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Sunday, 22 June 2014

Ajax after landing in Newlyn..

Saturday, 21 June 2014

Post beach food


Two versions of baked hake, salted wedgies or indian spicy wedgies with a tomato and sage sauce - should keep the grandchildren happy after a day on the beach. #eatmorefish #hake

Live Brixham Trawler Race videos!



Fantastic seeing the Brixham fleet racing one another - another stunning Brixham Trawler Race day!
Great work Barry!


This year's Brixham Trawler Race will feature live action coming straight from the decks of boats in the middle of all the action! Hopefully, there will be interviews with some skippers and other members of the Devon fishing community as they race against the clock around the course in Start Bay.








Friday, 20 June 2014

#FishFriday #EatMoreFish ! #RNMDSF


Dont forget - tomorrow is Brixham Trawler Race 2014 watch it live here!

Watch live video from the race tomorrow!


This quirky race in June is when the modern working fleet lets its hair down. Skippers dress the boats with bunting and battle it out on a two-lap course around Tor Bay. This year’s Brixham Trawler Race takes place on Saturday 21 June 2014, 10am – 4pm 

 
The winner is not always the first across the line as there is a very strict handicapping system. Old trawlers still exist in Brixham, which has a “Heritage Pontoon” at King’s Quay, against which are moored six locally built, veteran sailing smacks, available to charter.

Many locals are involved in Sea Week, an event in June centred on All Saint’s Church, famous as the church of the Rev Henry Francis Lyte, who resided at Berry Head House. It was here in 1847 that he penned “Abide with me” while he lay dying of tuberculosis.

Thirty-six boats were involved in the 2010 Brixham Trawler Race and carried over 1,150 passengers around the triangular course across Tor Bay.

The local boats were joined by two Dutch fishing vessels — the Cornelis Senior, a trawler which operates out of Holland in the North Sea, and Hibernia, a mussel dredger which fishes in the Irish Sea.

The two ships entered the popular Brixham Trawler Race thanks to Brixham’s long-standing connection with the Maaskant shipyard in Holland.

FISHERIES: Proposal for a regulation on the landing obligation

Latest news from Brussels regarding the implementation of the 'discards ban'.



Landing obligation and discards ban 

Ministers took stock of the preparations for the adoption by the Council of its position regarding a proposal for a regulation on the landing obligation. In addition, the Member States gave an update on the state of play of the preparation of discard plans at the regional level in line with the preparation of the implementation of the new Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). This allowed Member States to exchange opinions, experiences and information.


FISHERIES

Proposal for a regulation on the landing obligation


The ministers took stock of the preparations for the adoption of the Council position regarding a proposal for a regulation on the landing obligation (or "Omnibus" regulation) (18021/13). While generally supporting the Presidency compromise with a view to finalising the work before the end of this year, some Member States expressed diverging views about some key open issues,including the elimination of minimum conservation reference sizes (MCRS) for the pelagic speciesin the North-East Atlantic and the introduction of exemptions for undersized marine organisms.

The Commission proposed the "Omnibus" regulation in order to help the future implementation of the discards ban, as agreed in the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) reform. This proposal represents a temporary and urgently needed solution, which needs to be adopted by the end of this year. It consists of a series of amendments to a number of regulations establishing technical measures and control rules for the fisheries sector. The Council is preparing its position with a view to starting negotiations with the European Parliament in the second half of this year. The aim is the adoption of the regulation by the end of 2014.

One of the central objectives of the reform of the current CFP is the progressive elimination of discards in all EU fisheries through the introduction of a landing obligation (Article 15 of regulation 1380/20131). This is designed to make better use of the available resources, and to meet public expectation that the practice of throwing marketable fish back into the sea will be ended. High levels of discards are identified as an important factor behind the lack of environmental sustainability of the CFP.

The European Parliament and the Council agreed on the gradual introduction of the landing obligation with 1 January 2015 as the starting date for implementation. In order to make the landing obligation operational certain provisions within the current regulations on technical measures, management measures and control that run contrary to the landing obligation and oblige fishermen to discard fish must be removed or amended. However, this new framework certainly cannot be in place in time for the first group of fisheries to be covered under the landing obligation. Legislation is therefore needed so as to remove any legal and practical impediments to implementation on a transitional basis while this new framework is being developed.

As regards technical measures, several provisions contained in the current regulations contradict the landing obligation and oblige fishermen to discard. This means that minimum landing sizes, catch composition rules and by-catch provisions have to be amended. The EU control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the CFP also needs to be aligned with the landing obligation.

As the first group of fisheries will be subject to the landing obligation in 2015, the relevant provisions of the regulations on technical measures, management measures and control measures should be amended by this regulation in order to ensure the timely removal of legal obstacles to applying the landing obligation.

Implementation of the CFP: discard Plans

The Commission provided the Council with a document updating on the state of play of the preparation of discard plans by Member States. This concerns the preparation of related delegated acts, which are to be adopted before the end of 2014 (10217/14). During this meeting ministers expressed views on the current discard plans preparation so as to exchange experience on best practice and share information on key issues and concerns (10872/14).

Ministers from Member States currently chairing regional groups welcomed the preparation of discards plan agreed at sea basin levels (for instance: Baltic region, North Sea, Mediterranean, South Western Waters). In most of cases, these plans are to be forwarded to the Commission in the near future. They set out joint recommendations that the Commission convert into EU through the adoption of a delegated act before the end of the year. Many delegations recognised the added-value in the work carried out at regional level which addresses the specific issues relating to fish stocks and involves professional operators. However, some Member States highlighted the need to adopt common approaches on the various regional recommendations with a view to avoiding discrepancies.

The delegations also raised some key issues which had emerged during the preparation of the discard plans. These includes:

– the need to determine whether technical measures may be included in the regional discard plans; 

– the need to clarify and harmonise the interpretation of the de minimis rule included in the Basic Regulation; 

– solutions for handling damaged fish.

With the new CFP, there is a gradual introduction of a landing obligation for all fisheries (see previous point). On 1 January 2015 the following fisheries (in EU waters) will be subject to the landing obligation: small pelagic fisheries, large pelagic fisheries, industrial fisheries, fisheries for salmon and fisheries in the Baltic Sea.

The new CFP contains a number of provisions designed to facilitate the implementation of the landing obligation. These includes general flexibility provisions which can be applied by Member States in the context of the annual management of their national quotas. In addition, the new CFP

provides for specific flexibility tools used in multiannual plans, or in the absence of multiannual plans, in so-called discard plans (the validity of the plans is limited to 3 years). 

These flexibility tools are: 
– exemptions for species that have high survival rates when returned to the sea; 
– de minimis exemptions, under certain conditions, of up to 5 % of total annual catches (with a possibility of a higher percentage in the first four years).

It's #FishyFriday - don't forget the FishMish!


Heavy skies greeted early risers looking across the rooftops on Penzance seafront this morning...


as the town braces itself for the annual Golowan Festival which arrives in full force next weekend...


like a sleeping giant, it's just too early for any of the construction plant to be caught in action...


the huge scale of the seafront repairs on Newlyn Green...


can be gauged by the height of the workings...


here 4m wide footings have been laid in concrete well below the level of high water...


more summer visitors include the Stella Maris


no prizes for guessing what Nigel is going to be doing over the next few days while the sun shines...


many megs fill the market floor at this time of year...


the sight swimmers dread...


off for a breakfast foray...


barge and tug combination from Fowey lay to the Stone Quay...


and waiting for a flat calm before venturing with a deck cargo of cement - wouldn't pay to get those bags too wet...


more foreign visitors, this time from across the border in Devon, the Plymouth registered Stella Maris and the Teignmouth registered Gerry Ann.