Keep the Christmas crabs coming!

While the rest of the Nelwyn fleet are safely tucked up in their Christmas berths two of Rowse's Real Cornish Crab Company's crab fleet are hard at work off Land's End filling up orders for Christmas crab! Keep up the good work, Richard, Ben, Nigel and crews!

Spiced monkfish Galton

Christmas is coming and what better way to celebrate than by ensuring you get the very best out of our Great British Seafood by hinting that you want this excellent new fish cook book from Galton Blackiston...

and when the first thing you see is a quote from the Father of Fish you know it's going to be a worthy fish cook book!

The proof of the pudding is in the eating so what better way to review the book than by giving a recipes a go using one of our most abundantly landed fish...

 from the market in Newlyn - a whole monkfish tail.

To go with with the spiced Cornish monkfish is a big aromatic saffron-yellow rice ...

the rice that gets a few extra ingredients...

to give it that extra sweetness and distinctive colour...

while the whole monk tail first needs coating in a Rasel el hanout spice (which is a great Moroccan spice that can be bought readymade) and browning quickly in a pan...

before roasting in a hot oven...

and serving coated with a simple but hugely tasty curry sauce - just blend mushroom, shallots, butter and cream.  This is just one dish from the Spicy section of the book that adds that extra zing to every dish. if you like your shellfish dishes then this book will keep you in good company for dishes that celebrate crab, prawns, scallops, lobster and langoustine!

The book has a neat transparent book jacket that doubles as handy book marks. Inside, over 90 clearly explained recipes are divided up by the kind of meal you might want to serve, Quick, Small Plates, Stress-Free, Mains and so on - with an excellent Basics section, at the back, every dish is referenced by the main ingredient in the index. John Scott Blackwell's photos capture each and every dish as they would appear on the table.

Hook Line Sinker – is a seafood cookbook by Galton Blackiston published by FacePublications.com

Galton Blackiston runs the Michelin-starred Morston Hall hotel and restaurant on the Norfolk coast, and recently opened No1 Cromer, a modern take on the traditional fish and chip restaurant.

Galton is a familiar face to UK food lovers from his regular appearances on the BBC’s Saturday Kitchen, and as a finalist on Great British Menu.

Galton Blackiston says: “Seafood is one of the last truly wild sources of food on the planet. Even though fishing methods have changed dramatically, fish are still wild, living in their natural habitat, and are free to swim where they want and feed how they want. I’m as enthusiastic about it today as I was as a child when I used to go shrimping and catching mackerel.”

The book is a collaboration with Leeds-based specialist publisher Face Publications, whose previous cookery books with Michelin-starred chefs Sat Bains, Graham Garrett, Andrew Pern and James Mackenzie have won international awards.

The book features a foreword by Michel Roux OBE, who says: “Like all the best recipe books, Hook Line Sinker is not merely a collection of recipes but an honest celebration of life, discoveries and ideas: a story shared about the simple, sometimes nostalgic, pleasures of sharing and eating. Few are so intimately and enjoyably written as this one by my friend Galton Blackiston.”

Manage your fishing effort: Western Waters crabs and scallops

Western Waters (ICES Area VII) 2015 edible & Spider Crab effort annual limit

Details of the approach to managing the over 15 metre Area VII crab and scallop fishing sector to keep the fishery within EU effort limits.

Defra and MMO officials met with a number of industry representatives with an interest in the area VII crab fishery on 12 November 2014 to discuss a management approach for the fishery during 2015 in line with the Western Waters regime. At this meeting, various management options were considered to ensure that the industry does not exceed the effort limit allocated to the UK under the Western Waters regime.

It was decided that days at sea limits will be set for vessels operating in this area for the full 2015 year. This will be enforced via a licence variation. The 150 day limit will be applicable to all over 15 metre vessels with a shellfish entitlement operating in area VII and targeting crabs under the Western Waters regime.

The MMO will actively monitor days at sea uptake by vessels and a review meeting will take place on 22 July 2015 to evaluate uptake to date and discuss the management approach for the remainder of 2015.

If the UK looks like it will exceed effort limits prior to 31 December 2015 as set by the Commission, then fisheries administrations will be required to close the area VII crab fishery to over 15 metre vessels for the remainder of the year in line with the Western Waters regime.

Crab effort uptake for 2015 (last updated 3 June 2015)

Area	European limit (kilowatt days)	Real-time uptake to date (kilowatt days)	Percentage of effort used to date
VII	543,366	149,072	27%
V-VI	702,292	224,770	32%

2. Days at Sea Limits

2.1 The maximum number of days a vessel can fish for crabs in ICES Area VII is established in the vessel’s fishing licence.

2.2 Any days remaining at the end of a management period will not be transferred across management periods.

2.3 Days at sea are not transferrable between fishing vessels.

2.4 The number of days spent at sea will be monitored for enforcement purposes by MMO/Devolved Administration offices. However, it is your responsibility to monitor your uptake and be aware of how many days you have available. If you wish to check the information held by the MMO on your vessel’s activity you should contact your local MMO coastal office.

2.5 It is an offence to exceed the maximum number of days at sea established in your vessel’s fishing licence, and action may be taken in accordance the relevant fisheries administration’s compliance and enforcement strategy.

3. Recording of days at sea

3.1 Days at sea are counted in calendar days (midnight to midnight) or part thereof. For example a fishing trip leaving port at 0200h and returning to port at 0100h the following day counts as two calendar days. In comparison, a fishing trip leaving port at 1000h and returning at 1700h the following day is also counted as 2 calendar days.

3.2 Trip data must be recorded in UTC (universal time constant) with no daylight saving adjustment.

3.3 Steaming trips are not counted against a vessel’s days at sea providing that no gear is deployed or hauled, no landings are made and vessel activity is declared as ‘CRU – steaming/cruising’ on the electronic logbook.

3.4 Time at sea will not count against a vessel’s allocation where it comes to the aid of another vessel in need of emergency assistance or because it is transporting an injured person for emergency medical aid. You must advise your port of administration in such cases.

4. Once your allocation of days are used

4.1 Any vessel that has exhausted its allocation of days must cease fishing for crabs in Area VII immediately and return to port. The vessel may then undertake other activities.

See the full story from the MMO here:

Cooking fun, Crab in Black Bean Sauce.

Coating the crab just before serving.

Some would consider doing anything other than simply boiling crab and picking the shells for the meat they contain as sacrilege - but this recipe is truly delicious - the flavour from the crab meat and the black bean sauce combine into something special - and a breeze to prepare.

Palm sugar on the left and two kinds of yellow lump sugar that are the preferred means of sweetening in many Chinese dishes.

Use raw crab if possible. Remove the legs and body section from inside the main shell. After taking off the dead man's fingers use a big knife to cut the remainder in half first laterally and then two leg portions. Set aside. The crab will be cooked in the shells so the next step is to crack the claws - a rolling pin is good!


Sauce quantities for two: (Chan's in Penzance, like all good Oriental Shops keep all the ingredients)


1 tsp ketjap manis, a sweet soy sauce
1 tbsp fermented black beans (these need soaking for 30 mins and then rinsing before use)
1 tsp palm sugar
oil for cooking
4 spring onions finely sliced on the diagonal
1 oz peeled finely chopped ginger 
1/2 oz peeled finely chopped garlic
20 fresh curry leaves (not so easy to get hold of - try the local garden centre and grow your own)
1 tbsp coarsely crushed black peppercorns
1/2 oz butter
1 red chilli - your choice for heat


Mix the ketjap, black beans, palm sugar, and three tablespoons of water.


Heat 3 fl oz of oil till smoking and add the crab in shell and cook for 2-3 minutes. Set aside on kitchen paper.


Remove all but enough oil and add the spring onions, ginger, garlic and curry leaves and stir fry gently - don't brown!


Add the black pepper, stir in and then add the black bean mixture and then add the partially cooked crab, cover with a lid and cook through for 4-5 minutes if using raw crab, half the time for cooked. Once cooked, stir in the butter and red chilli turning the whole lot until all the pieces are coated.


Garnish with some of the sliced spring onion. This is a hugely messy and fun dish to eat and requires a finger bowl or two and the kitchen roll a hand - literally finger licking good!

Fresh Newlyn crab meat from M and R Crab.

Newlyn has seen the fleet of boats (local and visiting) that fish for brown crab and scallops increase in size over the last five years - to such an extent that shellfish landings now amount for nearly a fifth of the port's total income. One company to take advantage of these more regular supplies, is the Newlyn family firm of M and R Crab. Started by Mike and Rose Dyer - who will best be remembered by some for their part in the mackerel handlline fishery back in the 1970s when they supplied many crews with sets of handmade mackerel 'feathers' - a real cottage industry at the time.

Inshore brown crab straight from the pot.

With the introduction of the mackerel box and changes in mackerel fishing patterns, the family business diversified and formed M and R Crab to handle shellfish for the small fleet of inshore potters back in 1982.  Since then they have specialised in hand picking crab to order, often delivered within hours of being cooked and picked!

Dan and Mark Dyer

Responsible Fishing Scheme - Today's more discerning markets increasingly demand high standards in quality and sourcing fish from ethically fished boats -so these days the business runs in the safe hands of son Mark and son-in-law Dan who work closely with the fleet of RFS accredited Rowse crabbers in the port as well as a myriad of inshore and small cove boats working pots around the rocky coastline of West Penwith.

The boys shun the speed and ease of mechanically picked crab which results in a dry meat - hand picked remains moist and succulent and retains more flavour.  Early orders for fresh MandR crab meat can be taken online or over the phone to allow for the daily delivery service to Cornwall and the UK.

Pelagic port - Bonito tuna, mackerel and Cornish sardines.

Gourmet dining.........

the fair's in town for Golowan Festival........

low water at Wherry Town boating pool........

apparently so, look out Tuesday evening.........

spider time..........

in a case of mass insomnia, the boys from IFCA were up well early this morning measuring brown crab from the Intuition........

as the boat landed to a waiting vivier lorry.......

a bongo at a time........

this can only be done when the vivier aboard the boat has been pumped dry.......

down the quay there's an unusual set of beam trawl gear not seen in these parts before.......

aboard the Troon registered Solea..........

very light gear hanging from a hydrofoil type beam........

first time the market has seen any quantity of Bonito tuna........

created some interest from the buyers.......

and an intrigued Ollie ponders the species in question.......

early season Sardina Pilchardus.........

and a good weekend's work for the mackerel fleet.......

with the might megrim currently topping the list of flat fish being championed by many for ethical fishing reasons given the healthy state of the stock........

the Gallic prawn boats will be pulling aboard good lifts of prawns at the moment judging by the number of boxes the beams are catching!