Sardines from Brittany!

Great display of fish at Sankey's of Tunbridge Wells - but Breton sardines? - come on the Cornish Sardine catchers!

Cornish Sardine hunt begins for the Asthore

Venturing forth with her new net on board, the biggest and newest boat to join the Cornish Sardine fleet spends a long night looking for signs of fish. A single shot deep off Penberth Cove proved fruitless.

One for Sanjay to savour - proper job Cornish cooking - Marios ahoy!

 Take a recipe for marios.......

 or another..........

 basic ingredients, apart from Bish's spice mix, obtainable from the Deli in the Digey, St Ives.......

 fill a baking tray with the beer and malt or cider vinegar, sliced onions, bay leaves, salt and pepper and a few teapsoons of Bish's spice mix.......

 this will give the fish a rich, golden colour when they are done.......

 pop in the fish and arrange the bay leaves.......

 almost cover the fish with the brew......

 tightly wrap the whole lot with foil.......

and pop in the oven overnight - even better in the bottom oven of an Aga - either way the temp needs to be around 110º.

#fishyfriday #ff #cornishsardines

 Time for a quick visit to Marazion and Cornwall's own very Gothic looking castle......

 not long after high water will defeat all but the most foolhardy from attempting  cross the causeway to the Mount......

 better option is to catch the ferry......

 rocky outcrops in Cornwall provide an endles opportunity for posers......

 even still life subjects prove irresistible on the terrace of the Godolphin Arms

where the local starlings keep their big, noisy cousins at bay......

 time to head back for a feed of Cornish Sardines, gutted and descaled.......

 a quick clean of the fish rack......

and a few minutes later supper is served - thank you Ollie!

Who's up for a Cornish Sardine photo challenge?

Over the last few years huge shoals of sardines have shown up off the coast of the Philippines and have been captured on film by underwater photographer Dr Alexey Stoyda who travelled there especially to capture the images. Maybe the same dramatic scenes exist in the waters of Mount's Bay and the huge shoals of Cornish Sardines could be captured by an intrepid underwater photographer or diver - who knows?

Any of the local sardine skippers will happily point you in the right direction.

Friday is fish day.

Abbey Warehouse apartments enjoy basking in the warm glow of the morning sun.....

as the cloud lifts from over Mount's Bay........

the weather was distinctly changeable......

as the cloud descended again in the space of minutes.....

the Medical launch dropped into Newlyn to take on board fuel.......

as the last Lyonesse landed her night's work.......

keeping the sardines well covered with ice.......

and sea water.......

before they are taken off to FalFish.......

with hake prices still on the floor, with even the larger grades of fish going for just over the £2 per kilo mark......

not so big turbot.......

or this fine tub gurnard specimen.........

the sky has that glassy look to it which generally means rain is on the way.......

some boats are doing a good job.......

other's like the Algrie won't be fishing for anything until the restoration work is completed.....

customer's at Tonkin's Fish Shop opposite the market can take advantage f some excellent prices on offer for a fishy Friday.

Cornish Sardines.

With the Cornish Sardine fishery in full swing the local fleet of rin netters are enjoying the occasional good shot of fish. At this time of year, the boats head out through the gaps around 9pm in the evening to search for the shoals of sardines. The tide, weather and activity of other predatory species like dolphins can make finding the fish marks to shoot their nets on a challenging task. In this short video, the latest boat to join the fleet, the White Heather has had a successful night's fishing and is landing an exceptional haul of around 20 tons. The fish are kept in top condition with the addition of slush ice, a mixture of sea water and ice.  

Mid week pickings.

 Fishing for litter on the prom......

 the two training ships, TS Victory and TS Liverman in Newlyn.........

 freshly zinc painted.......

a red trio........

 Butts been in bass action again.....

 more quality inshore fish.......

 the local Cornish Sardine fleet have been joined by the Silver Star.......

busy landing her night's work......

as is the Lyonesse.......

alongside the ice works.

An idyllic Wednesday morning.

Unique Seafood Ltd parked up for the night......

a fairly slack Wednesday market greeted today's visitors........

though there were a few boxes of superb inshore fish.........

black and white crosses..........

what an idyllic morning greeted the visiting yachts.......

good fishing with the Cornish Sardine fleet with Ollie doing his bit to boost supplies........

whereas the mackerel seem to have gone quiet over St Ives way.........

time to move the St Georges around to paint the other side of her hull while she is up on the hard........

one fish quantification kit hung up to dry..........

the William bound in.........

Through the Gaps.