Sunday supper

Accompanying the dish, wilted home-grown cavalo-nero - one of the few success stories from the garden this summer! - with a few cloves of chopped garlic and olly oil...

a slight variation on a dish from Mitch Tonks' Fish Easy - with the tarragon fresh from the garden...

the accompanying pasta dish, using mushroom fried in olly oil and a dash of butter till golden alternating with a layer of the wilted greens (could use spinach)...

the skinned Dover sole oiled and ready for an oven grilling, the dressing...

a mix of tarragon, butter and a few dabs of gentleman's relish (no anchovies in the cupboard - an excellent substitute)...

gets poured over the fish as a garnish straight out of the oven - the Dory sneaked in as an afterthought!

Saturday morning

Shore break surfers take to the air...

now's the chance to be the next Helen Glover...

nothing so fine...

mallard pet...

for this classic Scandinavian yacht...

solar power and gull deterrent.

SS276 bound in...

the ILB is running away with this year's tally of rescues #rnli...

bound out...

wind in the South...

and sun high in the sky...

this weekend's deals at Newlyn...

now that the Mission is no longer open for business on a Saturday Morning the Harbour Cafe is busy enough...

hot story for the week

has generated much debate #cefas #sundaytimes.

Fishing grounds, SPAs, SACs, MCZs, Oil Exploration, Wind Farms, Fishery Regulations......= The Big Squeeze!

The map above is taken from the ArcGIS web site which hosts a multilyared chart of the waters around the UK and bordering other Eurpoean fishing countries like France, Belgium, Denmark and Holland. 

The key to the colour coded areas is below and the data layers include:

-          oil exploration and exploitation (purple and sand color + blue points)

-          offshore wind (red – no fishing inside for UK side)

-          Natura 2000 (SPA and SAC) existing and proposed + MCZ + Marine parcs : brown (proposition) and blue (existing)

-          Some special areas regarding protection of vulnerable marine ecosystem and fishery regulation (still incomplete). (lines without colour filling

This “all data map” can be split it in several submaps with less layers.

European rich traditional fishing area will be under pressure. See Dogger Bank with the size of the offshore wind area…!

A closer look at the south west reveals the extent of the areas now covered by the above interests.....

which in the Channel and North Sea begin to look a little crowded - a live version of this map -  Seas and fishermen, new zone management - is available on the ArcGIS web site here.

Cefas - Setting the record straight on mature North Sea cod

More good news! - In the wake of Defra's reiteration and affirmation that there are no adult cod left in the North Sea, Cefas have released an official response to the article that first appeared in the Sunday Times last weekend.

 

Adult cod on Newlyn fish auction this morning!

An article in last weekend's Sunday Times (16 September 2012) incorrectly claimed that "fewer than 100 mature cod are left in the North Sea". Such a statement is wrong even though the cod stock does remain severely depleted.

The briefing Cefas gave the Sunday Times journalist about the recovering North Sea cod stock and the positive news about haddock, saithe and plaice at high stock sizes and reasonable levels of exploitation (fishing) were omitted in the final article.

Cefas and other European scientific institutions work together at the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) to monitor and assess the biomass (tonnage) of North Sea cod and other commercial species.
For North Sea cod, it is correct that the international fishing rate (mortality) has been high since the 1980s, and has shown a decline since 2000. The number of young cod (recruitment) has been low since 1987, and even lower since 1998, causing serious concern.

The latest ICES' assessment shows that there has been a gradual improvement in the status of the stock over the last few years. The amount of mature fish (spawning stock biomass) has increased from the historical low in 2006 and shows signs of further improvement.

This has been achieved through the collaboration of fishermen and scientists working together to gain better and more robust scientific evidence upon which to make fisheries management decisions.

The Fisheries Science Partnership and discard-reduction programmes like Project 50%, alongside catch-quota trials run in collaboration with the Marine Management Organisation, have done much to help inform the scientific evidence base and to deliver more sustainable fisheries.

Confusion was inevitable when the Sunday Timesattempted to condense complex fish stock information on the back of their request for a briefing about the New Economics Foundation's latest report (see http://www.neweconomics.org/nocatchinvestment).

19 September 2012

Where is Poirot?- The Case of the Missing Boxes

Replacing lost boxes is costing thousands Thursday, September 20, 2012The CornishmanFollow NEWLYN Harbour Commission says it is having to spend tens of thousands of pounds a year replacing fish boxes which could be better spent elsewhere in the port. 

The port authority spent £10,000 in the first quarter of 2012 on the boxes it provides to fisherman to display and sell their catch in market. ​ Replacing lost fish boxes at Newlyn market, like the ones pictured above, cost the harbour commission £10,000 in the first quarter of the year alone. • • 

Harbour master Andrew Munson said the commission's stock had fallen so low at points that demand had outstripped the number available in the market for use. "The fisherman might take a feed of fish home themselves and forget to take that back," he said. "Merchants take stock of fish away in the boxes; then they don't get returned. "We let them take the fish off the market in boxes under the condition that they bring them back in a clean condition on the same day. I had some come back only yesterday and the bottom of the box said the first week of August. That merchant had our boxes in excess of a month. "This week we ran out of boxes, but I'm lucky I've kept a store for an emergency." 

The problem is one shared by other ports across the country. Plymouth Trawler Agents (PTA) Ltd spends £20,000 to £30,000 a year on new boxes. PTA's Mark Heslop said: "They cost £10 a go; every year that's considerable. The amount we spend on it could employ a couple of people." However, Andy Wheeler from the Cornish Fish Producers' Organisation said the problem was almost unavoidable: "With such a movement of fish up and down the county, over to Brittany and what have you, it's inevitable that they're going to get mixed up. "It's inevitable that if one fisherman gets a certain number of boxes taken, he'll take some. It's an inevitable side-effect of transporting fish. "A lot of fishermen send fish over to Brittany. Some of the boxes get stuck there; sometimes a French fisherman will mistake them for theirs. "They all have a colour code, but I know there are markets in Brittany that have the same colour code."

Missing Box story courtesy of the Cornishman

Saucy fishy tales or, a tale of two tails

ONE of Grimsby's fastest growing exports is back on our screens next week, as a £30-million seafood brand looks to further its reach. 

Seachill's award-winning concept The Saucy Fish Co has rolled out its autumn television advertising campaign, debuting a new look creative element to last year's popular ad – described as a fish with two tales! ​ 

Consumers will get the chance to witness two different endings to Saucy's unique animated commercial that cleverly tells The Saucy Fish Co story. 

In the new version, Saucy's Grimsby Smoked Haddock with Davidstow Cheddar and Chive Sauce is hailed as the hero product with the original version supporting Saucy's best-seller Salmon with Chilli, Lime and Ginger sauce. Sticking with last year's recipe for success, the TV commercial uses animation to showcase the choice available to a consumer when they are keen to prepare a fish dish – the simple Saucy Fish option or a more complicated route. 

 The £1-million campaign is due to air for a three-week period, from Monday, targeting ABC1 housewives across national channels ITV1, ITV2 and ITV3, Channel Four, Film4 and More4, plus Channel 5 and Sky channels. Scheduled within high-profile shows including multi-million viewer-attracting The X Factor and Downton Abbey, Simon Smith, head of brand at The Saucy Fish Co, said: "We were hugely impressed by the success of last year's TV campaign and supporting digital activity, that we are keen to replicate the same impact and give consumers even more of the Saucy Fish story by including more of our product range.

"Using TV, digital activity and social media channels builds the campaign into a memorable piece for consumers, and one we're really excited about seeing the results from. "Our previous campaigns worked to introduce new consumers to the fish aisle, and our aim for the new campaign is to continue this growth of new audiences shopping in the fish category. Our reason for being, and the heart of the Saucy Fish brand, is to welcome new fish lovers". 

The Saucy Fish Co offers a range of convenient, quality fish dishes, which include melt-in-the-middle fishcakes, stand-alone sauces and, foil bake bags, and a variety of mouth-watering fish and sauce pairings. More than 550 people are employed by Seachill in Grimsby, a division of Icelandic UK Ltd. With Grimsby's Ella Henderson also getting top billing on previews for the forthcoming X-Factor 'Bootcamp' section, it could make for a town double bill on Saturday evening. 

The news comes as organisers of Humber Seafood Summit were today toasting a record number of delegates attending the event, in its third year. Pre-booked numbers were 25 per cent up on 2011, according to joint hosts Seafish and a partnership of organisations in the Humber Seafood Group. Dr Paul Williams, chief executive of Seafish, said: "This year's Humber Seafood Summit looks set to be the most successful since its launch three years ago. The support from industry is greater than ever, with a particular spike in interest from processors and importers. "This event is a major networking opportunity for the Humber area and, unsurprisingly, no-one wants to miss out. Seafish has played an integral role in the delivery of this year's summit." 

 Story courtesy of ThisisGrimsby 

 For more information visit www.thesaucyfishco.com.

Friday's market is full of fish

Making her way to the gaps...

after spending the night dodging up and down the western shore of Mount's Bay...

the ex-fishing boat Arctic Warrior...

fuel time for the beam l'il 'ol tiger William Stevenson...

all in a night's work, mullet...

and cream on the cake boxes of bass...

a day's inshore trawl fish... 

and line caught squid don't come any better than these guys...

there's still plenty of big cod to be had in the Western Approaches it seems...

the day breaks outside the fish market...

and it's good to see harbour master Andrew up and about at the crack of dawn giving words of support to some of the Cornish sardine boat skippers as they prepare to land their night's haul...

the last few brails come up from below on the Little Pearl...

Dan the sardine man doesn't hang about...

as his last shot gets iced away in insluated tubs...

safely moored, Atlantic Warrior which flies a Danish flag...

taking bait aboard the Emma Louise.