Cornwall Good Seafood Guide's sustainability and marketing talk in Newquay.

On the North coast of Cornwall, Newquay is the only harbour between Hayle and Padstow...

and, despite its exposed situation to the prevailing westerly swells it is home to a thriving fleet of commercial fishing...

 angling and pleasure vessels... 

the angling boats easily identified as they lack any designated fishing vessel registration letters and numbers...

most of the commercial fishing fleet fish for shellfish using pots...

though many of these use nets at certain times of the year to take advantage of seasonal fishing patterns with whitefish...

during storms the boats have to contend with 10' or more swells which lift the heavily secured boats and drop them on their keels - hence the many heavily built hulls in evidence...

the harbour is tidal, forcing the boats to sail whenever the tide is high enough - many of the fleet sailed around 2:30am this morning - and the boats are often forced to wait until late evening hours to land their catches ashore...

last night, the harbour-side Newquay Rowing club, home and workshop to the local gig rowing scene...

played host to the second of six workshops being held over the next year around Cornwall.  Matt Skater from the Cornwall Good Seafood Guide is on a mission to further strengthen the increasingly respected and liked Cornish seafood which is fast developing a brand identity all of its own. The talks focus on sustainability and marketing for individuals or small groups of like-minded fishermen who could benefit from self-promotion by making the best use of social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to promote awareness and sales of catches.  

At this time of year spider cabs invade the waters off Newquay in huge numbers - once a fish despised because of their perceived lack of financial reward - these days thew spider crab is renowned for its much sought after (by those who know) sweet white flesh. To celebrate this there will be a spider crab feast and picking demonstration in June - follow 'spiderman' Ross King on Twitter for more info!

For more general information visit the brand new Cornwall Good Seafood Guide website or contact Matt Slater or Larry Hartwell direct.

Cyrus Todiwala, shellfish champion of Great Britain!

Nothing could highlight the lure of fresh fish and fresh Cornish fish in particular than the sight of one of the country's best loved chefs out on a boat actively involved in hauling aboard the main ingredient for his quayside shellfish cooking demonstration!

With his enthusiasm truly matched by the flavours of his very special but easily doable Parsi influenced cuisine, Cyrus Todiwala from Cafe Spice cooks and talks passionately about the spider crab - a hidden gem found in increasing numbers all round the coast of Cornwall and soon to be found on the wet-fish counter  and restaurant menus near you!

Email in any questions you might have about to fishermen like lobsterman Andrew Stevens about catching, cooking or sourcing this truly under-appreciated but abundant fish.

Ready for the pot ce soir :-) a la Monty Hall - episode 3

Listen to Monty Hall on Wednesday evening's Fishermen's Apprentice when he travels across to Brittany with his hard won catch of spider crab - revered in Breton restaurants and treated like crustacean royalty, the spider crab epitomises the huge gulf - 100 miles of open water or a "vast chasm" as Monty puts it - between French eating culture and the status that they afford fish like spider crab as compared to home territory where not so many years ago spider crab were dumped back at sea as there was no market for them - even now they make little money when sold here - at the end of the sound bite listen out for the surprise result of the blind tasting when the edible crab goes shell-to-shell with arch enemy spidercrab.

Excerpts from episode 3 of Monty Hall's Fisherman's Apprentice courtesy of BBC2.

In episode 3 of Monty Hall's Fisherman's Apprentice, the edible crab goes head-to-head with the under valued spider crab.... and it just so happens that the Through the Gaps household sat down to enjoy said spider crab for supper........

slip a couple in a good sized pot.......

and after 20 minutes they are ready - this applies to edible or brown crab, lobster and crayfish.......

 dried off the spiders look good enough to eat.......

ready to hand, a selection of shellfish picking tools - keep your eyes open in Lidls - a set of six on the left for a couple of squids.

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!