Welcome to Through the Gaps, the UK fishing industry's most comprehensive information and image resource. Newlyn is England's largest fish market and where over 50 species are regularly landed from handline, trawl, net, ring net and pot vessels including #MSC Certified #Hake, #Cornish Sardine, handlined bass, pollack and mackerel. Art work, graphics and digital fishing industry images available from stock or on commission.
Saturday 7 November 2009
Neap tides and Newlyn netters queue for ice
delivered by forklift, the Tranquility's heavy doors as required for twin-rig trawling......
round in his second home, Traz has the Dignity on a pontoon berth as apposed to riding out the heavy swells in St Ives harbour where she is based for the rest of the year.....
with a forar'd wheelhouse the Emerald Star no doubt needs the clearview window at times......
Crystal Sea II, one of the boats that is looking forward to the day when she can land her fish to a computerised, temperature controlled fish auction at Newlyn, takes ice before landing to a waiting lorry......
Harvest Reaper under scrutiny from the quay, as the neap tide approach, the netters make their way to the ice works in readiness for their next trip......
she joins the queue headed up by the Nova Spero, no doubt top tuna skipper Sean Edwards is champing at the bit as he prepares to make his first netting trip for a good while.....
some of the resident gull population wait for the boxes of bait to appear on the Emma......
in between the showers which gives the harbour a decidedly fresh look as the sun re-appears.....
on the tug Doris K, the port side fairlead has now been repaired.......
it seems that chain is now designed for specific countries, maybe this drum should have gone north of the border?
Friday 6 November 2009
Hibernating the Scillonian III
has plenty of room up in the bow to store tooth bars.......
she works 8 dredges a side......
up goes the scaffolding on the Resurgan......
a beast of a night and not to be missed in the Swordfish.....
Breton trawler bound away......
over in Penzance wet dock the Scillonian has been brought in for her winter lay-up.....
closely monitored by harbourmaster Neil on the ropes.....
the Danmark with Jeremy at the helm eases the luxury steel super yacht Vega to be into her new berth alongside the Scillonian - a tricky move with the strong wind blowing across the dock.
The debate continues apace
Two things are becoming clear.
First, there is increasing awareness that the running of the harbour has failed to meet the requirements of a modern fishing industry where many boats have invested heavily in improvements like refrigerated, insulated fishrooms, boxing at sea and improved working practices to increase the quality of their catches.
Second, what is important is that what happens next is of benefit to all concerned in order to secure a future for the port (remember, it is still the largest by turnover in England, not just Cornwall) and the community on which it not only depends but thrives.
Follow the debate as it unfolds!
Latest figures from MFA for Newlyn, Plymouth and Brixham - where both Brixham and Plymouth receive fish from far and wide (especially the £2 million plus from Newlyn boats for which PTA's Dave Pessel is extremely grateful, as he said on the TV programme!)
Total all species from Jan to Jul 2009 inclusive.
Newlyn - £10,007,735
Brixham - £9,084,795
Plymouth - £6,789,432
Latest figures for Brixham, (BTA) show over £13 million with the best of the cuttle season to come.
Demersal species from Jan to Jul inclusive.
Newlyn - £7,866,615
Brixham - £5,093,629
Plymouth - £1,991,377
Pelagic species from Jan to Jul inclusive.
Newlyn - £436,488
Brixham - £157,528
Plymouth - £2,709,280
All shellfish from Jan to Jul inclusive.
Newlyn - £1,704,632
Brixham - £3,833,638
Plymouth - £2,088,775
Thursday 5 November 2009
Newlyn in the late 1960s captured on film
This is the first of three short videos shot on cine film around 1967. Pat Pilkerton's father narrates. A big thank you to the family for allowing this fascinating film to be seen again!
In the first clip towards the end the sight of huge crayfish will surely provoke some comment and, for those who were around at the time, there are plenty of familiar faces to spot and name!
Part II
Shots of girls picking crab in Harvey's, mending trawl net, making up new baskets of longlines and putting fuel and ice aboard the Girl Patricia.
Part III
Wednesday 4 November 2009
Full moon blows hard
including the solitary Alf from les Sables - a sign of the times in that not so many years ago there would have been up to twenty similar Breton boats sheltering in Newlyn during and extended blow.
Tuesday 3 November 2009
Inside Out - asks, what next?
Monday 2 November 2009
BBC1 regional programme Inside Out tonight at 7.30pm - compulsory viewing
Making the unmissable unmissable, BBC iPlayer will give anyone the chance to see the show from outisde the region.