Over one million pounds in funding heading to fishermen in Cornwall

Maria Damanki talked of the funding being made available to help initiate change - hot off the press, here is the funding news for Cornwall:

Over £1.13 million of European Fisheries Fund (EFF) money has been secured to support the sustainable development of fishing communities in Cornwall & Isles of Scilly. 


The funding has been made available from the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) and DEFRA through the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), and is managed locally by Cornwall Development Company (CDC). It will be used by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Fisheries Local Action Group (FLAG) to maximise available private investment to build a sustainable future for local fisheries communities. 


 The FLAG area extends along the entire Cornish and Isles of Scilly coast, plus approximately 1 mile inland. The fund will be available for projects to bid into for investment up to a maximum of 100% of total project costs, depending on the project activity and proposed outcomes. The decision making board will comprise of representation from the local community including fishing, private, public and voluntary sector organisations. 


The FLAG would like to hear from projects that will contribute to one or more of the following key themes: 
 1. Developing sustainable supply chains and market development 
2. Providing infrastructure and communal facilities for fishing communities and cooperatives 
3. Capacity building, cooperative development and networking 
4. Training, retention and recruitment including diversification 
5. Coastal communities, tourism and economic development 
6. Advocacy and engagement for fishermen 
7. Regional sustainable management engagement 


 Projects will have an on-the-ground support mechanism available to them from Cornwall Rural Community Council to aid development and help through the application process. The FLAG recognises that whilst the industry landed over £27m worth of catch last year, the changes it continues to face mean these communities, their residents and workers need a boost to support their well-being. 


 Suzanne Bond, Chief Executive of Cornwall Development Company, says “This fund recognises the importance of fisheries communities in Cornwall & Isles of Scilly. Driving forward the local economy is at the heart of CDC’s mission and the FLAG offers the means to invest in sustainable development at the community level.” 


 Alison Thompson, Director for the Marine Management Organisation said “I’m pleased that, through this scheme the MMO is providing support to local fishing communities, such as in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, to develop and implement their own sustainable solutions to the challenges they face. “The FLAG involves a wide range of representatives and we believe their combined knowledge, experience and ideas could make a real difference to the future of the local fisheries sector. This is reflected in the significant amount of funding awarded to them.” 


 Paul Trebilcock, Chief Executive, Cornish Fish Producers Organisation said “The involvement of the Cornish & Scillies fishing community in shaping the FLAG means that the benefits of the fund will have a real impact locally, regardless of the size of the project”. Peter Jefferson Chief Executive of Cornwall Rural Community Council commented “This funding is a real opportunity for Cornish coastal communities to develop projects that will enable them to become vibrant, sustainable and inclusive, which is our aim as a charity”. 


 For more information and Expression Of Interest forms please contact FLAG Animateur Office by email rob.poole@cornwallrcc.org.uk or telephone 01736 243559.

Who own the fish?Damanaki said, this time in a very clear way "..in our proposal there is for the first time the explicit recognition of the public ownership of fish stock"

Maria Damanki's recent address to member states on fisheries reform:


Dear Mr Chair, Members of the European Parliament, Members of the national Parliaments, I would like to thank you for inviting me here today to discuss the fisheries reform with you. As I said in October when we last met, I am convinced that a greater involvement of national parliaments will improve the quality and the ownership of this reform. That is why I have already visited a number of your national parliaments and I intend to visit as many as possible before the adoption of the reform proposals. 


Two weeks from now, I will be at a joint session of the competent committees of the Italian Senate and Chamber of Deputies. I have listened to your views and read your opinions with great interest. Broadly speaking, I see that there is general consensus on the need for reform. We are all convinced that we need to shift to a more sustainable approach; that good and lasting economic performance for our industry can only come from healthy stocks. Sure, some would have wanted an even more ambitious set of proposals; others are rather critical; others still agree on almost every point. But we have one thing in common and that is that we all want to get this reform right and reverse the decline of the sector. I find this common ground – and the attention that each of you is putting into the proposals - very encouraging. 


But let us look at some of the more controversial points. There is one recurring criticism in several opinions: the mandatory character of changes. Let's look for example at Maximum Sustainable Yield by 2015: most of you say "yes", but would like to add "where possible". The discard ban: you say yes in principle, but we need more time and flexibility. Transferable Concessions: yes again, but please not mandatory. And so on. We need a more binding approach in our reform. We can not avoid political responsibilities. "Where possible" may mean "never". Without deadlines, without a specific target for implementation, we will postpone again and this reform will fail. I know the target dates we have set are strict and difficult and sometimes close. But this is the only way that we can provide for a viable future for our fishermen. Getting to sustainable exploitation is an urgent matter; we need to draw a precise roadmap with realistic, but progressive and concrete milestones. 


 Take for example Maximum Sustainable Yield. If we are to achieve sustainable levels for all the stocks, we must set a target date for it. For some of you, it should not be 2015. I think it should, for at least three reasons. 


The first: working towards MSY can be done and has been done quickly in a number of fisheries. In 2009, out of 38 stocks assessed, only 5 of them were at sustainable levels; now we have 20. Eastern Baltic cod, a stock that used to be severely overfished up until recently, is on its way to sustainable levels; the same is true for anchovy in the Bay of Biscay, North Sea Herring, Northern hake… We have let the stock recover for a few years and now quotas and revenues are on the rise. So it is possible. 


The second reason: when we relieve fishing pressure, very quickly more catches can be made, as the fish grow in size and weight. It also becomes easier to catch them, reducing the costs of fishing and increasing the profits. Like the World Bank last year, this month an independent body, the New Economics Foundation, reminded us once again of the huge potential of good fisheries management. They say that every year in the EU the fishing industry could have an extra 1.8 billion euro - almost three times the subsidies we grant; and we could create around 83 thousand jobs – a third of the current employment in the EU fishing sector, if stocks were restored to MSY levels. In the current economic climate, we can't afford to miss these opportunities. We have it in our hand to start the recovery of the industry, of coastal regions. We cannot afford to say "later". Reaching MSY is an economic imperative. And the third reason: re-building fish stocks by 2015 is a legal obligation under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation of 2002 – both of which the European Union has signed, together with other partners. Do we really want to show the international community that we simply give up, when we argue for the EU leading the fight for a better environment? 


 Let me now come to the discard ban. We will implement it gradually and we need to find pragmatic solutions for mixed fisheries. Public opinion is massively against discards. Right now there are at least seventy anti-discard initiatives around Europe. Either by the fishermen, who are finding ways to fish more selectively; or by European retailers, who are delisting species from their supply whenever stocks are endangered or non-selective fishing techniques are used. Through the new European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, we will provide financial support to the industry for this kind of initiatives and to implement the ban. We will incentivise selectivity. We will reduce the pressure on the most popular and fragile species by promoting diversity of supply. But we need to go for the ban with clear target dates. Otherwise, consumers will decide for us and may boycott perfectly good products simply because they no longer accept the waste that goes with them. Again: if we do not set on ourselves strict – but, as I repeat, realistic – deadlines, we will only open the way to short-term interests and to new excuses for inaction. Please do not give in to such excuses. 

A very Fishy Friday to all blog followers!

Catch a flavour of the fish auction on Newlyn's fish market in the early hours.......

That's a cracking Dover nestled in the ice.......

as are the Sparkling Line's pollock......

at this time of year many fish are full of roe......

even the beam trawler Twilight can't leave the big bass alone........

whole monk tails just begging to find a home in an oven near you......

the greater striped cuttlefish shows off.......

more shining examples of prime white fish.......

and a box of roes to boot........

plus a few kilos of bass for the Britannia IV.......

this half box of cod represents 15% of a boats MONTHLY cod quota for Area VII a - caught in one net.........

nearly ready to set sail for the rest of the tide......

evidence of fresh sardine landing during the night, 14 tonnes from the Lyonesse.........

a sight more familiar to the port of Fleetwood, the Isadale is in town......

viewed from the bow.......

brand new beam trawls being put together for the Cornishman is taking shape on the quay......

Angle's lifeboat is on passage.......

the three Belgian flagged beamers are back in town again.......

that's one big squid Mr Smart, some serious deep-fried squid rings in the offing!.......

a little creativity along the memorial fence.

West of the Scillies

There's an interesting collection of French trawlers and Danish mid-water (pelagic) boats working west side of the Scilles at the momet.

Quality Cornish hake goes down a storm in the Royal Boprough

rex goldsmith ‏ @rexgoldsmith

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@ThroughTheGaps the good people of Chelsea are loving their hake. Especially caught from that fantastic boat @AjaxAH32. God bless her

Now this is just the sort of message we love to see being fed back from our customers up in the smoke - nice one Rex! Been a while since I had my bonnet trimmed in Vidal Sassoons round the corner!

The Apprentice goes fishing - Monty Halls in Cadgwith - BBC2 last night at 8pm, tonight at midnight in HD!!

Apprentice fisherman Monty Halls on the beach at Cadgwith with top lobster pot man Nigel Legge.

Showing for the next five weeks every Wednesday night at 8pm, marine biologiost Monty Hall finds out just what it takes to actually make a living from the sea in Cornish waters. In episode one, an Introduction to the Skippers from Cadgwith Cove who Monty Halls is about to work alongside, local Skipper Jonathan Tonkin - 'Tonks' - gives his first impressions of Monty. This is first in a series of six episodes; in later shows Monty will have his understanding of ethical fishing vs making a living in the context of modern fishing methods put to the test when he sails in some of the bigger boats from Newlyn.


Monty Halls is a writer, explorer, television presenter and public speaker. A former Royal Marines officer who worked for Nelson Mandela on the peace process in South Africa, he left the services in 1996 to pursue a career in leading expeditions. Having achieved a First Class Honors degree in marine biology, over the next decade he circumnavigated the globe four times on various projects, leading multi-national teams in some of the most demanding environments on earth. Notable expeditions included an anti poaching project in the high montane grasslands of the Nyika Plateau in northern Malawi, the discovery of a sunken city off the coast of Tamil Nadu in India, and a (successful) attempt to find and photograph a rare crocodile species in the mountain pools of the Raspaculo Basin in Central America. In 2002 he was awarded the Bish Medal by the Scientific Exploration Society for his services to exploration.

Hake back on the menu!