurs and therefore the whole of the foreshore is not owned by the public as the Crown cannot give what is not theirs to give.  submission - julian mallinson initial submission - foreshore encroachment policy review - 16 april 2019.pdf (gov.je) 

Similarly, in the 1953 case at the International Court of Justice over the Minquiers and Écréhous groups in the Channel Islands, the court rejected a French claim based on historic presence and fishing rights that is remarkably similar to Chinese historic claims in the South China Sea. Instead, the court awarded the features to England based on subsequent exercise of jurisdiction over them by the Manorial court of the fief. Territorial and Law of the Sea Disputes | Center for International Maritime Security | Page 10 (cimsec.org) 

1. https://statesassembly.gov.je/scrutinyreviewsubmissions/submission%20-%20r%20falle%20-%20foreshore%20encroachment%20policy%20review%20-%207%20january%202021.pdf  
2. Report - Foreshore Encroachment Policy Review - 14 January 2021.pdf (gov.je) 
3. https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2015/05/28/queens-foreshore-gift-could-cost-islanders-millions-warns-advocate/  
4. Jersey & Guernsey Law Review – June 2008 THE CUSTOMARY LAW about THE FORESHORE (1)"     (PDF)  . Retrieved 21 June 2023  . 
5. Queen's foreshore gift could cost Islanders millions, warns advocate - Jersey Evening Post 
6. S.O.U.L. (udallaw.com) & The Case for Udal Law. 
7. International Law Relating to Islands | Brill 
8. The Sovereignty of the Sea, by Thomas Wemyss Fulton.--a Project Gutenberg eBook 
9. ch-12-legislative-system.pdf (gov.im) Isle of Man
10. im_31CommLWorldRev368.pdf (uniset.ca) Is the Isle of Man an Independent Nation
11. An Historical Account of Guernsey, From Its First Settlement Before the ... - Thomas. Dicey - Google Books 
12. International Enclopedia of Comparative Law - Google Books