By Staff, Agencies As tempers flare over post-Brexit fishing rights to waters around the largest Channel island, the UK is dispatching two Royal Navy river-class patrol boats to the area around Jersey amid fears of a blockade by French fishing vessels. Meanwhile, a fleet of French boats is already on course for Jersey, reported Sky News.

The Portsmouth-based HMS Severn and HMS Tamar deployed on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, to Jersey, a Crown dependency, armed with cannons and two on-deck machine guns.

“HMS Severn and HMS Tamar are deploying to Jersey to conduct maritime security patrols.

This is a strictly precautionary measure and has been agreed with the Jersey government,” a Ministry of Defense spokesperson was cited as saying.

The deployment echoes the cod wars of the 1970s, which saw violent clashes between British vessels and Icelandic fishers.

The move was announced by Downing Street as a “precautionary measure” ahead of planned protests by French fishermen at Jersey's port of Saint Helier, reported The Guardian.

It also comes in the wake of France’s threat to cut off the island's electricity; Jersey began issuing licenses to French boats under a new, post-Brexit system last week.

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed "unwavering support" for Jersey, located 22 km off the coast of France, insisting on Wednesday night that "any blockade" by French boats would be "completely unjustified." The decision to deploy gunboats followed Johnson’s talks on Wednesday evening with Jersey's Chief Minister John Le Fondré and Minister of External Affairs Ian Gorst, with the officials underscoring the urgent need for a "de-escalation in tensions" between the Crown dependency and France.

"We are expecting a peaceful demonstration by the French fishermen outside Saint Helier Harbour tomorrow morning.

The responsible Ministers and government officials have met this evening to ensure that the very best plans are in place to ensure Islanders interests are properly protected at all times.

We remain confident in our ability to do this,” said Senator Le Fondre and Minister for External Relations, Senator Ian Gorst in a statement.

In response, the head of fisheries for the Normandy region, Dimitri Rogoff, was quoted by AFP as saying that 100 French fishing vessels would sail on Thursday as part of a protest against the new fishing rules but would not attempt to block the port at Saint Helier.

He added the boats would return to France in the afternoon.

Jersey has found itself at the heart of the latest flare-up of the post-Brexit fishing row between the UK and France, which had been a key sticking point in trade talks with the EU Under the terms of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, French boat operators seeking licenses for access to Jersey’s waters must provide a history of fishing in the area.

However, the French side has claimed that additional requirements were added that "were not arranged or discussed, and which we were not notified about".

Jersey published on 30 April a list of licenses issued for 41 French boats over 12 meters that had met the requirement that they had fished in Jersey waters for at least 10 days over a period of 12 months in the past three years.

While 17 boats were not able to receive the licenses, those that did were also provided with a list of other demands that the French government decried as unfair conditions