DESPITE repeated assurances that we were going to take back control of our fishing waters, the matter is once again on the negotiating table.

In a speech on Wednesday, I said this would send a shiver through the spines of every fisherman.

They are all understandably concerned that rights to our waters might be bartered for a better trade deal.

I told the Secretary of State and his Minister that this must not happen.

It was a matter of trust, I added, that we honour our commitment to the fishing industry.

The topic is totemic, exemplifying all that is wrong with this increasingly Federalist state.

The Common Fisheries Policy has had a devastating effect on our fishermen, fish and maritime environment.

In 45 years, our annual catch has more than halved to 400,000 tons, with fishermen reduced from 20,000 to 12,000.

And the practice of discard is a disgrace.

Currently, unjust quotas allow France to fish up to 84 per cent of local species, like English Channel cod, while a mere nine per cent are left to British boats, according to the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations.

Bending of the rules, including so-called ‘grandfather rights’, invoked by successive owners of the same boat, allow foreign trawlers to fill their nets just 6.5 nautical miles off our coastline.

Further out, the biggest profits are made by EU trawlers, often registered for British quotas.

Meanwhile, British recreational fishermen are fined for breaching a single, seabass limit.

Unsurprisingly, they voted in droves to leave the EU.

But, we are not there yet.

France, Spain and Holland are demanding continued access to our fishing grounds, which no one would object to if we were truly in control.

I’d like to believe this would be the case, but let’s watch this space.