'Everything in the 12-mile fishing limit should be landed and processed here'

BRITISH fishermen fear their industry could be sold out by Keir Starmer ahead of an EU deal seen by many as a Brexit betrayal.

- Charlie Bradley

The once-booming fishing trade is now embattled in many parts of the country, and many place the blame squarely on the EU.

Matty Smith, like most fishermen, voted to leave the bloc in the hope that this would finally see Britain take back control of its waters.

Fast-forward to today and European boats are still plundering our waters up to six miles from the coast.

"It's quite bad at the moment," he told the Daily Express as Sir Keir Starmer tries to strike a deal with Brussels. Matty fears the industry will be used as a bargaining chip.

"One thing we don't want to do is keep extending and giving away the rights of our national asset.

"It is the people's money who live in this country and it's the people's food security. You keep letting people come over here, fill up, steam back to their own country and process it abroad.

"Everything inside the 12-mile limit should be landed and processed in this country." Any concessions made to the EU on fishing would be a "betrayal of the British people".

He added that there has been an "influx" of big boats from Northern Europe who "have hit it a lot harder" since Brexit, to take every last bit of stock.

Proud

Matty, from Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, first went out on a boat when he was 12. After immediately "falling in love" with the job, the skipper has since enjoyed a 40-year career in the industry.

His town has made a name for itself as a fishing hub for nearly 1,000 years, and the boats moored by the old town serve as a proud reminder of this history.

But, the thriving industry that helped put Leigh on the map is now a distant memory for Matty and his colleagues.