Last day of the latest Cefas survey, time to wash down the decks

Don't forget to bookmark the Cefas web site to keep abreast of the imprtant work carried out to support our fishing industry - research methodology has come along way and there is now increased opportuntiy for the fishing industry and the scientists involved to work closely together - the Cefas Endeavour blog now gives a daily account of the survey work undertaken. Hopefully, the site will soon support a comments facility which will allow fishermen to contact the boat and the scientists while thay are at sea on station - here's the final entry from this year's Irish Beam Trawl Survey:

Smartbuoys and bloggers

Posted by Mark on 03 October 2012

This morning we picked up the Smartbuoy near Weymouth and thus completed all the tasks of the survey. The clean down has begun and we are busy packing everything away ready for the next survey. The steam home is underway and we expect to dock in Lowestoft tomorrow lunchtime.

After blogging for the last three weeks, I thought I should say something about myself on the last entry:

I have worked at Cefas for 20 years now and it seems to have gone by in a flash. I started work in Fisheries Division in 1992 on a temporary six week contract to do some data input as a mere boy. That contract was soon extended to three months and then everyone seemed to forget I was supposed to leave and I kept being paid, so here I still am.

I soon found myself part of the market sampling team and learning to read otoliths - our way of determining the age of fish. The former found me travelling all over the country to ports, sampling the catch and taking otoliths from fish. The latter fascinated me from day one; learning to age megrim and then herring and sprat in my early years. I moved away from market sampling and eventually took over the co-ordination of the age determination programme, having expanded my expertise across many species and being involved in and running a number of international workshops around Europe and numerous otolith exchange programmes between different institutes.

Sea-going has always been an element of my work at Cefas and it is one that I always look forward to, providing a complete change to the office and a wonderful experience of being out on the waves in our own research vessel.

Irish fisherman protests over dumping perfectly good fish at sea - says he won't do it anymore!

Many eyes, not only those of fishermen in Ireland, will be watching what happens to see where this story goes!

"Trawler trying to land €17,000 worth of fish in Kilmore quay tonight which should have been 'discarded', skipper says he wont dump it at sea, Lots of monkfish, dept officials in 'discussions' with owners to see what happens next, Skipper says EU rules on throwing good fish overboard is crazy and he wont do it"

Faces of artisinal fishing - Spain

Luís comes from a family of fishermen. His great-grandfather started fishing in the tiny village of Cabo de Gata, near Almería, Spain, many years ago. Today, Luís is teaching is son the ropes. He's the first of the fifth generation of fishermen from this family.

Artisanal fishing makes up over 60% of all fishing here in Andalucía, the southern region of Spain. The methods they use are sustainable and cause little damage to the sea and to fish stocks: they know that if they catch everything today, there will be nothing left for them to catch tomorrow. So they look after their patch, they don't catch young fish, they don't damage the bottom of the sea and their discards are minimal. This allows fish stocks to replenish, ensuring there's plenty left for future generations.

Yet the European Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) favours the most powerful parts of the fishing industry, which have a much higher environmental impact. Often these are boats so big and powerful  that they can catch two to three times more fish than the ocean can handle. This doesn't only put the future of European fish stocks in serious jeopardy, but it also means that artisanal fishermen are increasingly struggling to make a living - like Julián, a pole-and-line fisherman from Hondarribia, the Basque Country.

See the full story and other videos on the Greenpeace web site here:

It's important for them to do this now, because the CFP gets reformed only once a decade. This year, European politicians will negotiate and vote on changes to the CFP.This could be our only chance to ensure that the policy is fair for all fishermen, artisanal and otherwise, and to salvage a future with healthy, sustainably managed fish stocks You can help make this a reality. Be a Fisherman's Friend and sign our petition to the UK Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon now.

Cornwall Food & Drink fair fares well

Festival Highlights - Cornwall Food & Drink

 

This year's Cornwall Food and Drink fest proved a big hit with the foodie public - over forty thousands people were reckoned to have tasted the delights of Cornwall's biggest food festival over the weekend - especially on Saturday when over 3000 people were tallied per hour!

 

Top Cornish chefs included Nathan Outlaw gave a continuous series of cooking demonstrations complete with top tips for making the best of Cornwall's growing list of locally produced food produce and catches.

Hake, John Dory, cod and mackerel, just some of the fish up for auction at Newlyn this morning

Trick of the light, on the prom...

one of Phil's hake was the star turn on Simon Mayo's Foodie Thursday show on Radio2 last week...

JDs from the JR...

and a stack of red gurnards too...

red gills  - the brighter the red the fresher the fish...

early Autumn mackerel make good money if you can catch them...

and here's where they end up...

off for another day on the pots, Girl Pamela leaves the quay...

once the bait is aboard the big red crabber from the Isle of Man will set sail...

the full moon provides some additional light in the harbour before sunrise...

the directory enquiries of St Ives ready for the off...

ex fishing boat MFV 74 with her numbers red lined out - on the National Historic Ships register...

rigging from the Joanna Lucretia set against the morning sky...

the netters, Sparkling Line and Govenek of Ladram wait for this month's big tide to pass before sailing again...

if you want to see Newlyn Harbours Lights turned on for Christmas this year why not form a team (of 4) and enjoy some of the piscatorial ambiance and a few beers to be found in one of Newlyn's best known fishing pubs?

An apology from the Sunday Times - Only 100 adult cod in the North Sea

Clarification: The headline of this article over-simplifies a complex issue. It refers to a fall in the number of fully mature cod over the age of 13, indicating that this is the breeding age of cod. In fact, they can start breeding between the ages of four and six, in which case there are many more mature cod in the North Sea. CEFAS, the government fisheries laboratory, says the cod stock remains severely depleted but has been gradually improving. 

We regret the over-simplification - as recorded in the Sunday Times

Fish auction panoramic view

Enjoy a 360º view of the fish auction on Newlyn market this morning.