Another weather-window fishing opportunist - the Govenek of Ladram fishes off the Lizard

With an eye on fresh fish markets europe wide being almost devoid of fish to buy a handful of boats from Newlyn have nipped awau form the port for 48 hours to secure a landing for Monday's market - when their fish will be some of the only fresh fish of any quantity to come up for auction the length and breadth of the UK.

On the downside, apart from the impending apocalyptic (according to the Daily Mail) weather due to arrive overnight the Govenek is fishing where much of the traffic passing the Lizard passes - so the boys will have to be extra vigilant on deck when hauling, shooting and on watch at night.

"Aquaculture – or fish farming – will provide close to two thirds of global food fish consumption by 2030"

Aquaculture – or fish farming – will provide close to two thirds of global food fish consumption by 2030 as catches from wild capture fisheries level off and demand from an emerging global middle class, especially in China, substantially increases.

These are among the key findings of “Fish to 2030: Prospects for Fisheries and Aquaculture” – a collaboration between the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), released today. The report highlights the extent of global trade in seafood which tends to flow heavily from developing to developed countries.

According to the FAO, at present 38 percent of all fish produced in the world is exported and in value terms, over two thirds of fishery exports by developing countries are directed to developed countries. The “Fish to 2030” report finds that a major and growing market for fish is coming from China which is projected to account for 38 percent of global consumption of food fish by 2030. China and many other nations are increasing their investments in aquaculture to help meet this growing demand.

Asia – including South Asia, South-East Asia, China and Japan – is projected to make up 70 percent of global fish consumption by 2030. Sub-Saharan Africa, on the other hand, is expected to see a per capita fish consumption decline of 1 percent per year from 2010 to 2030 but, due to rapid population growth of 2.3 percent in the same period, the region’s total fish consumption will grow by 30 percent overall.

The report predicts that 62 percent of food fish will come from aquaculture by 2030 with the fastest supply growth likely to come from tilapia, carp, and catfish. Global tilapia production is expected to almost double from 4.3 million tons to 7.3 million tons a year between 2010 and 2030.

“The fast-moving nature of aquaculture is what made this a particularly challenging sector to model – and at the same time, embodies the most exciting aspect of it in terms of future prospects for transformation and technological change,” said one of the report’s authors Siwa Msangi of IFPRI.

“Comparing this study to a similar study we did in 2003, we can see that growth in aquaculture production has been stronger than what we thought.”

The World Bank’s Director of Agriculture and Environmental Services, Juergen Voegele, said the report provides valuable information for developing countries interested in growing their economies through sustainable fish production, though he warns that carefully thought out policies are needed to ensure the resource is sustainably managed.

“Supplying fish sustainably – producing it without depleting productive natural resources and without damaging the precious aquatic environment – is a huge challenge,” he said. “We continue to see excessive and irresponsible harvesting in capture fisheries and in aquaculture, disease outbreaks among other things, have heavily impacted production. If countries can get their resource management right, they will be well placed to benefit from the changing trade environment,” Voegele said.

Fisheries and aquaculture are a vital source of jobs, nutritious food and economic opportunities, especially for small-scale fishing communities. Yet threats from large-scale disease outbreaks in aquaculture and climate change-related impacts could dramatically alter this.

Árni M. Mathiesen, Assistant Director-General of FAO's Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, emphasized that unlocking the potential of aquaculture could have long-lasting and positive benefits.

"With the world’s population predicted to increase to 9 billion people by 2050 - particularly in areas that have high rates of food insecurity - aquaculture, if responsibly developed and practiced, can make a significant contribution to global food security and economic growth," he said.

WASHINGTON, February 5, 2014 -

Ajax - Fishing news update

30bxs aboard hake,haddock,pollock,whiting and some ling, couple more to get then #FoxtrotOscar #eatmorefish #AjaxHake
— Ajax TO32 (@Ajax_Hake) February 7, 2014

#eatmorefish - RNMDSF - saving lives, the Mission's mission to fishermen - even when a storm blows through the building!

Here's a great story from Julian at Newlyn's mission proving the value of PFDs (Personal Flotation Devices - life-jackets to you and me) - in this instance when seas crashed through the buildings windows on the very day the Mission was due to hand out free life-jackets to fishermen - plenty ofg jokes about needing to wear a life-jacket in the Mission!

The Fishermen’s Mission has retained three main aims since it’s inception in 1881. The first, is the safety of fishermen and over the many years we have evolved from taking out (in the Bethel boats out to the guys at Sea) fresh dry cloths to obtaining oils and life jackets for our UK fishermen. Last year, the fishing authorities in Scotland and Northern Ireland obtained European funding monies to buy these new Mullion personal flotation devices (PFD’s). They are designed for fishermen by fishermen. As the only fishing related charity it was obvious to partner with ourselves and then distribute the life jackets.

Julian, RNLI Frankie and Mission skipper Keith Dixon demonstarte the PFDs

We together with Seafish and the RNLI applied for a European grant to obtain more PFD’s for Cornwall and England.  Thankfully a trail of 200 was allocated to the Duchy and now they have all been allocated to Cornish fishermen around the whole of the coast. Superintendent Keith Dickson and Centre Manager Julian Waring raced around the coast putting up flyers, using every media outlet and talking to fishermen to ensure they would come to the two day road show in Newlyn this week. 

Training session from the RNLI's Frankie.

Overwhelmed with the response, we coped well due to the scores of volunteers who helped with the distribution, form filling and handing out of pasties and refreshments. At each training session, the fishermen listened to Frankie from the RNLI who ran through the need and the importance of life jackets. Then on the second day just before we were about to train and hand out over 100 PFD’s, a wave crashed through the window at the Mission Centre in Newlyn destroying the carpets and all the paper work ready for the event. Fishermen a plenty came to the rescue and cleared up within the hour.

Just the paperwork to complete!

Then Emma at Seafood Cornwall reprinted all the paperwork required. Together with Andy from the CFPO they stayed and helped with the form filling. Without them, our volunteers and the fishermen these events wouldn't have happened.

Thank you, Julian

Weather window sees work start on repairing Newlyn Green before the next storm hits the Bay

Sun-up sees the Gry Maritha heading back to Penzance at the end of her first supply run for over a week...

while work starts at first light making good the damage done to Newlyn Green...

all hands will be glued to the new giant TV screen in the Star and other Newlyn pubs to hoping to see Jack Nowell score his first try for England against Scotland tomorrow at Murrayfield......

that Sennen man Shannon has been busy with his brushes again...

empty pallets are the only things being loaded on the fish lorry transport this morning...

much of the path along the front from Wherry Town to Newlyn has been damaged...

and in some places the beach appears to have shifted inland a considerable distance...

the Green will need some TLC soon...

all that is visible of the lugger, Children's Friend...

thogh the view across the harbour looks tranquil enough...

surveyors surveying the scene...

there were other casualty's of the storms...

still a few hours of tide left before high water...

one of the old outfalls has been revealed by the shifting beach...

huge chunks of tarmac were shifted along the path...

and holes scoured in the sea wall...

many of the beach's bigger stones form the old causeway have been relocated even further up the beach...

along with pebbles and seaweed....

the Green has been closed off to the public...

in places complete sections of paving stones were blasted form the promenade.

Newlyn netter Ajax spots a window in the weather and heads for the fishing grounds

From Twitter:

All shot 28miles NW of the Scillies, start hauling at 3am #Eatmorefish
— Ajax TO32 (@Ajax_Hake) February 6, 2014

An approximate position for the Ajax - she is out of AIS range at the moment - when in range you can follow her here.

Only a handful of boats have ventured back to sea from Newlyn in the last 24 hours - the netter Ajax has shot her gear around 30 miles North West of the Scillies. She began hauling around 3am this morning and will steam back to Newlyn ahead of the next storm due to arrive tomorrow morning - stay safe guys.

What Newlyn looked like on Wednesday #ukstorms

Video of Penzance Storm 5th February 2014 (Enhanced) with thanks to VercesiVideo Productions on Vimeo.