Andrew Crook, treasurer of the National Federation of Fish Friers and owner of two fish and chip shops in Lancashire, calculated that the record-breaking catch would provide 200 portions of fish and chips.

“It would be very meaty. It might be a bit tougher than normal cod, but it should be edible,” he said.

Mr Eisele, who runs a fishing tackle firm in Kiel, Germany, has donated the record cod to the Norwegian Fisheries Museum in Bergen, which will have it stuffed and mounted.

The biggest cod caught in British waters weighed in at 58lbs and was caught in the North Sea off Whitby in 1992.