Cornishman sole fish trip.

All eyes on the pouts as the last few fish from the sole landing for the day go for auction.......

 there's still a good run of cuttles off in the deep water........

 and the inevitable big black conger.......

 a combination of three classic Newlyn names over the big red tub gurnard much loved by chefs these days......

a few bass for the big boat........

have some real competition price-wise with these line caught bass.......

sadly, you'll no longer be able to sample the dark recesses of this shop for all those things you couldn't find elsewhere.........

as Waghorn's Stores are about to close their doors.........

which will mean the Strand loses one of its more unusual window displays.

The boys on the Cornishman head for home!

Tracked on VessleTracker's AIS at 2100, the only boat from the Newlyn fleet left at sea over the weekend's during the gales, the Cornishman is finally on her way in from the deep water off to the south'rd. Hers will be the only fish on the market in the morning. Viewers may remember London chef Arthur Potts Dawson’s trip as a deckie-learner aboard the Cornishman under skipper Pete Elsworth being fairly eventful.

Impact - End of the Line

For the first time a UK TV programme has had its social impact measured in a comprehensive study - read on........

THE SOCIAL IMPACT OF THE END OF THE LINE



In the last 10 years documentaries and TV are increasingly being recognised as a key medium for communicating social justice issues and inspiring social change. But no-one has ever produced a detailed analysis and methodology to assess this impact. Until now.

Today the Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation is releasing a detailed report into the impact of over-fishing documentary, The End of the Line - the first of its kind for a film. It is intended to contribute to the growing and important field of work on media impact assessment. We hope it can be a template for other film projects giving best practice examples of gathering and presenting quantitative and qualitative data.

Download the report for free on our site here.

MOD abandons the privatisation of SAR - Gove announces this morning!

A Sea King from RNAS Culdrose lands at Penzance Cricket ground with a casualty.

The MOD has abandoned plans to privatise the SAR services in the UK following irregularities in the tendering process it was announced this morning.


The move would have seen the privatisation of Sea Kings at air stations throughout the UK including Culdrose on the Lizard.

Newlyn Harbour Commissioners give public presentation in Cornishman forum.

The Cornishman newspaper hosted a very well attended public forum on the future of Newlyn at The Centre.

The new team of commissioners, under the chairmanship of Gilbert Macabe, were introduced by editor Jacqui Walls and given the opportunity to spell out their vision of the port's future. An upbeat presentation was followed by a comments and questions from a wide range of harbour stakeholders, as members of the local fishing community are now deemed!

In the short time they have been together - remembering that the posts are voluntary - the commissioners have made significant changes to the running of the port - though many of these are not visible. These include the formation of a number of sub committees:

• Finance (Chaired by Gilbert McCabe)
• Assets (Chaired by Juliet Taylor)
• Human Resources (Chaired by Ray Tovey)
• Harbour Management and Operations (Chaired by Kevin Bennetts)

These have all been busy reviewing the current harbour operations which were understandably in need of a major overhaul after the previous regime.

Many of the comments from the floor were still concerned over the lack of concrete plans for the much needed new fish market - though these were countered by an assurance from the chairman that far from being shelved new plans were being considered. Glen Caplin, Cornwall Council representative, reaffirmed the Council's pledge of £500,000 of capital project grant funding - agreed in last December's chamber - good news for the port indeed.

One thing is for certain, Newlyn is ripe for development - and, although the harbour does not want the appearance of any large national chains appearing on the scene, they will be mindful of the fact that St Austell can pin its demise as a major shopping centre and the subsequent meteoric rise in Truro's fortunes down to refusing the first Cornish Marks and Spencer's store in the town back in the early 70s!

In Newlyn's case, perhaps well known industry relevant retail outlets would be a better bet in giving tourists a reason to visit the port and not just to see the fleet. As things stand, despite being Cornwall's largest port and the second largest in the England, its sole remaining fish and chip shop is currently up for auction - an big opportunity for someone surely?

One important role for the community or stakeholders to play in the port's fortunes is to support the NPHC's Advisory Board which is currently being formed. Ideas from interested parties or suggestions for additional representatives should be forwarded to the commissioners via their web site where all the contact information needed is available.

Creeping in the Bay.

Looks like the Billy Rowney is out in the Bay trying to creep back her port side gear from where she dropped it last week. Friday's marathon session to creep for the starboard side took from 1030 in the morning till seven at night........

Working on the starboard side gear after retrieval on Friday.

a few hours later and she has picked up the gear and taken shelter in Penzance Harbour against the quay where there is a enough room to sort the trawl in relative comfort.

Penzance promenade in winter weather.

 With the winter weather making its mark, Penzance promenade is awash at high water as gale force winds sweep across the South Western Approaches......

 under the shelter of Newlyn market where things are a little quieter, ray wings from the Sapphire.........

 and red mullet......

 and Dover soles and as she's the only decent size trip of trawl fish up for auction as gales keep the boats in port all sure to make good money this morning.......

 with a handful of bass thrown in for good measure.......

at the other end of the market, literally, there's a ton and a half of quality hake from the gill netter Govenek of Ladram, good to see some of her fish back on the auction floor..........

at present, the only Newlyn boat at sea is the flagship of the Stevenson fleet, the Cornishman, seen here recorded on the VesselTracker AIS tacking software some 70 miles SSW of Newlyn in the 'deep water' on Sunday.