Newlyn's annual blessing of the fleet mourns the loss of 90 fishermen's lives lost

THE bustle and busyness of Newlyn's annual Fish Festival has been preceded by a moment of quiet reflection on the sacrifice of those who risk their lives to bring home the catch. On the night before the festival, a roll of honour bearing the names of more than 90 Cornish fishermen lost at sea while engaged in the world's most dangerous peacetime profession were read out amid absolute silence at the Blessing of the Fleet service. 

Photo courtesy of the Cornishman

One fisherman's family, who had relocated to Wales, came back to Cornwall specially for the occasion, and others travelled from as far as Bude. "I think we had just under 100 names read out and you could have heard a pin drop throughout," said Keith Dickson, superintendent of the Fishermen's Mission in Newlyn, which organised the roll-call. "I was concerned at how long the roll of honour would take but the silence was absolutely perfectly observed. "It was very poignant and very touching." 

The packed service was held in the fish market, after downpours ruined plans to read the roll of honour out on the quay. Mr Dickson said: "It was a necessity but it turned out to be a real bonus. "There was a really good crowd considering the weather and the families really appreciated that. "They were really touched with the numbers of people there and the recognition their loved ones got. "It was really nice to see so many people there." 

Dignitaries attending the Sunday service included the Lord-Lieutenant of Cornwall, Edward Bolitho, and Father Keith Owen, of St Peter's in Newlyn, who gave an address. Mr Dickson said: "This wasn't about Newlyn and west Cornwall. The Mission covers all of Cornwall and the Cornish fishing community is one community. "We joke about the rivalry between St Ives fishermen and Newlyn fishermen but what happened on Sunday proved what we already knew; if you're Cornish, you're Cornish and if you're a fisherman, you're a fisherman." 

Read more: http://www.cornishman.co.uk/Blessing-Fleet/story-22841978-detail/story.html#ixzz3BlnzrjGe 

Gannet coverage by researchers at Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML)

Researchers at @PlymouthMarine Laboratory (PML) and the University of Exeter have combined two innovative technologies to probe the mystery of how seabirds locate food hotspots across vast tracts of ocean.

Dr Steve Votier from the Environment & Sustainability Institute (ESI) at the University of Exeter who led the gannet research programme commented: "We have been studying gannet behaviour for nearly 10 years and have learnt much about what they do while at sea, but the key to this research was working with oceanographers. Using state-of-the-art satellite imagery they have enabled us to investigate how gannets forage at fronts – discontinuities in temperature and phytoplankton". 

During the study, 66 gannets were tracked over two breeding seasons, revealing that the average foraging trip was around 178kms – with some travelling as far as 430kms in a single round trip.

By bringing the two technologies together, the scientists have shown that the birds search out regions where fronts form most frequently, so making their foraging more efficient and less energetically costly.

The gannet videos were shot by University of Exeter students on a research programme to study how gannets search for and source their food.  This involved attaching micro video cams to the neck of marked gannets. The birds were tracked and the micro video cams retrieved.


In the waters around Newlyn and West penwith gannets seldom come close to the shore in Mount's Bay but can often be seen from the coastal path from Mousehole around Land's End or diving off Sennen Beach when shoals of mackerel or sardines are close inshore.

Read the stories in full here:

http://phys.org/news/2014-08-scientists-unravel-mystery-gannets-success.html

http://phys.org/news/2013-11-incredible-gannet-cam-captures-birds-eye.html#inlRlv

Discarded fish in European waters: general patterns and contrasts - new out

Of special relevance to the netters who fish for hake in the south west!

Abstract: To reduce the practice of discarding commercially fished organisms, several measures such as a discard ban and extra allowances on top of landings quotas (“catch quota”) have been proposed by the European Commission. However, for their development and successful implementation, an understanding of discard patterns on a European scale is needed. 

In this study, we present an inter-national synthesis of discard data collected on board commercial, towed-gear equipped vessels operating under six different national flags spanning from the Baltic to the Mediterranean Seas mainly between 2003 and 2008. We considered discarded species of commercial value such as Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus), European hake (Merluccius merluccius), and European plaice (Pleuronectes platessa). 

Comparisons of discard per unit effort rates expressed as numbers per hour of fishing revealed that in the Mediterranean Sea minimum size-regulated species such as hake are generally discarded in much lower numbers than elsewhere. For most species examined, variability in discard rates across regions was greater than across fisheries, suggesting that a region-by-region approach to discard reduction would be more relevant. The high uncertainty in discard rate estimates suggests that current sampling regimes should be either expanded or complemented by other data sources, if they are to be used for setting catch quotas.

http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/71/5/1235.full.pdf+html

Useful lessons for the industry here in Cornwall from the GIFS food, fisheries and tourism conference recently held in Hastungs

These is just one of the presentations given during the GIFS conference in Hastings a few weeks ago - GIFS helped fund and provide the forum for discussions and knowledge to share how to work with food, fisheries and tourism. 

This was one of many presentations given during the course of the day and Led by Nausicaa and Taste South East:

"Today, 77% of fish stocks are fully exploited, over-exploited or exhausted. The growing demand for fish, linked both to increases in world population and an ever growing interest by consumers in the nutritional and dietetic qualities of fish, places considerable pressure on this resource. But how can we make a difference?

Associations, aquariums and institutes are working to increasingly raise the awareness of their consumers and to encourage them, through concrete daily actions, to become responsible consumers of seafood products, at home and away.

The mobilising of economic players, from fishermen to distributors, has become essential. However, this can only become effective and sustainable if consumers themselves also become active players through their unique and determining purchasing power, at the end of the supply chain, via selective and educated consumerism.

In this final session you can learn more about two exciting and successful "Catch to Plate" initiatives in the Interreg 2 Seas zone, as well as other responsible tourism initiatives featuring local food and seafood. We will also be joined by a restaurant chef who will tell us about the barriers to and opportunities of sourcing local food.
Local Catch: A web-based information hub to educate consumers and chefs about local species, where to find local fishermen, fishmongers and wholesalers who catch and sell locally caught seafood. The platform also gives information about seasonality, minimum size of the fish and its rating on the UK's sustainable fish list. It shows consumers and chefs how to cook and prepare local species and provides recipe ideas. This is a growing network developed by the industry. Find out how we use Local Catch to the benefit of the industry, encourage responsible tourism, and develop new supply chains as well as our plans for the future.
Mr.Goodfish which is a programme initiated by the World Ocean Network and developed by Nausicaa in France. Its aim is to inform and educate general public, and tourists about sustainable seafood consumption by enabling them to choose responsibly thereby preserving the sea's resources for the future generations. Positive recommendations are published quarterly, in the form of a list, made available on the internet and communicated to all contributing members, including fishmongers and restauranteurs.

How can you get involved? With this session, you will learn how to make more responsible choices and find key advice to choose and promote sustainable seafood for today and tomorrow. Testimonies of chefs using and selling locally produced food and locally caught seafood, will show you what is possible to do in the real life to be a more sustainable business."


The strategic target of this session comprises of all the component parts of the sector:

• Fishermen, farmers and local producers
• Wholesalers, processors, restaurant-owners and distributor
• NGOs and other associations
• Teachers 
• Politicians
• Public authorities
• The media
• Consumers and potential consumers of produce from the sea and land

A full set of videos covering the conference can be seen on the GIFS channel here:

The GIFS web page can be found here:

Filey fisherman visits USA fishery to exchange seabird-saving ideas

News of some work with hopefully positive work outcomes between an NGO and fishermen from Yorkshire:

Local fisherman, Rex Harrison, and seabird expert Rory Crawford will travel together to witness innovative bird conservation measures in action in Washington State’s salmon fishing grounds. Local salmon and sea trout netsman Rex Harrison has been funded by international fisheries research project, GAP2, to travel to the Puget Sound, near Seattle, alongside RSPB’s Rory Crawford.  Their mission is to, together, share knowledge and develop new ideas on how to implement bird- friendly net fishing techniques, reducing bycatch in net fisheries. 

 "I am really looking forward to taking part in this GAP2 exchange - the fisherman in Filey have really got behind work to reduce seabird by-catch in our nets, and I am keen to share what we've learnt with salmon fishers in Puget Sound, and in turn see what they can teach us about how they are reducing by-catch. I think it's brilliant that Filey is leading the way in responsible, sustainable fishing methods that protect our seabirds, and this exchange will only help us build on the work already underway" – Rex Harrison, Filey fisherman

 Every year, around 400,000 seabirds die after becoming entangled in gillnets – a type of fishing net used commonly in the Filey Bay area, hung vertically in the water column to catch fish by their gills. This unintentional ‘seabird bycatch’ occurs globally, particularly affecting diving birds and, until now, little has been done to investigate ways of fishing which could help reduce this kind of bird mortality. But Filey fishermen are among a small number of pioneers. 

The expedition builds upon measures already taken in the area to prevent birds – particularly Razorbills and Guillemots – from becoming entangled in fishermen’s nets. Rex’s trip has been planned to offer insights into the use of specially designed ‘bird nets’ employed in the Puget Sound sockeye salmon fishery to try and reduce seabird bycatch. Thousands of miles apart, but connected by the issue of seabird bycatch, these two fisheries represent key starting points in developing best practice in the ‘ecosystem approach’ to fishing: respecting and protecting the whole ecosystem affected by fishing activity. 

 Rory Crawford, Senior Policy Officer for BirdLife International’s Marine Programme, which is hosted in the UK by the RSPB, said: “BirdLife have worked with fishermen from all over the world to achieve reductions in seabird bycatch in longline and trawl fisheries, particularly through our Albatross Task Force, working directly on fishing vessels. Solving this problem in gillnet fisheries, however, presents a new and thus far poorly studied challenge. 

Through working with fishermen like Rex over the coming years, we hope to find practical solutions that minimise bird catch but don’t impact target fish catch. Funding from GAP2 to make this possible is so important, helping to build understanding between sectors” With so many insights to share, and perspectives from two fisheries that are similar in some ways but vastly different in others, Rex and Rory will be traveling together and spending a week engaging with management officials, fishermen, netmakers, and local scientists, as well as observing fishing vessels and exploring the rich waters of the Sound. 

 The European Commission-funded GAP2 exchange program, part of the GAP2 Project, is designed to help support the development and dissemination of best practices in sustainable fisheries management, based on an ‘ecosystem approach’, across the EU. This Puget Sound exchange is one of a series of expeditions that will be taking place over the next six months, exploring how fishermen, scientists and policy makers work together in different fisheries, worldwide, to build a sustainable future for our seas. 

All exchanges can be followed on Twitter, on #GAP2exchange. For more information on upcoming exchanges, please visit: http://gap2.eu/gap2general/the-2014-2015-gap2-exchanges/ For further information, images or quotes, contact Katrina Borrow on: Katrina@mindfullywired.org

@GAP2_Project / #GAP2exchange 

Penwith College students chef it out in the Great Cornish Fish Off

Newlyn fish festival is a celebration of fish and the community ...

it has been running for 25 years and each year...

it raises money to support the Fishermen’s Mission in Newlyn to celebrate 25 years of great fish cooking at the Festival, they gave catering students from Penwith College a chance to show off their skills in the “Great Cornish Fish Off” 

the students who took part were Josh McKay, Hannah Osborne, Syrus Pickhaiver, Wilf Hawkins – all students who finished their course in July having completed the L3 professional cookery...

lecturer and chef Dave Izzard had to stand in for Hannah who was temporarily indisposed...

the students didn’t know what ingredients they had to work with until they opened the box and the countdown began!...

watched by an excellent crowd who cheered them on at times the srudents had just five minutes to plan, twenty-five to cook and then the audience, judged the finished dish on speed, inventiveness and presentation - all rounds were very competitive and the standard of cookery was excellent...

Finalists Wilf Gawkins and Syrus Pickhave

the final was between Syrus Pickhaiver and Wilf Hawkins - Wilf's dish was hake, creamed leeks, spinach a warm spring onion dressing and alfalfa sprouts - Syrus chose hake, remoulade, crushed new potatoes, peas and samphire....

here the boys show the cards used by the audience to judge the preparation, cooking and presentation.

Syrus won the overall competition with a prize of a three course dinner for two at the Michelin starred Paul Ainsworth's No6 in Padstow with second prize for Wilf a set of Heston Blumenthal filleting knives

Fishing news as reported by the Cornishman nealry 50 years ago

The following photos are all taken from copies of the local weekly newspaper, The Cornishman which is published every Thursday in West Penwith. 

The papers, from the late 1970s, were just a random selection from a charity shop in Penzance - what is interesting is that  the front page of nearly every edition carries a story about the fishing industry...

from when there were plans to create a fishmeal processing plant down Newlyn Coombe at Stable Hobba to take advantage of the huge quantities of mackerel that were being transported away out of the county for processing elsewhere - though in those days when there was a real glut of poor quality fish farmers were able to use raw fish on their fields as fertiliser...

the plant application was eventually turned down...

the story here was the introduction of the 6 mile limit - this is in the very early days of what was then the Common Market and local boats were concerned that the growing fleets of French, Belgian and Dutch boats were going to be allowed to fish up to the shores!...

inevitable there were accidents and groundings just as this year...

and guess what, it appears that the dumping of fish is nothing new!...

after the Fisheries Minister George Eustace oped this year's Fish festival with encouraging words about the future of fishing the boats will be expecting him to attract similar headlines just as was reported back then...

when the then labour Government and Foreign Secretary Anthony Crossland were pushing for a 200 mile limit on entry to the EEC...

on those days there were huge shoals of mackerel in the winter months and the entire Scottish and East Coast pelagic fleet would descend on the Western Approaches to fish - much to the horror of the local mackerel handliners - who collectively and numbering hundreds could not catch in a week between them what one of these visiting ships was capable of catching in a single shot!...

and just to top it all, Newlyn was England's top port with a turnover of just over £1 million!...

on a calmer note, here two boys paddle past an anchored Breton crabber off Sennen beach in the height of the summer...the crabbers were familiar sight in those days