Fishing gear and methods - a layman's guide and reference.

A great guide for anyone needing a better understanding and knowledge of the different fishing gear and methods in use by fishermen - though foucussed on the Scottish fishing fleets the same methods can be found all round the coast of the UK

"In early times man hunted fish to supply food for his family and himself, fishing from the sea shore or river bank, using spears, crude hooks and lines and simple traps. When he took to the water in the first rough dugouts, his field of operations was substantially extended. As the pattern of community living developed and preservation techniques such as drying and curing became established fish became not only food for the catcher but also a staple commodity of trade. Competition and technological advances slowly brought about improvements in fishing gear and new methods of capture appropriate to the target species sought were evolved by trial and error down through the centuries.

Today there is a wide range of towed fishing gear for catching fish on the seabed, just off the bottom and in mid-water suitable for all sizes of vessel working singly or in pairs. There are various types of seines used for surrounding large shoals of fish in open water or small shoals near the coast, static nets that catch fish by enmeshing them, traps for lobsters, crabs, salmon and sea trout, lines set to catch fish on baited hooks and dredges for scallops and queens. For those who for professional reasons need to know something about fishing gear and methods used today, or those who simply would like to know about the gear and methods used to catch the fish they eat, this booklet is offered as an introduction.

The main types of fishing gear used by Scottish fishermen and the species for which they are used are listed in the next section. References to the published literature are omitted from the text, and instead a ‘Reading List’ is appended on page 42."

Sourced here:

In deep water.

Extrait Sept à Huit : à bord du "Mariette le Roch" pour une pêche de l'extrême sur WAT.tv

A short clip from a new TV series on fishing and life aboard a French stern trawler, Mariet le Roch at the time skippered by Didier Queffelec working in the North Sea - ignore the message about the clip not playing, 'in your country' and the short advert to watch the clip. Dealing with an old cable hitched up on a trawl bridle is a common enough occurrence in some areas.

Source: VesselTracker - Mariet le Roch II making her way westwards from Lochinver after the weather breaks last week.

Here is a blog post including photos of a trip aboard the deep-sea trawler who lands into Lochinver hauls of fish like Black Sabre.

Monday's fish from the netting fleet on the market.

Scary squid start the week...

with Monday's market full of fish from the netting fleet... 

and plenty of work collecting fish data still to be done...

spot the odd one out, nice one Nicky...

no mistaking these haddock...

or beautiful bass...

spotted by the eye of the ray...

with plenty of pollack up for auction this morning...

and a few tubs of cuttles...

along with a more unusual visitor...

keeping the buyers busy...

supplying the nation's wet fish shops and restaurants...

with the finest fish...

it's an early start for one of the inshore boats taking bait on board for their fleet of pots.

Stunning global tide animatiion.

Orange is high water, blue low...

for a full explanation read more here:

Saturday in Newlyn in the sun.

Pleasant enough this morning in Mount's Bay...

as the sun hits the pebbles and granite blocks on the beach...

cleaning down the boat always attracts a few hungry visitors.

New SAR from Bristow operational this time next year- Culdrose SAR to end.

"Bristow Helicopters’ advanced SAR fleet is equipped with a raft of state of the art technology including night vision, mission management and increased on-board medical capabilities. 

In selecting our helicopters we have chosen aircraft that are specifically suited to the terrain and requirements of the UK Search and Rescue area." 

The Sikorsky S-92 and... 

AgustaWestland AW189 can fly faster and further and will be able to launch within 15 minutes between the hours of 08:00 and 22:00 and 45 minutes between 22:00 and 08:00.

here is the new coverage map for all 15 stations around the UK...

with a brand new operations base at Newquay - which will herald the end of the line for SAR provision from RNAS Culdrose since its inception in 1947 but officially since 1974 - Culdrose is the largest helicopter station in Europe.

Second print run for Salt of the Earth as sales soar to over £21,000.

Salt of the Earth from  Dead Interesting Productions on Vimeo.

With a second print run needed for the book, Salt of the Earth - here's a candid look at the behind-the-scenes action in how the photographs for the 200 plus black and white images of the fishermen and their families, co-workers and friends in the book were created by master portrait photographer David Penprase and his wife Jan.

All proceeds form the book go to the Royal National mission for Deep Sea Fishermen which operates nationally in the UK with branches in all the major ports- copies can be bought im many shops in Newlyn, Mousehole and Porthleven or ordered online here.

#EatMoreFish on #FishyFriday