It's the same the whole world over........

 Wherever you are around the eastern coast of Sicily, Mount Etna dominates the skyline, rumbling away like some grumpy old uncle........

 down at sea level it's make do and mend, bits of an old Lambretta power this beach winch........ 

 with several examples of local craft at Giardini near Taormina high up on the sand......

 some have obviously been around longer than others.......

 no tide, no wind and 32˚..........

 one of the bigger boats in the local fleet that fish for tuna and swordfish in season.......

 with familiar variations on haulers.......

 on smaller punts too.......

the local fishermen's 'mission' is a scene familiar in every port........

for those with deep pockets the Villa Sant Andrea nestles in the cliff in a stunning location...... 

and at €52 for two OJs, a beer and a vodka and coke the service is impeccable! 

Up to the limit.

VesselTracker have added another feature to their 'Cockpit' view on the AIS browser and there's plenty of French, sorry, Breton fishing action right up to the limit on the north coast. These boats are very quick to share fishing info with one another.

Now Scottish Langoustine - next Cornish Hake?

Scottish prawns are set to grace the shelves of Sainsbury's supermarkets after suppliers struck a deal with the retailer. The prawns, caught off the West Coast of the country, will be branded as Scottish langoustines. The deal means shoppers will be able to buy UK-caught langoustines that have not previously been frozen for the the first time. The Fresh Scottish West Coast Langoustine will be available in all of Sainsbury's 390 fish counter stores.

Let's hope it won't be too long before Sainsburys has a new line of prime fish, Cornish Hake!

Cornwall Food and Drink Festival starts tomorrow.

Visitors to Newlyn fish auction see the food trail from the start.Cornwall's Food and Drink Festival starts tomorrow - a fantastic chance for people to follow the food trail - a celebration of local produce.......

 with a wide range of local shellfish (like those supplied by the Mussel Shack)........

 Cornish hake.......

and just coming into season fresh squid now being caught in the waters off Cornwall. Of course it's not all fish! - there are producers and suppliers representing the full range of the best in Cornish Food with all the information needed in this downloadable programe of events........

head for the centre of Truro and the Lemon Quay area.

Ajax bound away again after landing mid-tide.

After steaming for some 15 hours back to Newlyn from the fishing grounds off Ireland, the netter Ajax made her first landing just after lunchtime today and has now just left Newlyn on her way back out to the grounds again for the second half of the tide.

Tracking the Ajax with the AIS as she leaves Newlyn and heads away West passing the Scillies to the South - around four and a half hours.

How useful would this be?

The top Scottish and UK fish market at Peterhead in Scotland uses its web site to inform merchants and other interested parties which vessels are landing on the market with how much fish. Is this something that would help the second biggest fish auction in England inform local buyers, merchants, restaurants, hotels and all the other businesses interested in knowing what types and how much fish is on the market at Newlyn on any given day?


Skipper Peter Bruce aboard the Peterhead seiner Budding Rose thinks so,  "it has been a great benefit not only to the merchants but the fishermen as well."

This morning's landings on Peterhead market - including fish from the pair seine team Budding Rose and Lapwing.

Brixham market also offers a similar service on its web site:

There are two boats due to land at Brixham tomorrow.

Plymouth Fish Market, well aware of just how much fish is exported to European countries even provides their web site in four different languages.......

Newlyn's answer is this dilapidated blackboard at one end of the Fish Market! - although there is information available to CFPO members - but it is password protected and would therefore seem to defeat the purpose.

Ajax AH32 Newlyn bound.

Picked up by the AIS from VesselTracker, the hake netter Ajax makes her way across the traffic separation scheme on her way to Newlyn. Skipper Alan was predicting around 500 stone of hake for Thursday's market - landing ahead of the rest of the fleet should give him the chance for his fish making a good price.