Pietje Antje lost 32 years ago today

The Janine En Klaas was a sister ship to the Pietje Antje

The Jersey registered, Plymouth based Pietje Antje P117 was lost with all hands when she went down in a storm, November 14th 1980. 

Don Williams the skipper, Phill Kingham, deckhand and Buster Morgans the Engineer.

It is important to think about the definition of artisanal fisheries, based on the FAO - a few words on the appropriation of the small scale notion by ENGOs and possible impacts on the European fishery industry

Boats like the Crystal Sea III are being presented to the public as industrial fishers.

Appropriation of the small scale notion by ENGOs and possible impacts on the European fishery industry:

Small-scale fishery has a good image within the European public opinion. By favourishing the creation of future sustainable fisheries trust based only on the very small small-scale fishery, we consider there is an attempt of self appropriation of this good image and its strong value in terms of communication and sympathy. This also automatically classifies the other intermediate small-scale fishermen as ‘industrial’ in the public opinion. Intermediate small-scale fishery is also a strong source of employment, value and volume for the European small-scales fisheries. This part of the industry is also quite weak in front of systematic implementation of the privatization of the fishing resources. This intermediate small-scale fishery is mainly based on over 12 m vessels, targeted by the proposition of privatization of the European fishing resources.

Which impacts can we foreseen?

This intermediate part of the small-scale fishing industry trades its catches through fish-auctions thanks to a diversified network of first buyers, from small scale retailers to bigger fish-merchants, including intermediate fishmongers. These interactions between these fishing fleets and their buyers are the core part of social and economical contribution of the current European coastal fishing communities.

By putting pressure on this intermediate sector through privatization of the fishing rights and eviction from important fishing grounds, it decreases its size. Its catches will decrease in same proportion. This loss will impact the first-trade through fish-auctions and the existing intermediate trading industry which will have no more reasons to exist. Remaining very small fishermen will warranty a resource they will trade through short-distance trading scheme, highly lucrative, targeting restaurant and economically gifted consumers.

The possible disappearance of this intermediate will emphasize the split between very small fishermen and a more off-shored industry, then qualified as ‘industrial’. This ‘industrial’ fishery will be confined in smaller fishing areas, even for off-shore areas. Market will be mainly supplied by the ‘industrial’ fishing fleets and imports.

Nowadays, big retailing firms play a strong role in trading seafood. They request a standardized products, and for fishery seafood products, mainly a narrow range of whitefish. Trading needs of this outlet are based upon standardized products and yearly contracts. In this type of contracting issue, one fishing mode is bound to win: mono species fishing, for which the fisherman nearly knows what he is going to catch before leaving the port. On the whitefish market, main imports come today from Norway and Iceland which have mono species fisheries, nearly all at the maximum production yield.

In this type of trading, European off-shore fishing industries face an handicap because of their multi species status : they catch several species in the same hawl. They still need a network of fish-auctions and fish merchants to sell the complexity of their catches and to survive. This network is the same as the one used by the intermediate small-scale fishery. If this network disappears, European new industrial fishing industry will probably face difficulties to sell their catches compared to Iceland and Norway imports.

This scheme of only favorishing very small small-scales fishery may strongly impact economical condition of the other European fishing industries. We might expect a strong decrease of the size of the Industry, amplified by the implementation of large strict area-based management, if no-fishing zones. The fishery industry will thus ‘free’ new marine spaces.

Regarding short-distance trading schemes, these are a good opportunity to develop fairer relationships between fishermen and their coastal community. In some areas they are essential, especially when there is no fish-auction. In some others they are a good complement to existing trading schemes. But in any case, they would give way entirely to existing fish-auction schemes and to the highly varied parts of richly diversified small scale fisheries.

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The example for France, number of fishing vessels (FV) and employment

France		FV	Employment
North Sea and Channel	not towed <12 m	597	1179
	not towed > 12 m	45	183
	towed	699	2445
Atlantique	not towed <12 m	895	1222
	not towed > 12 m	124	916
	towed	648	2485
Méditerranée	not towed <12 m	870	1134
	not towed > 12 m	88	150
	towed	162	719
France without outermost areas	not towed <12 m	2362	3535
	not towed > 12 m	257	1249
	towed	1509	5649

Mid-week market at Newlyn

Two good full trips form the beamers almost fill the market...

so its eyes down in the bidding war...

Trelawney's tub gurnards are looking good...

as are Smart's rays...

and there are even some elusive mackerel for the shop...

proving just as elusive, more Omega III rich fish, this time Cornish Sardines...

the growing number of cuttles are leaving their mark...

known in the trade as a bight...

first light and lights on the prom.

A Glowing Net Helps Make Fishing More Sustainable

By helping direct smaller fish out of trawlers’ nets, the SafetyNet aims to help save fish by putting an end to by-catch.

Fish "discards" are a huge problem around the world. In parts of the European Union, fishermen throw back up to two-thirds of what they catch, either because the fish are the wrong size or the wrong species. Quotas, which dictate how much fleets can land, are part of the issue. But so too is the actual technology of fishing. Trawlers gather up most of everything in their path. And many fish die before they are returned to the water.

Campaigners are working on the EU’s quota system. But Dan Watson, a U.K. designer, is trying to update the technology piece as well. His SafetyNet system--which has just won the international Dyson design award--brings more selectivity to trawling, targeting the wanted animals, while letting more of the rest go free.

The invention is an illuminated ring that alerts fish to an escape route from the net. Fishermen retrofit their nets with the device. Power comes from a circular turbine within the plastic that collects kinetic energy from the water.

Watson says one of the main problems with trawler nets is that as they are dragged, the holes get smaller, stopping younger fish from escaping. So, one job of the rings is simply to keep the holes open. The second is to light the way, as fish often don’t know they are within the net, because it’s dark, and the net is enormous.

"The rings act like a beacon to show them where the ways out are," he says. "The fish investigate, and it kickstarts their escape reaction, because they are thinking 'this isn’t normal.' When they get close to the ring, they can feel the stronger flow of water through the holes, and they can use that as a guide to get out."

Since graduating from college, Watson has set up a company to commercialize the design. He is now in "advanced prototyping," and is testing the rings with partners in Norway, the U.S., and the U.K. He estimates the current cost at $32 a device, but he thinks he can halve that through mass manufacture. Ideally, he would like governments to subsidize the technology, either directly, or by having it accepted as part of a quota arrangement.

Effectively, fishermen would get more opportunity to fish, and make more money, if they could prove they were being more selective. "One of the main reasons for the trials is to establish just how effective the rings are, and then to decide what kind of incentive scheme could be built around them," Watson says. "Depending on how efficient fishermen are, it would determine how many days at sea they would get." The Dyson Award comes with a $16,000 first prize. Watson says he plans to use the cash for further development.

Looking for new doors, maybe Bison - can anyone help?

Pete Brooks

10 November 06:41

hi all,looking for abit of help, i'm looking to purchase some new doors and have been looking at the bison, i've spoken to john ashworth and he recommends the size 7 looe type, He did recommend that i try a set before i buy,but not knowing many fisherman i'm abit stuck cuz the ones i do have bigger boats,so,here's the crunch, i no its a massive ask and probably above and beyond, but at £1700 for a new set its a bit of a gamble wether they be right for me, so has anyone got a set lying around that i could borrow for a couple of weeks,or possibly buy if surpluss , anything from a size 6 to a 7+ would give me an idea of which way to go,i can collect from anywhare in the s w, many thanks ,brooksie,provider th 434

Sustainable fishing Spanish style - the Cornish Federation of Sea Anglers CFP response doucument.

After reading the CFP consultation document from the Cornish Federation fo Sea Anglers, enjoy these short videos of the Spanish fishing fleet - those that toil with pole and line and handlines, thse guys are not quite the villains that Spanish fishermen are often depicted!



and last, but not least, enjoy footage of Newlyn's last pole and line fishing boat the Ben Loyal. Hopefully, we may see her return to fishing for tuna again next summer when conditions improve.

Monday's market full of fish.

For a Thresher shark this is just a baby, the biggest in the world ever was landed a few years back in Newlyn...

another top trip from the boys on the Ajax, all hands glad to be back at sea after missing the last tide with a major gearbox repair keping the boat in dock...

more of those elusive granddaddy cod get the data treatment...

signs that the cuttles are getting thick on the ground...

topped up with megrim soles the grading machine doe s the business and sorts the fish in record time...

lest we forget.