Watch Pendeen Watch - the next Helen Glover?

Good to see the number of kids coming through aboard...

the gigs Portheras and the Pendeen Watch....

 which one will be the next Helen Glover?...

the Rowse crabber Chris Tacha towers over the quay at high water...

more shellfish in the shape of scallops aboard the Celtic Pride making their way into the port...

throught the gaps is the Amethyst...

and the Rebecca heading for the gaps...

local art work brightens up the coast path.

Penzance's Ross Bridge opens to let out a fishing boat.

Captured in a time-lapse video- the beam trawler Aaltje Adriaantje exits Penzance Dry Dock and passes out through the Ross Bridge which carries road traffic across the harbour in Penzance.

Fishing News International - What's behind the Green Agenda?

What's behind the Green Agenda on Fishing? Quentin Knights writes in a special report for Fishing news International this month. With Defra and the MMO coming out and showing strong support for a stand against a pan- European ban on drift netting this article would seem to be a perfectly timed piece of investigative journalism!

Martin Pastors leaves the GAP2 project - for all the right reasons it seems!

A PROMINENT fisheries scientist, Martin Pastoors, is leaving his role in the GAP2 project to join the fishing industry, as he feels this is more effective way of ensuring fish conservation.

Having worked with GAP2 – a project that aims to demonstrate the role and value of stakeholder driven science within the context of fisheries' governance – for the past three years, Pastoors has resigned as leader of Work Package 3 and is taking up a new role as the first Chief Science Officer at the Pelagic Freezer-trawler Association (PFA).

One of the main reasons for leaving GAP2, he explains, is the problems that are likely to be caused by the implementation of the EU's discard ban. "The main challenge that I see at the moment is to keep the fishing industry onboard when the policy is looking for drastic changes but without very good explanations or means. I am really concerned that the new discard ban could do a lot of harm to the positive developments that we have seen over the last decade with the decline in fishing mortality, with the RACs as platforms of collaboration and with initiatives like the Scottish conservation credit scheme. The discard ban is a very complex piece of legislation that is very very difficult to explain. There have been many meetings already trying to figure out what the different elements mean. Taking the discard ban as a learning process, then it could develop in something positive. But if it would be rolled out as a control and enforcement approach, I am really concerned that it will do much more harm than good.

"Overall the challenge that I see is to go from a very hierarchical top-down micromanagement style of fisheries management to a management style that is more comparable to other industries: where society gives out a license to produce but the industry needs to demonstrate that it complies with the license. Making the industry responsible to society instead of society telling the industry what to do. That is also why I have taken the strategic decision to be part of the industry and trying to work in that direction."

Accurate fishing data?

Students the world over embarking on a project that involves data collection face the same problem - just where do you go to get the data and how accurate is it?

In the case of fishing, you might head for your local or national MMO or Defra office. Or you might decide to ask of the FAO - the Fisheries Agriculture Organisation - part of the United nations, both are worthy bodies and their data is used to help determine catch quotas for the EU fleets in the North east Atlantic.

If you were looking for albacore tuna catch data in the new millennium these two bodies would seem to be a good choice. Here are their figures:

What's a student to do?

Can anyone help or explain the significant difference in the data between 2008 and 2012?

If so, please email Gareth John gdj501@york.ac.uk at York University who is studying a degree in Marine Environmental Management.


This is how the data was presented:

Year	FAO Albacore	MMO Albacore
2000	15	NA
2001	2	NA
2002	0	NA
2003	0	NA
2004	0	NA
2005	6	NA
2006	18	NA
2007	30	NA
2008	50	50
2009	66	50
2010	118	20
2011	57	5
2012	NA	NA

Black and white #FishyFriday

Combination sweeps ready for the harvest Reaper...

one of the new blowers for the ice works, the ice will be so dry that it is blown down a tube to the boat...

just some of the turbot landed by the Govenek of Ladram...

buying power in action...

Cornish cod iced and ready to go...

boxes by bulk...

the Millennia got sole...

the Trevessa IV got red mullet...

the Britannia V got hake...

and ling...

and cod...

just some of the net fish on sale...

"me, and my shadow"...

security high life...

fly past...

inshore trawler power...

major transformation still in progress on what will be the next ring netter for Newlyn...

get a slice of medical mayhem at the Swordfish tonight...

plenty of airborne traffic over Mount's bay this morning.

Labour scorns delay to funding for flood-hit farmers and fishermen in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset

Just a fraction of much-trumpeted Government funding for flood-hit farmers and fishermen has been handed out six months after storms battered the country.

Storm damaged pots on the quay in Newlyn

MPs today heard how a Government grant scheme to replace storm-damaged equipment including lobster nets and crab pots had handed out just £2,320. And a separate £10 million pot to restore agricultural land has only paid out £530,000.

Labour claimed the figures, which were revealed in Parliament, show that David Cameron's "money is no object" pledge at the height of the winter floods rings hollow. Somerset, Devon and Cornwall were the worst hit areas earlier this year, with many of the region's farmers and fishermen facing ruin.

Environment Minister Dan Rogerson argued "many applications are currently being processed", suggesting significantly more money would be paid in the coming months.

But Labour countered this misses the point – arguing thousands of pounds remain tied up in Government bureaucracy.

Maria Eagle, Labour's Shadow Environment Secretary, said: "The Tory-led Government's response to the floods was slow and chaotic. Despite David Cameron's declaration that 'money is no object' the Government failed to respond effectively to the floods.

ADVERTISEMENT "It is inexcusable that it took so long to get the pumps, boats and sandbags to our communities and only a fraction of the funding the Government allege is available has actually been paid out.

"These latest figures show that this much-needed government support is not actually getting into the hands of the people who need it."

During Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Questions, Labour MP Barry Gardiner said: "In February, the Prime Minister promised that 'money is no object' in the Government's response to the winter floods.

"Four months on, only £530,000 has been paid to farmers out of the supposed £10 million available in the farming recovery fund, and only £2,320 has been paid to fishermen out of the supposed £74,000 approved under the support for fishermen fund. Why is that much-needed support not getting to the people it is supposed to be helping?"

In response, Mr Rogerson, also Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall, said: "There is nothing 'supposed' about those totals, and the money is there for people to bid for – the key question is encouraging people to do so.

"People should apply for that money, and we have simplified the system.

"Many applications are currently being processed, and I encourage all people eligible for those funds – whether farming, fishing or the other funds I have set out – to apply and make use of that money."

A written parliamentary answer published this week shows the fisherman's fund has received 110 applications totalling £349,218.

Of these, 33 projects have been approved worth £74,047.

A Defra spokesman said the £10 million scheme has been made more simple for farmers, including cutting back the amount of evidence need to prove claims and scrapping the need to have three quotes to justify a hand-out.

A Defra spokesman said: “Farmers can apply for up to £35,000 of funding until the 27 June to get their land back into production. They then have until January 2015 to undertake the work.

"We’ve simplified how farmers can apply, among the improvements we’ve removed the need for three quotes by introducing standard costs for commonly requested items such as fencing and grass seed.

"If anyone needs help with the process or has any questions can call our dedicated Farming Recovery Fund helpline on 0300 060 2700.”

She added: “Storm damage claims are a top priority for Marine Management Organisation in order to get this much needed support out to fisherman as quickly as possible. Some 113 applications worth £365,000 have been received so far and we will send out money to these fisherman once they have purchased new pots. We expect the volume of applications to continue to increase in the coming weeks.”

Read more: http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Labour-scorns-delay-funding-flood-hit-farmers/story-21227376-detail/story.html#ixzz34Ve7Xby5