FISHERMEN were jubilant following the resounding success of the campaign to leave the EU.

Fishermen say UK membership of the EU has had a huge impact on their livelihoods, with quotas for catches dictated by Brussels and the EU Common Fisheries Policy.

Last week skippers from across the country took their boats up the Thames to London in support of the Brexit campaign.

Southend fisherman Paul Gilson was jubilant the campaign had won the day.

He said: “I think the people saw through the lies and fears and voted with their hearts. It is a sad day when the EU could treat everyone with such contempt.

"The idea of working together is a good thing but people were reeling because they had lost the plot and did incalculable damage. In the short term I don’t think much will happen.

"In the long term they have got to negotiate to sort out what the EU has put on us. “

Fishermen have for years criticised quotas decided by the EU ostensibly in order to preserve dwindling fish stocks.

The controversial quotas saw thousands of tonnes of dead fish thrown back into the sea by fishermen who had exceeded their quotas.

Mr Gilson, 62, from Leigh added: “Fish stocks increased but we had to keep throwing fish back. We need our fisheries to be locally managed by people who know what the local situation is but we haven’t had that.

"We’ve got huge stocks of skate but what we are allocated is piffling. We don’t want a free for all but a fair deal.”

British fisherman once had 200 nautical miles around the UK in which to catch their fish but this was cut to just 12 by the EU while trawlers from other EU countries were able to fish our seas.

Daryl Godbold, who helped organise the Thames protest, became a fisherman at the age of 14. Now 70, he was delighted with the result.

He said: “The result is fantastic. We can now pressure the Government without interference from Brussels. We need to start negotiating our way out of he fisheries policy and we need to take back our waters that we lost under the fisheries policy.

“I’ve hoped for this since 1971 . The British people have got their country back.”

Mr Godbold, of Elm Road, Hadleigh, added: “In 1944 the Brits liberated Europe and in 2016 we have liberated ourselves and it won’t stop there.

"For 40 years I have been contacting fisheries ministers to do something for us but they have just been ringing their hands and saying Brussels would let them do anything. They haven’t got that excuse any more.”