Gilt stocks nose ahead.

Not the brightest working conditions on the auction floor this morning........

unlike the fish which were positively glowing like these pristine red mullet......

golden gilt head bream........

bright-eyed red gurnards.......

and cracking looking line jigged squid.........

seems there is no shortage of hake on the ground with the netting fleet, as the Golden Harvest gets an early shot of fish ashore before the neap tide is even half way through.......

the long and the short of it, out comes the tape measure for the blue sharks.......

opening time at the Harbour Cafe........

one date for the diary, Stamp and Go, the big Porthleven voices assemble at The Centre in a few weeks time - an excellent evening celebrating the range of the human voice, from sea shanties to soliloquies........

this is one buoy the the Trinity House ships won't get their hands on - the company offers one of the more unusual cruises - aboard the Patricia passengers get to see first hand the day-to-day life of a ship actively engaged in supporting the safety of seafarers around the coast..........

and a pasty the boys in the team would like to!

Skipper Shaun Edwards honoured to get bravery medal.

The Shipwrecked Mariners' Society's Skill and Gallantry Awards recognise people who risk their lives in dangerous sea rescues. Mr Edwards will receive his award on Tuesday from The Princess Royal. Shaun Edwards, Skipper of fishing vessel Nova Spero and his crew had stopped fishing on the evening of 28 October 2010 due to deteriorating sea conditions when they heard a distress call from the Polish tall ship Fryderyk Chopin. The ship had suffered the dismasting of its fore and main masts in heavy seas.

Shaun Edwards, Skipper of fishing vessel Nova Spero and his crew had stopped fishing on the evening of 28 October 2010 due to deteriorating sea conditions when they heard a distress call from the Polish tall ship Fryderyk Chopin.

UK FISHERMEN TO BENEFIT FROM NEW LOW COST VMS

Screen shot of the new Succorfish VMS system as it appears in a web browser.

Succorfish’s new hi-tech global vessel monitoring system, the SC2, is low cost and easy to install and can be seen to the right of the light on the wheel-house.

There will be an Inshore VMS Demonstration Event held at Brixham Fishmarket on Thurs 27th Oct 2011. The purpose is to show the new advanced SC2 technology and vessel monitoring system that have been developed and tested as part of the Defra funded Inshore VMS project (MF1214). The Project trialled new mobile phone communication technology to address issues of monitoring and controlling access to Inshore Marine Protected Areas. All interested parties including individual commercial fishermen can learn more about the technology and see for themselves how it works. The event will be very hands on with plenty of opportunities to see the VMS working in real time and a participating fishing vessel will be giving tours whilst demonstrating the technology. The Event will also see the official launch of the Graphical User Interface (GUI), a bespoke web site developed to securely manage personal data in a format that will ultimately improve efficiency. We hope to attract all interested groups from inside and outside the UK. 

The aim on the day is to bring interested parties together to learn more about the technology and see for themselves how it works. The Event is intended to be very hands on with plenty of opportunities to “touch and feel” the technology and to see it working in real life. A participating fishing vessel will be on hand and guided tours of the vessel and the technology will be available along with onshore demonstrations of the technology. The Event will also see the official launch of the Graphical User Interface (GUI), a bespoke web site developed to present and manage the gathered data to interested parties in a format that will ultimately make their jobs easier.

Itinerary

11.00           Welcome followed by presentation   

1. The concept and motivation behind the project (Gus Caslake (Seafish) & Tom Rossiter – 15 Mins)

2. A walk through of the technology (Richard Hopper & George Hendricks (Succorfish) – 15 Mins)

3. Analysis of the data collected (Koen Vanstaen (CEFAS)  – 15 Mins)

4. The Conservation perspective (TBC (Natural England) – 15 Mins)

5. The manager’s perspective (Neil Wellum (MMO) – 15 Mins)

6. The fisherman’s perspective (Nick Prust (SWIFA) – 15 Mins)

7. Questions

Contact Richard Caslake at Seafish on 01736 362625 or e-mail r_caslake@seafish.co.uk


Commercial fishermen could benefit from this new hi-tech but low cost global tracking device that is being launched to improve the way the industry operates. Succorfish, has designed and developed a highly advanced vessel monitoring system (VMS); the SC2, specifically for the marine and fishing industries and following a series of successful trials across the South West of England, it is now to be rolled out worldwide.

The VMS has been developed alongside industry authority, Seafish, and will allow vessels to accurately map and monitor their position using dual GPRS/GSM software to within one metre, will provide closer access to marine protected areas such as Lyme Bay whilst avoiding hefty fines previously incurred when breached, and improve and increase overall inshore fishing activity.

The low cost device complies with current UK fishing laws and uses real time satellite and mobile phone technology, as well as online tracking software, to monitor and record the course and position of vessels via up-to-the-minute reporting. Information is then relayed back to a password protected website where users can view their personal data through a graphical user interface.

And, with new EU legislation being introduced in 2012 that will force all 12m-15m vessels to have monitoring systems with satellite reporting, the SC2 is now being regarded as the cost effective solution to a worldwide fishing industry problem. Additionally, for vessels 15m and over, the product is also e-log ready and directly interfaces with a specialist, state-of-the-art catch reporting software system via a global satellite network. George Henricks, Commercial Director of Succorfish commented, “We have worked very closely with industry representatives and listened long and hard to all of the stakeholders who have participated in the inshore VMS trial. All of those parties have a common goal in that they want to see the long-term security of both the marine environment and the livelihoods of the fishermen. Therefore, by designing and developing a product like the SC2, we can directly support the industry and make huge strides towards achieving its goal.”

The SC2 has been developed in conjunction with Seafish and CEFAS following a 12 months pilot project to monitor the UK’s inshore fishing activity. It has been funded by Defra as part of its remit to undertake economic and social research in the marine environment and overseen by representatives from the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), NaturalEngland, Devon Sea Fisheries Committee, the South West Inshore Fishermen’s Association and the UK Marine Protected Areas Coalition Group.

Nick Prust, owner of one of the vessels that took part in the trials and Chairman of the South West Inshore Fisheries Association added, “This is the solution that the industry has been looking for and the system will be a real asset to fisherman regardless of their fishing methods. It will give us continued access to fishing grounds with spatial and temporal restrictions whilst allowing us to co-exist alongside newly proposed marine protected areas.”

Succorfish is an industry leader in the design, development and manufacture of bespoke, cost effective tracking and asset management solutions for the marine industry. See www.succorfish.com for details.

If you would like to speak directly to George Henricks, Succorfish Commercial Director, please call 07545 146343 or george@succorfish.com

Keeping it simple - Cornish Hake with Vichy carrot.

Fillet of Cornish Hake on a bed of Vichy carrot.

Choose your favourite veg to accompany some fine Cornish hake, and along with a handful of new pots provide some real colour with a bed of Vichy carrot - thickly sliced carrot, barely covered in salted water and simmered until the water is almost gone - add a knob of butter and a teaspoon of sugar to create a glaze - season.

It's true, every cloud has a silver lining!

Taken at 0745 on Saturday October 1st, Penzance Promenade looking North West.

With some unusual weather hitting our shores during late summer and autumn some rare cloud formations have been recorded. Variations on the Undulatus type cloud have appeared on a number of occasions and caught on camera for the benefit of TTG readers.........

Taken at 0630 August 21st looking South East across Newlyn Harbour

a shot taken overlooking the harbour at the same time as this features the only recently idfentified cloud type Astrolatus Undulatus - named for the first time in 2009! One photo from the mornings pictures was entered for this month's Nikon inFrame competition and is now in the final four! - please check out the photo and cast your vote in support of these rare clouds seen over Newlyn!

Vote for Newlyn in the Nikon inFrame 'Weather' photo competition and win a Nikon Coolpix s9100.  

http://inframe.nikoncompetition.co.uk/Vote.aspx?id=02&country=uk

The advantages of a computerised fish auction.

Across the Channel, Yan Giron a technical advsior and consultant to the French and Breton fishing industry has just published a short video which demonstrates the power of a computerised fish auction in today's technologically advanced world. A world where buyers from all over the EU can bid live online at a number of auctions. As yet, Newlyn shows no signs of having such a system installed in order to compete with other markets like Plymouth, where an ever increasing amount of Newlyn fish is being sold - when the Louisa N, the latest beamer to join the Nowell's fleet, begins to land her fish there that will mean approaching £2.5million pounds worth of fish will not be passing across the market floor in the foreseeable future from their boats alone.

Director or Peche Fraiche, Yan Giron coined the term FLUXCRIEE (in English, Flux in Fish Auction) to identify his consultancy activities in favour of fish auctions providing technical assistance, diagnostics, information and communication management, improvement of logistics, first-sales market places monitoring and management of technical staff. You will discover his activities in the video.

FLUXCRIEE has been developed little by little, thanks to Yan's various efforts to support  fish auctions. These were in relation to various types of fish auctions, various sizes, coastal fishing activities and offshore fleets.

Peche Fraiche is an advisory and technical consultancy service available to all EU customers - more information on the bi-lingual site can be found here.

Mighty misty Monday morn!

All smiles on the door of the Hotel Artist in Residence........

down in Penzance wet dock the latest beaamer to join the Nowell fleet, the Louisa N is almost ready for her first trip under her new name and number........

the view across the Bay is not so good this morning.......

as the end of season yachts wait for the dock gate to lower.........

along with the Penzance Harbour Towing vessel..........

there's an empty berth in the dry dock at the moment.......

and one of the harbour slipways leads nowhere it seems.