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Paul Lines told Express.co.uk that things have got to change for UK based fisherman following the end of the transition period with the European Union. Mr Lines stated annual talks between the UK and the EU may need to be held to establish and develop the terms and conditions of fishing in Britain’s waters following Brexit. 

Mr Lines said: “They shouldn’t walk away, what they should do is add a deal that gives us back sovereignty of our waters and gives us back our resources.

“Then we can do some sort of access arrangement for foreign vessels to fish in our waters and pro-rota for our to fish in theirs because making a line down the sea on the second on January is not going to work.

“You are going to have to have annual talks on what the terms and conditions are going to be.

“That is a very fine balancing act, but it must not be decided by demands from Dutch and French fishermen who want to carry on as they are.

READ MORE: EU warning: European fishing to be ‘devastated’ if UK chooses no deal

“Things have got to change, and we have got to rebuild an industry that is sustainable

“It could be the best industry in the world if it is done properly.”

The British fisherman also stated during his 45 years as a fisherman he has only seen the demise of the British sector.

However, he insisted 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.”

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