Paul Lines told Express.co.uk that during his 45 years as a fisherman he has only seen the demise of the British sector. However, Mr Lines stated that following Brexit the UK can return to its former glory and replace their European competition as the dominant force in the industry.

Mr Lines said: "Britain stands to regain some of its former greatness.

"I have been in fishing for 45 years and all I have ever seen is the demise of fishing, I have seen half of our fleet cut up.

"I have seen days where the sea comes in and restricts what you do.

"I have seen quotas fall to the point where we have got one vessel left.

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"What we have got left we struggle to get a living from."

He added: "We gave it all away to be part of Europe, now we want it back.

"We want to see their boats cut up, we want to see their new modern fleet gone because we want that.

"As a country we have got to have that, if we are going to survive on our own, we have got to have everything that we can bring to play to make money."

Mr Lines also warned UK fishermen will still struggle to compete with those in the European Union even after taking back control of the country's waters.

The fisherman statedthat currently the UK hashardly any rights to fish in their own waters and so the Government needs a firm strategy regarding how to progress the fishing industry after Brexit.

Mr Lines said: "On January 2, when community waters will become British waters out to two hundred miles or the median line, that is when the transition period ends, and we start to take control and redevelop our fishing industry.

"Because as it is at the moment, we have hardly got any right to fish in what we will call our own waters.

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"We have got no vessel and that is where the Government needs a firm strategy on how they intend to make use of this.

"Because you can have all you like, if you do not have infrastructure or boats to catch the fish then the whole marketplace will be Europes Im afraid.

"Whether people like to think it or not we are not a nation of fishing, but the continent is, and they have got all the markets."

In June 2016 the UK voted to leave the European Union. The UK officially left the European Union at the end of January this year.

Britain is currently in a transition period until the end of 2020 with the EU while the Government negotiates a free trade deal with the bloc.

Read more:

Brexit Boost: UK to regain former greatness after giving up fleet to join Europe - Daily Express