Biggest Newlyn crabber ever built arrives for owners Emma and Mark.

Bearing the same port regritsration letters as the old Dom Bosco, TO (Truro), as do all the Rowse fleet, owner Mark Rowse keeps an eye on the stern.......

as the finished hull is towed to her new home in Newlyn.......

skipper-to-be Mario will be looking forward to his new workhorse being completed as soon as possible.....

which shouldn't be too long as the main shellfish season is just round the corner. Crabs, being cold blooded creatures are much more active (and therefore likely to be caught) when the water is warmed by the summer sun.


Photos courtesy of Edwin Hosking at ocean Fish.

Investing in the future - new crab boat for Newlyn

Rowse's new crabber in Toms' shipyard, Polruan.

The biggest fishing vessel to be built in the Westcountry for 20 years will be heading to her new owner today – although she does not have far to travel on her maiden trip. The 16-metre-long steel crabber was constructed at C Toms and Son boatyard at Polruan in Cornwall, on the River Fowey, for Newlyn firm Rowse Fishing Ltd. ​ 

Waiting atop the decommissioned crabber, Emma Louise, is boat's new wheelhouse which will be fitted once the hull is towed to Newlyn for fitting out.

The biggest fishing vessel to have been built in the Westcountry for the last 20 years enters the water for the first time at the Polruan Harbour.


Karen Toms, from the boatbuilding firm, said the completion of such a large vessel was a fitting tribute to the company's 90 years in the business. She said: "We have built longer boats, but in terms of her size overall, she is the largest. It's always very exciting time for us when a new boat is launched and we are celebrating our 90th anniversary this year, so it's great that we're still busy and still building boats here." 

Rowse Fishing Ltd is owned and run by husband and wife team Mark and Emma Rowse. Cornwall's fleet of crabbers is known to be particularly sustainable, catching non-vulnerable species with virtually no impact on the sea bed and little by-catch of non-targeted fish. Undersized crabs and lobsters are thrown back into the sea alive. Rowse supplies crab and lobster to both local and international markets, although most is exported to France, Spain and Portugal, which boasts a huge market for species like spider crabs, where it is considered to be a delicacy.


Sustainably fished crab from the Rowse fleet are supplied to local crab processors like M&R Crab in Newlyn.


Over the last two years, the Polruan firm has built a 15-metre steel boat which is now fishing from the Isle of Lewis, and a 12-metre scalloper for an Exmouth firm. The new boat, which has not yet been given a name, will be officially launched in Newlyn on March 31.


Story courtesy of the Western Morning News.

The Fisherman's Apprentice - Monty Halls in Cadgwith - part I

A few of the bigger boats pulled up on the beach at Cadgwith.

Marine biologist Monty Halls explores the challenges facing the British fishing industry by living and working as a traditional Cornish fisherman. In this episode he goes it alone and soon learns that making a living as an inshore fisherman is a lot harder than he thought. A bout of violent sea sickness puts the whole project in jeopardy.


Episode one last week saw Monty arrive in Cadgwith 'down on the Lizard', home to a fleet of small beach-based inshore boats looking every inch the visiting celeb. Under the wing, or should that be lobster paw of top pot man Nigel Legge,  Monty began his metamorphosis into a fisherman proper. Nigel is full time punt fisherman, one of the last withy pot makers left in the UK, part time artist and full of patience.


His charge is bewildered at first; he has eight months in which to try and prove he can make a living on his own, but keen to get stuck in and be a fisherman. As Kingfisher II skipper John 'Tonks' Tonkin says, fishing is a way of life not a job. What that means is every moment of the waking day, and at night too, is either spent thinking about the sea, being at sea, looking at the sea or listening and watching others do the same - taking stock of the weather and orientating the boat by eye are unthinking and a constant.


Diver Monty will have given many local fishermen their first glimpse of the bottom on which they shoot their gear - expect more later in the series. Talk of accidents at sea and what can go wrong make up much of the early footage - necessarily so as fishing is the number one most dangerous job in the UK.


The weekly rod fishing competition which involves many of the boats going to sea for the fun of it with all hands fishing for the biggest specimen of any fish they can catch is a part of the village's way of life. The world will become a duller and drearier place in general without such intimate activities that involve communities so closley with the very reason for their existence in the first place. Those parties at Newlyn may wish to consider the knock-on effect of allowing fish to be auctioned away from the port and losing the fish market altogether - it is a part of community life that is Newlyn and just as relevant and important as the fortnightly angling events that are celebrated in front of, and inside, the Cadgwith Cove Inn.


Look out for the next episode this Wednesday at 8pm on BBC 2. 

In Penzance, patron saint St Piran promotes piscatorial pleasure

Cornish flagged streets in Penzance herald St Piran's Day.......

as market business gets under way, prime Dovers......

razor clams......

and one less John Dory for the Imogen II to catch later this year.......

stick to the hake Ajax says Mr Nowell.......

even the waste oil is treated to an environmentally sensitive exit from the port these days......

one man and his dog walk Newlyn Green as the sun begins its daily toil.......

the intensely patriotic fish and chip shop at the top of Penzance's oldest street, Causewayhead has matching Cornish colours twixt flag and name board.

Cool Marazion in colour

One of the oldest town in the country is Marazion.......

where even the Post Office has its creative side.......

round the corner in the Market House Gallery there are some excellent examples of reasonably priced Newlyn Copper for that unusual gift......

with a strong nautical theme.......

 evident in most of the pieces......

across the road a gallery with an excellent selection of highly collectable Glynn Macey originals and prints at affordable prices inside the Out-of-the-Blue Gallery........

down the road and the Mount immediately makes its presence felt under the afternoon sun......

with plenty of beach to enjoy when the tide is still out.......

watched over by a pair of cavorting dolphins.......

the spotless sand provides one of the safest beaches in Cornwall.......

despite the screaming Northerly beeze........

giving rise to plenty of beach combing for anyone needing to collect examples of flotsam and jetsam for art groups.......

and a host of clouds to conjure flying by......

with shadows........

and patterns galore.......

and buried treasure of sorts......

make it easy to uncover all sorts of patterns......

and textures at every step........

of the cycleway.........

up the hill by Penzance Station there's fine local seafood on offer for the discerning traveller.

Cefas Endeavour away again to the North Sea

Why the compass rose?

After a brief stop back at base in Lowestoft, the Cefas Endeavour is back at at sea and has resumed her MCZ Characterization survey. Follow this section of her current tour of duty and read the first post from seagoing Paul on board.

Sennen to Land's End and back - under 3 miles.

Wayward fish boxes at work on the quiet in Sennen Cove.......

with the local fleet of punts pulled well up the slip.......

as heavy seas pound the rocky shore.......

giving Sunday's hardy walkers plenty to enjoy close at hand......

with the odd surprise in store for the unwary.......

round the corner the size of the ground sea can be judged from the waves breaking in the shallower water of  Gramper bay......

where the RMS Mulheim ran aground almost eight years ago today.......

time for a  round of teas, the walker's perfect accompaniment....... 

high above, a portent of dampness filling the skies over the Longships and beyond......

before heading back via the cycle path to the car park at the far end of Sennen.........

View Short walks Sennen and Marazion in a larger map