In Peterhead, 30 miles up Scotland’s north-east coast from Aberdeen, the Fishermen’s Mission provides solace and support to a battered and gnarled community and one that has always been cherished in this country.

Steve Murray, the mission superintendent, provides a glimpse of the unique hardships and sacrifices of fishermen in these hard places. “We offer a range of services and advice for fishermen and their families ranging from the practical to the spiritual. We find that a lot of fishermen begin to experience health difficulties far earlier in their lives than the national average. This is caused by decades of exposure to dangerous and inclement conditions out on the boats.

“Even during the boom times it was still an uncertain existence with no real long-term security and a lot of time spent away from families.”

The danger and uncertainty that faces fishermen each time they put out to sea is matched only, it seems, by the sense of betrayal that comes from dealing with politicians on dry land. In the north-east of Scotland they are getting that familiar, sickening feeling once more. In June’s general election they helped secure some unlikely Conservative gains in this region on a promise that Brexit would make them lords of their seas once more.

The Brexit transition deal agreed last week with Brussels means that the UK will still be bound by EU fishing quotas until the end of 2020. Michael Gove, who hails from Aberdeen, told angry Tory MPs and fishermen’s leaders to “keep our eyes on that prize”.

Theresa May’s environment secretary is fondly remembered in these places. He was brought up in Aberdeen, where his father managed a fish-processing business, and emerged a Scottish “lad o’ pairts” as he gained entry to Oxford University. He may have to trade heavily on this repository of goodwill in the months and years ahead as the fishing communities of his youth wait for him to deliver on his twinkly promises.

The fishermen have been here before. When Britain joined the EU in 1973 they were told to expect a little erosion of their fishing rights. What transpired was the consistent trading away of those rights by successive UK governments over three decades in exchange for trading opportunities deemed to be potentially more lucrative.

In the 1970s England’s fishing communities were similarly betrayed in the cod wars, forbidden to fish within 200 miles of Iceland to help the US secure a watching post on that island for any passing Soviet submarines.

It is impossible to overestimate how fishing has shaped the economic and physical contours of this land. The beauty and terror of the seas are embedded in the very fabric and spirit of these people. The Aberdeen Press and Journal, one of the world’s oldest newspapers, has carried news of the welfare of the fishing fleets around these towns and villages since 1747. At one time the paper ran 15 editions every night tailored to the hopes and fears of those waiting for news about the arrival times of loved ones returning to harbours.

Those who choose to put their faith in Gove’s prize may have a much longer wait. Mike Park, chief executive of the Scottish White Fish Producers Association in Fraserburgh, fears being locked into a 10-15-year deal with Europe. “The 21 months doesn’t impact on the sector greatly but the real difficulty is it sends a clear signal of what could happen in the next stage.”

A 1973 quote from a UK civil servant discovered by the Press and Journal journalist David Perry in 2003 in the 30-year-rule release of documents provides a context for last week’s betrayal. “In light of Britain’s wider European interests they, the Scottish fishermen, are expendable.”

It carries echoes of sentiments expressed by General James Wolfe more than two centuries previously about Highland troops in North America. “They are hardy, intrepid, accustomed to a rough country, and no great mischief if they fall.”