George Payne - a truly nice guy, from one who sailed with him.

Here's a short anecdote about George Payne, King of the Smocks related by Colin from the Mousehole Fish company who used to fish with George back in the early 80s.

Boy Gary and other 'toshers' fishing for mackerel inside the Longships lighthouse

Back in those days in the depths of winter, well over 100 'toshers' as they were known fished from Newlyn. Some from as far afield as Milford Haven in Wales or Weymouth in Dorset, they would muster on the quay around 6 AM for the winter mackerel season and, on a good day, be back in port with 100st (600kg) a man of big mackerel on board.

When winter mackerel fishing gurdys (in the foreground) were used to wind the line back and forth fitted with a set of 24 'feathers' (hooks covered with coloured plastic) and a seven pound lead weight.

At that time, Colin and George crewed aboard the Silver Spray skippered by Mack Thomas - a tosher that, like many from Falmouth, Looe and Fowey that came down to Newlyn, took anglers and trippers out during the summer months and then fished, mainly for mackerel, during the short, dark and often windy winter days. Colin, barely turned 18, a newbie and just getting his first taste of the harsh environment (having decided not to go to university) that was about to go from a short-term means of earning a wage into a 20 year career at sea, fishing. In those days, getting a berth on a fishing boat involved a short walk down the quay and catching the ear of a skipper at an opportune moment - the recruitment process was thorough and lasted as about long as it took to say, "Got a berth skipper?" with a response in the affirmative.

Small boats like toshers still used paper echo sounders in the 70s & early 80s.

On this particular morning nobody seemed to be catching mackerel so skipper Mac was steaming around off Lamorna looking for 'marks' - those tell-tale black marks on the paper echo sounder that told him there were fish about and at what depth. Suddenly, Mack raced out of the wheelhouse shouting to Colin and George to get their lines in the water quick as possible but down hard on the bottom - he'd passed over some pinnacles of hard ground with fish marks all over them - a sure sign of big pollack at this time of year. Colin was the first to get his seven pound lead and twenty feather trace down and  shout excitedly as he felt his line go tight that he had a 'stringful'. 

Unfortunately, rather than a stringful of big pollack pulling hard on his hooks Colin had hitched the rough bottom and within seconds promptly lost the lot - lead weight, feathers and all!  An already grumpy Mack (and anyone who has spent any time at sea knows only too well what a grumpy skipper is like first thing) goes off on one, first effin and blinding at Colin for being so effin useless and then kicking at everything on his way across the deck back to the wheelhouse to find another set of hooks and weight. 

Colin is mortified - feeling really uncomfortable at getting his first taste of life at sea in a world of harsh conditions and an even harsher skipper. Fearful for his welfare, he stares abjectly at his gurdy sans feathers and weight, wondering what the skipper might do next if something goes amiss.

While he's contemplating worst case scenarios he becomes aware that George, who hasn't said a word, quietly has made his way for'ard to Mack's gurdy.  Colin notices George draw heavily on the ever-present roll-up between his lips which he removes quickly as he picks up Mac's set of feathers and passes the glowing roll-up tip over the nylon backing line before heading back to his own gurdy; and not a word is said.

A few minutes later, lines dropped back in the water the guys are furiously fishing again.  Then, with the usual deck banter flowing, after all hands had touched on a few good hauls of big pollack there is a sudden hush from Mac's side of the boat as within seconds of hitting his latest pollack haul his line has parted. And not a word is said.

Tiz the night before the #FishFestival in Newlyn

Just a couple of mackerel to keep the grand kids happy...

then on to the next course, images of beef burgers (even though they are hand made) banned by the management!  ;-)

Mackerel Recheade and the application of heat

Simple Goan dish.

Top quality inshore fish only on the market this morning

Dark skinned megrim soles from the shallower inshore waters made up a good part of the Harvest Reaper's mid-week landing...

with keen bidding from the buyers having to pay top dollar for the very best in Cornish fish...

just in time to get the latest landing from the Tracey Claire sorted and iced ready for sale...

always a smile on the face of Ray...

line caught cuttles look the biz...

and while the humble mackerel now make mega money - £6+ a kilo - there are precious few of them being caught around the far west of Cornwall - they don't like the cold murky water it seems!...

just two of another big bass haul from king bass himself...

Lionel says it for the printer...

the market enjoys some early morning sun at 6am.

The macks are back!

A great article was posted by Matt on a London Fishmonger's blog - reproduced here in full:

Mackerel is Back on the Menu

The plight of the mackerel was well documented in January when the advice of the Marine stewardship council (MCS) changed from ‘Best Choice’ to a ‘Fish to eat occasionally’ throwing previously written sustainable menus into turmoil. This decision was influenced by the actions of the Icelandic and Faroese fishery councils who implemented a substantial increase of catch volume (+23%) well beyond the previous agreed with Norway and the EU. Initial predicted stock volumes and set Total allowable catches were calculated without consideration of this additional fishing effort which when exceeded the Total Allowable Catch by 200,000 tonnes and beyond the safe Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) of the total stock. Although at the time the decision by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) was heavily criticised by industry and woefully misreported in the press (on many occasions mackerel were suggested to be endangered) I was in total agreement with the precautionary approach as to continue to promote a stock as sustainable whilst being heavily over fished would have been disastrous long term for the stock status. 

A couple of weeks ago it was announced by the MCS that after lengthy consultation a further re grade of the mackerel rating had taken place and was being implemented with immediate effect. Initial press reports, namely by the Daily Telegraph, and then used by numerous agencies and wholesalers, was yet again misleading. First reporting has suggested Mackerel caught from the UK is the only sustainable option. The concise re grade has set a 2(still a good choice, although some aspects of its production or management could be improved) for the Cornish hand line fishery, a 3 (based on available information these species should probably not be considered sustainable at this time. Areas requiring improvement in the current production methods may be significant, or there is significant uncertainty associated with its management or stock status) for the remaining fisheries within the EU which includes all of the Scottish and Norwegian pelagic trawl fisheries and a 4 (should not be considered sustainable, and the fish is likely to have significant environmental issues associated with its production. While it may be from a deteriorating fishery, it may be one that has improved from a 5 rating, and positive actions are being taken. However, MCS would not usually recommend choosing this fish) for Icelandic and Faroes caughtstock. 

So the key question is “even though all these fisheries still pull from the same stock how can they now all be rated differently? Unlike the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) whom certify fisheries sustainable by the status of the stock alone the MCS use a number of weighted factors. Although heavily influenced by spawning stock biomass they also consider management, capture methods and ecological effects. Hand line catch methods result in almost zero impact to the environment and yield minute by catch levels thus the Cornish fishery is now considered ‘Best Choice’. The Cornish hand line fishery quota allocation is currently set at 1750 tonnes per year or 0.83% of the UKquota. However, one must be cautious when purchasing hand line mackerel as this premium priced product will now continue to increase in value. A volume of trawled South West mackerel are landed onto Plymouth and Brixham markets each week and there will undoubtedly be increased volumes finding its way into kitchens sold as a premium line caught fish! Unfortunately there are rogue seafood traders who are happy to trade hand to mouth instead of applying honesty and integrity. 

Conversely, the Scottish and Norwegian pelagic trawl fisheries, although not as selective as hand line, have excellent management systems in place which consider by catch, total allowable catches and closed seasons to coincide with spawning periods resulting in it being the ‘Best Alternative’ option. 

Unfortunately the Icelandic and Faroese fisheries have been shown to produce high levels of herring by catch alongside a disregard of previously set stock quotas by other parties within the fishery and a refusal to enter a long-term international management plan. As mentioned their actions may result in the mackerel stocks potentially be over fished by 200,000 tonnes per year.

So where does this leave us as wholesalers, purchasers and chefs? We would all love to have true Cornish hand line mackerel on our menus throughout the year, but in reality this is impossible. When the initial January ratings were announced one of the UK’s largest seafood wholesalers announced its “fresh Mackerel is predominantly sourced from the Cornish hand line fishery or from the ring net fishery offChesil Beach in Dorset”. If you consider the volume of these fisheries it’s not hard to realise the claim in this statement was simply unachievable. Sadly as chefs drive to hit ever increasing GPs the cost price of Cornish Hand line mackerel may well be moving further out of reach for many. For comparison the wholesale sell price of Scottish mackerel the week of the announcement was around £5.80kg whereas the auction price of Cornish hand line mackerel on Newlyn market hit £6.60kg!! Fortunately the MCS have re classified the vast majority of the mackerel finding its way onto our markets as a yellow 3 rating ‘Best Alternative’ giving license to return them to the menu. 

The unfortunate fall out from this whole fiasco will be convincing diners, who three months ago were being told the species was endangered and should not be eaten. My key piece of advice as always is be sure your supplier is providing you with exactly what you think you are receiving and always advertise it correctly on your menu.