50 shades of Newlyn in the morning

Early enough for headlights on the prom...

as the sun struggles to find a hole in the cloud...

Tom is set against a morning sky...

as Steve on the Chris Tacha lands his crab, his first trip after working away on the whelks and crab...

there's always one trying to escape...

at the fish market...

looking at the gaps...

the harbour is bathed in that golden glow...

with a market full of mixed fish...

with top quality form virtually all the day trawlers now making nightly landings to keep the quality A1...

left in case the French yacht decides to anchor here by the Mission...

sun's nearly up...

the target has been reached in record time, so says the concretometer.

Chris Tacha landing crab in Newyn

Commission prioritises larger quotas over larger fish stocks

The European Commission announced the next steps in the implementation of the new common fisheries policy (CFP) at a hearing in the the Fisheries Committee in the European Parliament Tuesday (22 July).

Lowri Evans, The Commission’s Director-General for fisheries and maritime affairs, told MEPs that the political priority for the Commission now is to get fisheries ministers in December to adopt more fisheries quotas at maximum sustainable yield (MSY) catch levels. This means that the Commission for the moment will downplay the goal of restoring fish stocks to levels above those that can produce MSY.

The new common fisheries policy, which now gradually is entering into force after being adopted last year, is somewhat ambiguous regarding the objectives for sustainable fishing.

Article 2 of the new CFP states that fish stocks shall be restored to larger sizes than those that can produce a theoretical maximum catch (”above biomass levels capable of producing maximum sustainable yield”).

At the same time article 2 says that fish stocks shall be fished at the MSY level (”the maximum sustainable yield exploitation rate shall be achieved by 2015 where possible and, on a progressive, incremental basis at the latest by 2020 for all stocks”).

Those two cannot be combined; you cannot take fish out of the sea at the MSY exploitation rate and at the same time restore fish stocks to above the MSY biomass level. For further explanation, read our article Explaining the misunderstandings about MSY.

In the reform of the common fisheries policy, the Commission and the Parliament fought for the target to restore fish stocks above MSY biomass levels, which would lead to a better marine environment, more fish in the sea and better catches for fishermen in the long term. Council, i.e. the member states, on the other hand fought for the target to catch fish stocks at the MSY exploitation rate, which would lead to less drastic quota cuts in the short term.

In the final compromise both targets were built into the legislation. In the near future one of the conflicts in the implementation of the new CFP will be which one of these two targets will be prioritised.

Lowri Evans told MEPs in the fisheries committee that she would like to ask scientists for more refined scientific advice taking into account ’above MSY biomass levels’, but that she did not know when the political reality would allow the Commission to do so.

Info courtesy of CFP Reform Watch 

Work in progress

Summertime sardines - make 'em Cornish!

Top quality inshore fish in Nelwyn this morning

St Michael's Mount in the background, waking on one of these yachts must be tantamount to arriving in paradise who needs the tropics...

when you have pure gold in #Cornwall...

even the bathing pool is bathed in light...

though it will be made good long after the sea defences at Nelwyn have been completed, looks like the raft race will go ahead though - great news...

lovely inshore lemons...

and plenty of line caught pollack...

keep the inshore guys busy...

more invaluable fishing date being collected by Cefas Sam...

on a busy mainly inshore caught fish market...

though there are still precious few mackerel about...

the punts are fishing for pollack instead...

despite the warnings, there are still big landings of ray...

blondes and stars...

the recalcitrant French yacht that has managed to touch the bottom twice in as many days this week...

keeping the Ivan Ellen and the boys busy...

down the quay there's a few old timers on show...

visiting Brixham beaner Angel Emiel landed this morning...

sporting her modern design, bulbous bow and bow thruster...

a classic...

with a need for a little TLC below the waterline...

and above, showing what happens when fresh (rain) water gets to wood...

there's always a few strange beasts in Newlyn lurking around the corners

a classic painting from the 'father' of the Newlyn School of Art in self-portrait mode...

showing his hugely skillful brushwork...

to create the faces of his subjects...

which is up for auction at the forthcoming sale at WH Lane.

Newlyn raft race will go ahead despite extra sea defence work

The Newlyn Meadery Maids in full flow

THE NEWLYN raft race, one of the highlights of the summer, will go ahead thanks in no small part to the co-operation of Cormac.

Work on repairing Newlyn Green's storm-ravaged sea defence began at the start of June and at the time, Andy James, general manager of Cormac, promised that the green would be fully accessible for the raft race, which takes place on Sunday, August 10. Since then, the contractors have discovered that the foundations will need to be dug even deeper than originally thought. But despite that, says Marcia Bell from the Newlyn lights committee which organises the raft race, it is all systems go for the big day.

"The raft race is always a really good community day and Cormac really has worked hard on behalf of the community to make sure it goes ahead," she said. "They are putting things in place so that we can hold the raft race in the middle of the green and they've even kindly offered to be there on the day, helping to ensure the stalls and rafts are in the right place. "We just hope that we can make the day a really successful one to show that their efforts are fully appreciated."

Mr James, who confirmed that work on the Green is still expected to be completed by the time of the Newlyn Fish Festival on Monday, August 25, said: "I am delighted that we have been able to work so "They are putting things in place so that we can hold the raft race in the middle of the green and they've even kindly offered to be there on the day, helping to ensure the stalls and rafts are in the right place. "We just hope that we can make the day a really successful one to show that their efforts are fully appreciated."

Mr James, who confirmed that work on the Green is still expected to be completed by the time of the Newlyn Fish Festival on Monday, August 25, said: "I am delighted that we have been able to work so closely with Marcia and her team to ensure that the raft race can take place. "The work is progressing well thanks in no small part to the support of the local community and it is therefore a pleasure to be able to support and assist with this event."

Entry to the raft race costs £25 for each hand-built raft and all-comers will be trying to beat perennial favourites, The Meadery Maids. Other confirmed entries include teams from the Swordfish, the Penleee lifeboat station and the Fishermans Arms. The race will start at 2pm and those interested in entering or running a stall should contact Marcia by calling 07506 701336.

Read more: http://www.cornishman.co.uk/Newlyn-raft-race-ahead-despite-extra-sea-defence/story-21644649-detail/story.html#ixzz38HUVWq5E Read more at http://www.cornishman.co.uk/Newlyn-raft-race-ahead-despite-extra-sea-defence/story-21644649-detail/story.html#f4KtwcIWZE81XokA.99

Another open letter to George Eustice? - except this one was written by an American fisherman to his minister!

Same story - different country! - 
read the full story here http://fisherynation.com/archives/27201!

"They told us we were using twine that was too small and not allowing juvenile fish to escape. We accepted and went to the largest mesh size in the world for the species we seek.

They told us we needed to protect spawning areas where fish reproduce. We closed thousands of square miles of the most productive areas in which we fished.

Then they told us this was not enough so they made tracts of ocean closed during certain months.

They told us we were fishing too many days so they told us we were going to only be allowed to fish 88 days a year. We didn’t like it but we were told it would pay off for us when the fish returned.

They told us 88 days were too many so they decided to give us what they deemed appropriate according to our historic participation in the fishery. The result was the people who got out of the fishery and pursued other species were penalized and many were left with little or nothing even though they did the most to help the resource. The lucky ones got 40 or 50 days to fish if you can call that lucky.

They told us we must take 20 days out of the fishery during the spring spawning season.

They told us to go and fish the closed area where yellow tail flounder were very prolific on a special program called B-days. We worried that if we did not use our B-days they to would be taken away just like what happened in the past. The result was massive landings of yellowtail and the plundering of the healthy stock and prices paid to the fishermen as low as 15 cents per LB. They took the B-days away anyway. In the middle of all these things happening they made a law that basically states that every species in the ocean must be at maximum abundance levels at the same time. Everyone knows this is impossible yet no government scientists have told them it can’t be done so we are left in a position where some species are not over fished yet we cannot pursue them because others are and live in the same area.

They told us to design new style nets that will catch only the species not over fished. We did this and proved to them with their assistance and documentation that showed it can and was being done. This was years ago yet we still are not allowed to use this new gear. The result is 97% of the haddock that we are allowed to harvest are not being taken. For twenty odd years we have done everything that has been asked of us and more. The results are more fish and a bright looking future, right? Well mostly, we do have more fish but it would seem that there are never going to be enough. So instead of a bright future and payback for our sacrifices we get nothing. We now have failing shore side support business’s fishermen loosing everything they own, poor quality imported garbage that is raised in, for lack of a better term, a sewer, that they try to pass off as seafood. This is what we are left with for all of our co-operation. If you are wondering who “they” are, they would be the National Marine Fisheries Service. If you thought the IRS was bad you aint seen nothing. They are the most arrogant heartless bunch of beaurocratic empty suits I have ever seen."

Joel Hovanesian

F/V Excalibur

RI. Fishermen’s Alliance