Happy New Year - of the Dragon!

 

Potsticker pork pasties........

 haddock steamed with ginger........

served with spring onions, drizzled with smoking coconut and sesame oil and a dash of soy sauce .

Monday's market with megrim and mixed netting trips.

Any colour you like as long as it is black, plenty of cuttles with the Cornishman this morning......

Gary M, one of several netters to put their fish ashore at the end of the year's first neap tide

there's still plenty of bass around the reefs and rocky grounds.......

for the big netters, a good run of ground fish like cod, ling and pollack to go with the hake........

piped fuel aboard by the thousands of litres.......

a tale of three cats........

just time to check the megrim sales........

a reminder for anyone catching one of these at sea, there's a restriction on landing undulate ray - more information is available about shark, skate and rays from Seafish and the MMO.......

heavy cloud over the land, light enough out to sea.

A SUPPORT fund has been launched for the families of the crew of the Tit Bonhomme

Tit Bonhomme trawling- photo courtesy of Niall Duffy

Niall Duffy

A SUPPORT fund has been launched for the families of the crew of the Tit Bonhomme which sank in heavy seas at the entrance to Glandore Harbour early on Sunday morning. The account is held at the AIB branch at Bridge Street Skibbereen and the name of the account is ‘The Union Hall Trawler Support Fund’. 


Donations can be made to account number: 1000 9183, Sort Code: 93-63-75.

Harbour pretty full this morning.

 Despite the best intentions of the local council, it doesn't take long for nature to find its own course, the Wherry Town river now runs straight out to sea once again.......

a discarded hydrostatic release for a life raft washed up on the beach........

 after taking ice the netter Britannia IV makes her way back to her berth past busy quays with many of the big trawlers and beam trawlers trips finished and now home for the weekend.......

 plenty of working deck on the ex-landing craft.........

 likely showers this morning as a solitary gull wheels over the harbour......

 the old harbour crane doesn't see much action these days.......

 no end of unusual visual combinations to be found around the quayside.......

THV Patricia, taking a break from servicing the nation's buoyage system.

Penlee lifeboat escorts French trawler.

Penlee lifeboat was called out to escort a French trawler with a fouled propellor at the weekend. In these instances the lifeboat is called on to provide additional security - in fresh southerly/sou'easterly conditions entering Newlyn can be difficult - fickle changes to the strong currents in the gaps can force an incoming vessel to veer hard to port - as Thierry, the skipper of the Breton trawler Kristel Vihan found out!




Here's the full story courtesy of cox Parch harvey: 

"The volunteer crew at Penlee RNLI lifeboat station had a busy day yesterday (Sunday 15 January) with three incidents in seven hours. Their weekend activities were disrupted to assist two separate French trawlers and a surfer in difficulties. The crew onboard the Penlee all-weather lifeboat Ivan Ellen first launched at 2.30pm to assist a sixty foot French trawler that had a fouled propeller and was making little headway in the poor weather conditions in Mounts Bay. 

As the lifeboat approached the vessel Falmouth Coastguard informed the crew that a surfer had got into difficulties near Praa Sands so the crew immediately diverted. In 14 minutes the lifeboat was on scene, arriving at the same time as the Search and Rescue helicopter from Culdrose. They quickly spotted the surfer in the sea and winched him to safety. The Penlee lifeboat volunteers then headed back to the French trawler and escorted it into Newlyn Harbour arriving at 4.15pm. The pagers were to sound once again when at 7.20pm the crew of the Penlee all-weather lifeboat were launched to another French trawler with a fouled propeller that was being towed towards Newlyn by a second fishing boat. The RNLI crew escorted the vessels for two miles then secured a rope to the trawlers stern to act as a brake while the vessel was being towed through the gaps at Newlyn harbour. The lifeboat crew ensured the vessel was moored safely alongside before returning to station at 9.20pm.

Andrew Munson, RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager at Penlee, says; ‘The sea conditions were poor in Mounts Bay with a south easterly force seven and a rough sea. Towing any vessel through the harbour entrance is very difficult at the best of times, but the lifeboat crew and the French trawler crew that they were towing, worked well together and got the vessel through the gap without any problems. Today has proved the commitment of our volunteer crew members at Penlee, responding immediately to three shouts in one day and on a Sunday when many would have been planning to spend time with their families. I thank them all for what they do.’

Video courtesy of RNLI video.

MMO gives and needs information from fishermen.

Marine Planning ‘Out and About’ Diary - not arrived in Cornwall just yet.

News from the MMO: "We have been very busy since our last newsletter in November with our December workshops in Hull, Norwich and Peterborough, drop-in sessions in the reporting areas (London, Newcastle and Scarborough) and the release of the Draft Evidence and Emerging Issues Report. We have also had meetings with the Department of Energy and Climate Change which included representatives from the renewable and oil and gas sectors to discuss the report. We met with the Planning Advisory Service in late December to discuss the progress on the production of the plans and introduce the next steps of planning which focus on vision and objectives for the plan area. Our three liaison officers continue to engage with local stakeholders on a daily basis and have been liaising with the coastal partnerships, the inshore fisheries and conservation authorities, local planning authorities, fishing industry, local recreational users and the tourist industry. 


If you would like to arrange a meeting with us please email planning@marinemanagement.org.uk or call 0191 376 2790.

Click here to access the MMO's Fishing Focus page.

The MMO's comprehensive web site covers every aspect of fisheries management - the first port of call when trying to find out specific information about fishing effort, quotas and other fishing restrictions........

Data like Non-sector catch limits for the Under 10m boats is readily available. 

the latest Catch Limits are updated on an ongoing basis by area.........

with the MMO currently engaged in a consultation period with the fishing industry (and all other marine groups) in the South and Eastern regions, a visit to the Portal reveals a wealth of data visually available via their interactive chart - here showing the fishing effort (estimated based on VMR data) in the South West up to the Welsh coast and across to Ireland.


The MMO are not the only organisation that provides a wealth of electronic data available online, ICES provide the results of their work using the mapping technology of Google Earth view........

this page shows the EcoSystemDat map with the results of the Beam Trawl survey carried out in the North Sea and English Channel. 

Newsround newshound chases sardines!

BBC TV's Newsround presenter, Leah Gooding spent a day at sea aboard top sardine boat White Heather.  Well wrapped up against the elements she experienced at first hand the face of modern sustainable fishing....... 

plenty of gulls followed the boat laden with a mixed shot of sardine.......

and herring, destined for the Zoo at Newquay - keep your eyes posted for the story when it is broadcast later.