In 2016, the Brexit favourable vote announcement, strongly supported by fisheries stakeholders, threatens French fisheries and coastal communities. Fears are concentrated on no deal that would prevent any European fishing activity in British waters. The negotiations took place in 2020. They led to a transitional agreement from 2021 to 2026 that allowed access to British waters for European vessels (in case of precedence in British waters), and that provided for 25% gradual reduction of European catches in British waters. This communication will examine how fisheries and coastal communities have dealt with the sectoral and local consequences of Brexit. Our analysis crosses models of territorial economics and political sociology with a triple focus on (i) access to resources (ii) interactions between actors and (iii) local governance. Our methodology is based on a comparison of two Breton cases, the Pays de Saint-Brieuc and the Pays de Lorient. Both are characterised by fisheries in British waters (inshore and offshore fishing for the former, offshore fishing for the latter) and with important port activities and fishing industry. Our results show that the consequences of Brexit and the limitation of access to British waters constitute a real threat to fishing activities. However, these threats are not prominently addressed at the local level but rather at the national level, based on sectoral representation of interests and State authority over fisheries management. In the second part, we will highlight blindness among coastal communities and local authorities to Brexit. The division of labour between the State and local authorities results in a lack of local responsibilities in fishing activities, leading local authorities of coastal communities to feel powerlessness or to focus on responsibilities for which they have power.