Through the Gaps! - Newlyn Fishing News Cornwall UK fish commercial fishing fish cooking and art

Thursday 4 April 2013

Some wise words, followed by some apposite comments

HFWFF PR business is harming the British fishing industry through false allegations that lead the public to believe that fishermen do not care about the environment that supports their livelihood.

It also turns the situation into a "fight" and a "war" when what is needed is that all sides work together to protect the LAST WILD FOOD supply and the ecosystems that produce it. His campaign is against the interest of the people and the planet. He and the organisations that fund his PR campaign and company, should answer for environmental crimes!

Courtesy of Fishing Zones.

Added to the mix:

"Protecting the last wild food supply" appeals directly to the foundations and NGO's that say they are attempting to do just that; protect it from nasty greedy fishermen!

And protecting an "ecosystem" for many NGO's is exactly that, protecting the "biodiversity" against a perceived loss from the actions of man and they believe that this is enough of a justification for displacing indigenous coastal communities of their rights and installing groups of competent eternal actors to save the seas. Geosystem is a better word because it is recognised as being the richer and more complex interaction of man with his milieu (milieu: The geographical milieu of a place includes the elements of natural order, artefacts of equipment and infrastructure, institutions and culture and relationship; in short all of the memories that inform and create the system of a place.)

Examples in the past of protecting the environment and ecosytems that show how vary we should be of such suggestions include over 100,000 Masai pastoralists who were forcibly displaced from their traditional lands in the name of "conservation" and native Americans who were virtually wiped out by colonial interest in the 1800's.

Despite fine wording by the WWF in 1996 that "Indigenous communities should be recognised as equal partners in the development and implementation of conservation strategies..." conflicts have multiplied as indigenous populations have formed themselves into competent organisations. Coastal communities, and the fishing industry in general, need to unite, onshore and offshore workers alike, into one voice to have any lasting influence on decision making.

NH Newlyn.

Fishing News' Quentin Bates latest chiller thriller!

When a shipowner is found dead, tied to a bed in one of Reykjavik's smartest hotels, sergeant Gunnhildur Gisladottir of the city police force sees no evidence of foul play but still suspects things are not as cut and dried as they seem. And as she investigates the shipowner's untimely - and embarrassing - demise, she stumbles across a discreet bondage society whose members are being systematically exploited and blackmailed.

But how does all this connect to a local gangster recently returned to Iceland after many years abroad, and the unfortunate loss of a government laptop containing sensitive data about various members of the ruling party? What begins as a straightforward case for Gunnhildur soon explodes into a dangerous investigation, uncovering secrets that ruthless men are ready to go to violent extremes to keep.

Praise for Quentin Bates:

'Superior crime fiction set in Iceland... this is a well constructed, well written and satisfying police procedural'. The Times.

A meticulously constructed thriller, peopled with exceptionally convincing characters and shot through with black humour. Frozen Out is as chilling as an Icelandic winter. S.J. Bolton

"[A] crackling fiction debut ... palpable authenticity." Publishers Weekly

British author Bates captures the chilly spirit of Nordic crime fiction in what is the apparent start of a promising series with a distinctly appealing protagonist. Fans of Arnaldur Indridason's Reykjavík mysteries will want to add Bates to their reading lists. Booklist

Help save the fishermen of Hythe Bay.

The Fishermen in your local area are under threat. There local grounds that they rely on to make a living will be closed! Please take the time to read the fact and why it will be so wrong for this mcz to go ahead in the way it is being proposed.

Help save the fishermen of Hythe Bay.

Mapping European Seabed Habitats webGIS update

Latest news from MESH.

They have updated their web site that provides an interactive mapping portal for mapping all European seabed habitats - MESH.

The recent updates to the Mapping European Seabed Habitats (MESH) interactive mapping portal include: www.searchMESH.net/webGIS.

This portal allows you to view, query, search and download seabed habitat data for the waters of Belgium*, France, Ireland, Netherlands*, Portugal (including Azores), Spain and UK. The webGIS works in conjunction with International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) Spatial Facility, which contains a metadata catalogue that describes the mapping data.

It is still maintained by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee but is now funded by European Regional Development Fund – Atlantic Area through the MESH Atlantic project.

More details are provided below for those who are interested. Further data updates will occur in 2013; I will notify you again when the composite EUNIS habitats layer has its next major update. We hope that you continue to use and benefit from the data. If you have any questions or suggestions, please get in touch through info@searchMESH.net.

RIP - Guy Cotton a giant little man!

A man close to the heart of every fisherman who has sailed from Newlyn died today.

The little man in mourning.

Guy Cotten died at the age of 77 years in Trégunc, near Concarneau. The man, fascinated by novelty and innovation, created a symbol for Brittany and seafarers. Cotten clothes are sold in 27 countries.

Guy Cotten‘s life was a classic rags to riches story.

The eldest son of seven children, his farmer father died when Guy was just seven years old. The youngsters first career was as a racing cyclist, before he turned to selling overalls.

He started the Guy Cotten safety clothing range from a workshop in Concarneau. In 1966 Guy invented the Rosbras, a jacket with a double velcro and a zip fastener designed never to let in water through the seams.

In 1974, Alain Le Quernec drew the little yellow man ‘le bonhomme jaune’ which became Cotten’s famous brand logo.

In the 80s Guy took over Pirelli’s survival equipment company Piel – for four years he laboured to create the ‘Thermal Protective Survival’ suit – a piece of clothing credited with saving the lives of Raphaël Dinelli and Thierry Dubois in 1996′s Vendée Globe Race.

Guy’s multi-national company today owns factories across France and as far flung as Madagascar, employing around 300 people.

On their website this afternoon the firm wrote: “Today, the little yellow man has his eyes full of his tears – but, faithful to the spirit of his creator, he’ll not lower his outstretched arms. All of Guy's family and the workers for the company would like to thank you all for your numerous messages of support.”

Guy Cotton, died today aged 77.

He's either in black...

or in yellow...

the most famous name on oilskins in Europe!

Fisheries should be managed so that they are profitable, otherwise fishermen won’t go out to fish. And fishing for maximum sustainable yield (MSY)

Full article courtesy of Mike Urch, SeafoodSource contributing editor 29 March, 2013 -

Fisheries should be managed so that they are profitable, otherwise fishermen won’t go out to fish. And fishing for maximum sustainable yield (MSY), which is a main criterion of the EU’s revised Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), is not the best way to achieve this objective.

So said Professor Sidney Holt when giving one of the Buckland Foundation’s annual lectures in March. “The value of the catch has to be more than the cost of catching it. Setting TACs (total allowable catches) is the worst possible way to manage a fishery.

“You don’t just use the brakes when driving a car. You have to manage the input not the output, which depends on recruitment [to the fishery].” The recruitment number can be the most variable, Holt said. “It can change by a factor of 100 year to year.”

Regarded as one of the founders of fishery science, Holt was speaking on the theme, “Why, or why not, maximum sustainable yield (MSY)? Contemporary thoughts on the rational management of fisheries” at Fishmongers’ Hall in London.

Although MSY forms a major constituent of the revisions now being sought for the CFP, the concept had first been introduced by the U.S. government at a conference in 1949 as a management objective for stopping Japanese fishing vessels coming into its waters to catch salmon.

There were no territorial waters in those days, Holt said, but added that the U.S. government sought to claim that it was fully utilizing the resources within what became its 200-mile limit or exclusive economic zone.

Maximizing yields using surplus production models is an unscientific method of managing fish populations, according to Holt. “You can’t use it to take account of selectivity. You’re catching too many fish when they’re young. This is the issue.

“You’ve got to look at the relationship between growth and death. How much more [death] is caused by fishing than nature?”

Ian Boyd, who preceded Holt as Buckland Professor for 2012/13, and spoke after him, agreed that there is little justification for the maximization of yield approach.

“If MSY is to be used then make it a limit not a target,” said Boyd.

Boyd went on to say that in his view fishing for MSY also ignores fundamental aspects of the ecosystem such as the need to leave enough fish in the sea for other parts of the food chain including mammals and seabirds. To do this means reducing the proportion of the fish stocks that is harvested.

Both speakers agreed that fishing in European waters should be reduced. Less fishing effort would mean more profit for those left in the fishery, and it would also provide a better balance between the components of the food chain that are harvested by fishermen, mammals and birds.

Determining the reduction in fishing effort required was difficult. There was a suggestion from a delegate that to achieve maximum economic yield in a fishery that was completely unregulated would mean reducing fishing effort by a massive 80 percent.

This size of reduction would not be necessary for fisheries regulated by the current CFP. However, because of the practice of discarding, scientists — and therefore fisheries ministers — didn’t know how much fish was already being harvested, which would be necessary before a reduction in fishing effort could take place. Said one delegate: “We don’t know what is caught in the North Sea as 45 percent of the total catch is thrown away (discards) without being recorded.”

A discard ban — another objective of the revised CFP — was much in favor with delegates, although there were very few fishermen in the audience and not all are thought to agree with this approach. It was mentioned that there was a better understanding of fisheries management in the Netherlands because fishermen and scientists work better together there.

As Colin Bannister, a trustee of the Buckland Foundation, put it in his summing up of the proceedings: ‘Fisherman have a great deal of knowledge that is worth tapping into.

“The ideals of fisheries management are relatively simple,” Bannister told delegates at the beginning of the proceedings. “But the practice is actually very difficult.” However, as the proceedings concluded he did think there was “light at the end of the tunnel.”

Speaking afterwards he said: “Scientific advice for the crisis stocks is now aiming to establish a fishing rate rather than a stock biomass,” said Bannister. “Fishing rates are now falling in the most critical fisheries, and are closer to MSY, which even though not the ideal is nevertheless a step on the way to the profitability that [Professor Holt] is seeking.”