Heroin addiction a common feature - fishermen tarred with the same brush

An inaccurate observation from the judiciary that, as David Stevens (Crystal Sea II) said, "demeans fishermen" provokes a flurry of comments in response to the sentencing of one
unfortunate individual.

So not No1, mendin' in the rain

Jake, always on hand to offer support and a friendly smile....
no sign of black gold yet - just mud it seems.....
so there's a new drilling machine been brought in now....
well it might be No1 in the charts but 'mending in the rain' is no fun, a trawlerman's curse the world over it seems.....
view from the AA on the slip through her Kort nozzle looking through the gaps....
back again, the Troon registered scalloper, George Lou (thank you Andrew for pointing that one out - it was late!) - no coincidence between the port of registration and that the owner's initials are TN for his fleet of boats?
the local BBC TV crew braved the weather from the inside of their traveling broadcast truck...
bow on to the AA.

Shifting doors on the Crystal Sea II

With brother Alec carefully controlling the power block from the boat, young David supervises lifting the starboard trawl door....



how many St Ives men does it take to measure the door chains....



under the watchful eyes of David senior, the door gets lifted aboard....



and hung from the gantry....



hundreds of pots wait on the quay for the Emma Louise....

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with a core-drill on the go, is it possible that the harbour is prospecting for oil in a bid to circumvent the current shortage?

Charisma, but not much style!

Making her way astern, the Padstow based gill-netter Charisma leaves Newlyn for another trip....eagle-eyed blog visitors will have noticed that yet another day has passed and there is no boat on the slip.....
not a boat with a pretty stern, a case of function over form - sadly, gone are the days of boats with classic lines like the Hatherleigh....at this time of year, time to take advantage of the evening sun and BBQ something other than Cornish Sardines, how about a pair of ray wings, courtesy of Jeremy and Chris on the Damark....

yet more gear going aboard the Lamorna while the weather is fine.

Fine weather and the first trip in 8 months for the Damark

For the best views in Newlyn when you get the chance to wine and dine, you can't go wrong by taking a table at the Smugglers Restaurant overlooking the harbour, rooms availble as well.....
our resident shellfish installation artist has a minimal piece on show this weekend......
seemingly practicing his semaphore, young Andrew makes his way out to get a few pots wet......
What does a beam trawler skipper do on retiring? Equip himself with a fine looking punt to chase the mackerel it seems. With memories of 80 tonnes plus on the deck of the Algrie when midwatering back in the 70s, I expect Mr Hooper will be content with a stringfull or two of jumbos today.....
as ever, when the crabbers load their bait the gull population shows an interest.....
off to the cold store for Monday's market goes the Damark's fish....
the overending machine and new net pound are taking shape aboard the Harvest Reaper...
Grimmy Mike continues his one-man protest against Governemnt interference in his fishing life with his personalised tallies.......
only the finest fish aboard the Damark.......
and there is always a helping hand when it comes to landing your fish it seems....
as yet more ray get a fresh washing before being boxed and put ashore...
even the pound boards are getting a new coat of paint on the Harvest Reaper
with a new set of gear on the quay for the Emma Louise it makes sense to get fishing with it, so the Rowse boats get ready to load another fleet of pots....

David Cameron and shadow fisheries minister, Bill Wiggins meet fishing industry representatives in Mission.

Here's one visitor to the port who knows her way in through the gaps, the ex-beamer, ex-midwater-trawler, ex-sterntrawler, ex-longliner ex-local, ex-Girl Pat III, now the GeorgeLou from Troonh is the biggest scalloper to arrive today....
and fresh off the back of a lorry, so-to-speak, several hundred pots, no doubt for the soon to be commissioned Rowse crabber, Emma Louise...
much smaller new arrivals from North of the border, mini scallopers against the quay....

and as is usual aboard a scalloper, the welding gear is in use, carefully being watched by two not-so-local crewmen......

seems the, 'mysterious lost Land off Land's End' is about to see some action - she has now moved across from the pontoons and the power block seems to be being put through its paces......

Mr Rowse dishing out the orders with regard to all those pots cluttering up the quay.....
Meanwhile, back at the Mission there seems to be a tremendous amount of interest from the press - slighty more than we would normally expect for a local fishing issue. However, this is the day that David Davies announced his resignation, so perhaps some members of the media will be more interested in what the visiting leader of the Tory Party has to say about losing Mr Davies, rather than their being concerned with the plight of a few fishermen and their chance to speak directly to the party that tied them up with the CFP in the first place.....
waiting patiently on the Mission steps, local councilor Malcolm Pilcher seems to be practicing his fiercest grimace while waiting for the main man to show......

as key industry representative and owner of the country's largest beam trawler fleet, Elizabeth Stevenson makes hger way determindley up the Mission steps before joining a dozen other local fishing industry represenatives......
Mr Leach, skipper/owner of the newly arrived inshore trawler Achieve seems to have a very stern countenance as he enters the Mission doorway!.....
and, of course, what ministerial meeting would be complete without the presence of the old sea-dog himself, UKIP member Grimmy Mike, suited and booted (in his own way) for the occasion......
after the meeting proper, one Kevin Bennetts gets his two-pennyworth in with shadow Tory fisheries minister, Bill Wiggins - as owner of Consol Oils there's no surprising what topic vexed our Kevin most - just read the entry for today on his website's blog!

New recruits now know your knots!

Time for starboard side to be painted on the George Johannes.....
seems there are some new recruits aboard the Ivan Ellen, literally 'learning the ropes', an old seafaring term, which is where many common sayings in the English language have originated from, indicating the importance of our maritime heritage and dependency on the sea as an island nation.......

something Tory leader, David Cameron may be minded of when he talks with local fishermen later today. As the party that negotiated the original terms of the CFP (Common Fisheries Policy) under the Heath Government years ago, the Tories have a legacy that is hard to live down, as many would say that the CFP and the ensuing nonsensical, unworkable and entirely in-effective quota system have beem major contributors to the plight that many fishermen find themselves in today - he may be in for a rough ride from his select audience!