Dusty's characterisation is less harsh, and probably more accurate! But he definitely is a particular genetic type of Anglo Saxon with a splash of Viking way back when. Not a lot of Celt in evidence in features, imo.
Back to fishing... In the mid 1990s we had over 20000 fishermen (roughly the same for the previous 35 years give or take). Now it's half that. The amount of fish we land has dropped by a similar amount. Need to bear in mind the need to be fishing sustainably now, of course, but it is absolutely crazy that as an island nation we are a net importer of fish.
There's a really helpful commons briefing paper number 2788, from 2017.
Retain our fishing rights, and the fleet can expand again, probably to double its size. That would increase all sorts of related jobs, too - boat builders, coast guards (we'll need a lot of them...), fishmongers, dock workers, people who build docks and related infrastructure.
And no, it's not particularly romantic or intellectually thrilling to be a fisherman (I've known some, and it is brutal, dangerous work and they didn't tell me the half of it). But it's an industry that our urban politicians threw under a bus, and to reinvigorate it will have a big impact on precisely those coastal towns and villages that have been forgotten for far too long. I'm not convinced we should have gone into the Common fisheries policy in the first place (well, that was part of going into the European community, wasn't it? So there we are...)
I don't think it's just symbolic.
Also, it's just the first thing on my mind... We also need to talk about other industries, but I need to get my head round some more commons briefing papers first.
Thank you for tolerating my ramblings!