Penlee Pedlars set off from Plymouth for Newlyn!

Penlee's volunteer RNLI lifeboat crew are putting some power behind their peddles at the end of the month, cycling 125 miles from Plymouth along the coast road back to the lifeboat station in Newlyn to raise funds for the charity's annual SOS Day 2012. 

Starting on SOS Day (Friday 27 January) the five strong team made up of; Coxswain Patrick Harvey, volunteer crew Sam Gillchrist, Dan Sell and David Raymond and Deputy Launching Authority Graham Henderson, will set off from Plymouth RNLI lifeboat station at 9.30am and travel across the Torpoint ferry to Cornwall. From Torpoint they will tackle the gruelling Cornish coastal road back to Newlyn, calling in at Looe, Fowey, Falmouth and The Lizard RNLI lifeboat stations on route to say hello to their lifesaving colleagues. 

The money raised through the challenge will go towards the provision of new state of the art lifejackets for the station's all weather and inshore lifeboat crews. The two brand new types of lifejacket were designed over a three year period and in close consultation with the RNLI's volunteers. They are made using the latest material technology to meet the charity's current operational search and rescue requirements. 

The manufacturer's recommended price for the new all-weather lifejacket is £350 and for the inshore lifejacket is £330. As a result of securing a discount on these costs it will cost around £7,000 to equip the crew of both lifeboats at Penlee. 

 

Patrick Harvey, RNLI Coxswain at Penlee and one of the five riders says;

'We've given ourselves three days to complete the mission which works out at about 42 miles a day. We're all training hard, but it's a big a step up from the 50 mile route round the west of Cornwall we completed for SOS Day 2011. We're expecting it to be a pretty tough course along the exposed, hilly, coastal road and are hoping the weather will be kind to us! 

In 2011 we raised nearly £4,400 which was amazing, but with the extra distance under our belts we're hopeful about hitting £7,000. Please sponsor us at  or drop into the station.' 

While five of the crew are battling the hills, the rest will be doing a Soap Our Saloons car wash and serving up bacon rolls from the Sizzle Our Sausages BBQ at the lifeboat station between 10am and 3pm on Saturday 28 January.

One boat this morning.

 Some prefer dark chocolate........

 crab pot bait delivered.......

 another day with the net needles in action.......

 sophisticated 400kg tub handling kit just delivered........

 with few boxes on the market this morning delivery times are swift.......

waiting for the sale to finish.

World's biggest fishing on a huge scale - reporting a disaster in the making?.

This story from around the other side of the planet would appear to have a message for every, any and all those connected to the fishing industry, but especially those for whom fishing is of political or economic concern on a grand scale.

Aside from the sheer size of the statistics involved around the Jack Mackerel fishery (shades of mackerel fishing in the South West in the late 1970s perhaps) - a fishery in which ex-Irish and other EU vessels have been sold into - see this infographic - if some of the boats look familiar they were based in Killybegs at one time) the organisations involved in the management and research bear scrutiny also - right at the bottom of the article in a footnote appears the line -"ICIJ received a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts in the past." - the Pew Charitable Trust is thought to receive funding from the Oil Industry - who may, or may not, have a vested interest in where fish are caught.

Photo courtesy of Periódico El Ciudadano

As the article appears on the iWatch web site:

TALCAHUANO, Chile — Eric Pineda peered deep into the Achernar’s hold at a measly 10 tons of jack mackerel after four days in waters once so rich they filled the 57-foot boat in a few hours.

The dock agent, like everyone in this old port south of Santiago, grew up with the bony, bronze-hued fish they call jurel, which roams in schools in the southern Pacific. “It’s going fast,” Pineda said. “We’ve got to fish harder before it’s all gone.” Asked what he would leave to his son, he shrugged: “He’ll have to find something else.”

But what else is there to find? Jack mackerel, rich in oily protein, is manna to a hungry planet, a staple in Africa. Elsewhere, people eat it unaware; much of it is reduced to feed for aquaculture and pigs. It can take more than 5 kilos of jack mackerel to raise a kilo of farmed salmon.

Yet stocks have dropped from an estimated 30 million metric tons to less than 3 million in two decades. The world’s largest trawlers, after depleting other oceans, now head south toward the edge of Antarctica to compete for what is left.

An eight-country investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists of the fishing industry in the southern Pacific shows why the plight of the humble jack mackerel foretells progressive collapse of fish stocks in all oceans. Their fate reflects a bigger picture: decades of unchecked global fishing pushed by geopolitical rivalry, greed, corruption, mismanagement and public indifference.

St Ives fisherman Simon Rouncefield - text my fish!

Inshore hand line fisherman, Simon Rouncefield who puts his fish on to the market at Newlyn is making use of the latest communications tools to boost sales of his top quality fish to local customers. Fresh fish from his punt, Jen can be bought over the phone direct from the boat while still at sea. Customers can give their mobile number to Simon who will then text them his catch as he heads for port. Arrangements to pick up the fish are agreed beforehand to ensure that the day's catch gets to the customer direct from the boat, often still alive!

Here' Simon talking to Radio Cornwall's breakfast programme this morning explaining how he has joined the 21st Century and the technology available to exploit more opportunities for sales to customers. Later on in the audio extract you can hear the Harbourmaster at Looe commenting on the feasibility of selling fish direct to customers and the possible consequences for bigger vessels if they follow suit.

Sound recording courtesy of BBC Radio Cornwall Breakfast Show.

Mid-week and a relatively quiet market.

Just the one beam trawl trip this morning......

though there's a good selection of inshore fish from the finest line caught bass........

which always flies off the market floor........

as will these stiff little mackerel.......

then there's plenty of cuttles.......

that need shifting.......

from the man himself........

it's a wrap.......

one crabber all set for the off........

a few days off for the gill net fleet.......

outside its fronbt door, the Mission's 'resuss' kit is ready for action - let's hope the cobwebs gather on it!

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.