Luckly, its #FishyFriday the 13th!

A promising start to the day - get the brushes out...

and capture that morning light...

as the waning moon breaks through the cloud cover...

and the rain desists...

on the market, buyers note - the larger monk are now being sold by the brace...

superb run of big megrim soles from the Sapphire II...

and luscious lemons...

while at 15Kg, that's two and a half stone in old money turbot don't come much bigger than this beauty, no doubt destined for a top table in the big smoke...

just one of the top quality fish the Newlyn buyers were offered at auction this morning...

though it's not often you see these little oily fish characters on the market...

plenty of those predatory tasty hakes...

courtesy of the netter Britannia V...

one of the rugby-boy boats is back in town - good luck for @nowellsy15 against Scotland this weekend...

the litter campaign in action on the quay...

as the #FishyFriday fuel arrives to keep the beam trawl fleet at sea...

and the bait waits on the quay to go aboard the crabbers.

Thursday eve.

One of those heavy overcast evenings as the weather slowly shifts up a gear to allow Spring-like temperatures to grace us with their presence...

and a few of the boats prepare to sail...

once a few jobs are done between tides...

the grim one has a delivery...

and there are a few supplies waiting to go back aboard the Trevessa IV - don't they say there are three things you will never see aboard a fishing boat, a soldier, a watering can and....

Fined £100,000 from a £437,000 catch!

THE owner of a Dutch super-trawler caught fishing mackerel illegally by the Royal Navy has been allowed to sell its haul for £437,000 - but only pay a fraction of the profits in fines.

The Frank Bonefaas was found to be carrying 632,000kg of mackerel that it had caught in a protected area off south west England, where fishing is restricted. Juvenile mackerel gather in the area with restrictions in place to ensure youngsters reach maturity without stocks collapsing. The trawler's owners were fined little over £100,000 sparking fury.

"They will steal your shoes if not done up" Another town attacked by online reviewers

Ukip MEP Janice Atkinson said: "This highlights the failure of the government's own fisheries quango to stop vast foreign trawlers from profiting even from illegal catches in British waters.

"This fresh failure from the government's fisheries quango the Marine Management Organisation is particularly abject. So feeble is the protection of British waters that even a conviction for a huge illegal haul wreaking havoc on fish stocks hasn't stopped foreign owners from turning a six-figure profit on that same illegal catch.

"A useless quango can't even enforce adequately the last remaining legal rights we still hold over our own waters. EU membership and the Common Fisheries Policy strips any government of the option to kick these foreign fleets out. 'This is a damning blow to my own fishermen in Folkestone and Hythe and across the south east that I represent. Folkestone Trawlers are unable to put to sea for the remainder of thie month as they too have already fulfilled their EU quota:

"The sea around Kent is teeming with fish but we just can`t catch any of it due to EU quotas."

According to reports, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), the government agency which brought the prosecution, has admitted the Dutch company that owns the trawler, had been allowed to keep the catch.

A spokesman said that the MMO had invited the court to consider imposing a fine that would match the full value of the haul but it had chosen not to do so.

Source courtesy of the Folkestone Herald:  

Newlyn trawler skipper David Stevens and others talk fishermen-science partnerships at #Gap2

"How do we gather information in a form that qualifies as research but is useful for fishermen?" 

Fisherman Kevin Squires, who is involved in the Canadian Fisheries Research Network, talks to the @GAP2 Project about collaboration.

Grey Mullet hit the beach in Sennen - and the headlines!.

The Cornwall Angler's website has asked its followers for their thoughts on the matter:

The report below was in The Western Morning News on March 10th.

They will welcome letters on the subject of netting tonnes of mullet during the spawning season.

What needs to be investigated is what happened to them?

There are reports that in past years the so called prime fish have been dumped or used as pot bait-perhaps the fishermen would send the CFSA full details to clarify the situation.

The 

"A row has broken out over an age-old way of fishing after a huge haul of mullet was caught in West Cornwall waters. An estimated ten tonnes of mullet was caught at Sennen last week with fishermen using the traditional method of seine netting to bring in their prize. But the Cornish Federation of Sea Anglers (CFSA) said that by netting the mullet when they did, the fish were being wiped out during the vulnerable spawning season.

Grey mullet form Sennen have featured on the market at Newlyn for over 100 years

Commercial fisherman have hit back at the claims with a war of words now raging online.

Asking if seine netting should be a thing of the past and replaced with more sustainable fishing, the CFSA wrote on its Facebook page: "The mullet have aggregated for spawning and have been wiped out at their most vulnerable and during the most important phase of their life cycle. The phase when they contribute to the future stock."



But, say supporters of seine netting, the method is sustainable, with generations of people catching fish this way.

A seine net is taken out to sea from the beach to surround the shoal of mullet and the two ends are pulled together to trap the catch. Mullet were for generations a vital part of Sennen's seine fishery. In 1875, some 20,000 tons was landed and The Cornishman reported that around 20,000 fish were caught at the Cove in one night of seine netting alone in 1954. "From growing up in Cornwall (and still living here on leave) I can say that this is the last defence," wrote Jack Glaves on the CFSA Facebook page. "The Alamo of cultural and fishing traditions. "Small fishing boats have been around since man realised they could catch enough fish for their village and are not the cause for concern. It's a bigger world than that and what you see on the coast with the small boat fleet. There are probably large French and Spanish boats off our waters as you read this catching a quantity of fish the same size as this."

Meanwhile Tal Bryant said: "Angling is sustainable and creates thousands of pounds for the economy whilst inflicting little environmental damage. "Commercial fishing practices like this create little for the economy whilst causing considerable unnecessary damage to marine ecosystems." Adding that he believes seine netting is a sustainable way to fish, Andy Wheeler, assistant to the chief executive of the Cornish Fish Producers Organisation, said: "a few local fishermen carrying out the traditional fishing that has been done for generations is not going to wipe out the mullet population, it is as simple as that.

"There are shoals of mullet all around the coast this time of year and what they caught is a miniscule amount in the grand scheme of things."

Read more: in the Cornishman.

Follow us: @CornishmanPaper on Twitter 

Policy makers need to tap into fishers’ expertise, says Mike Park

Great article in the Scotsman appeared on the back of the Gap2 conference held in Barcelona recently - let's hear it for the fishermen!

"Grown-up policy-making requires significant input from those closest to the issue at hand. Sounds obvious, doesn’t it?. But you would be surprised at how often key stakeholders, to use the bureaucrats’ beloved terminology, are kept out of the loop, especially by the European Commission. When it comes to my own industry, the politicians, officials and green lobbyists who have largely dictated fisheries policy over the past decade still view us (I’m borrowing this metaphor from our farming friends) as the fox in the hen house, that is, untrustworthy. This is despite the fact that these individuals are so far removed – both physically and mentally – from the lives of those who go to sea that they have little or no knowledge of fishing. (Had they made an effort to understand the sector better, they would be aware of the huge, practically very effective steps taken by fishermen to improve sustainability, from changes in types of gear to more efficient boat engines.) 

So you can imagine how heartened I was to hear everyone participating in a recent seminar in Barcelona, including the policy makers, saying that sustainable fisheries can only be achieved with the involvement of fishers in science and management. The meeting was hosted by GAP2, a European Commission-funded body that brings together fishers, scientists, policy makers and environmental NGOs to work together towards that goal of sustainable fisheries. The rhetoric now needs to be backed up with action. 

One of the most significant shifts in attitude seems to have taken place within Ices, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, whose scientific effort is used as the basis for calculating how much European fishermen can catch on an annual basis. Ices scientists understand that every fishing vessel is also a research platform. They appear to feel less threatened by allowing fishers to observe and comment on approaches and output. This is quite right, as recent academic research has demonstrated that fishermen are just as good, if not better, than scientists at measuring certain stocks. And the #GAP2 project has shown us that as well as providing critical information, fishers are able to assist in creating sensible policy that is respected and understood.

The locked door approach, adopted in the past by both the European Commission and ICES, which, frankly, led to the collapse of many stocks and precipitated what can only be described as anarchic behaviour in many of Europe’s fleets, is outmoded. An entirely new approach is required, and soon. 

Many observers view recent changes, such as co-decision making between the European Parliament and the European Council on regulatory matters and the move toward regionalisation, as significant steps in the right direction. However, there is clearly a chasm between gifting a share of decision making to 751 elected individuals who have little or no knowledge of fishing and delivering sensible policy. Previously, this gap was filled by the green lobby which, while in reality just as ignorant about fishing, was able to sound credible. In a mature policy environment that is just not acceptable. The GAP2 model must be rolled out across fisheries regulation. The dream of fishers to be embedded in policy making should have been realised to some degree with the introduction of regionalisation through reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, where policy making was to be detached downstream to member states in defined sea basins such as the North Sea.

This has hit the buffers because it would seem that by handing power to member states, the Commission has created monsters which appear incapable of taking advice from anyone, including the very advisory councils which were set up through previous reform to give the fishing sector a voice.You couldn’t make it up. GAP2 provides a glimmer of hope. The industry’s biggest challenge will be to grab the moment, capture the current enthusiasm of fishers to be involved and use that to deliver long lasting and meaningful change."

Source: Full story courtesy of the Scotsman.

Catch of the Day - join in with the NFFO and spread the word!

The NFFO is running a 'Catch of the Day' publicity campaign to raise the awareness of the public - to get involved use the Twitter hashtag #CatchOfTheDay .

Twitter is an easy way to be in touch with other fishermen as well as fish-loving members of the public - some near some hundreds or even thousands of miles away - one @ThroughTheGaps follower Andrew Titus - @shrimpfisherman - tweets from his prawn boat deep in the iceberg laden seas off Alaska!

As an island nation, there is a temptation to take the seas around us for granted and forget that those waters provide a vital source of food, employment and contribution to the national economy. Yet the UK fishing industry lands 624,000 tonnes of fish every year, enough for millions of healthy and wholesome meals, and generates an annual income of £718m.

When we're doing our weekly food shop, the variety of fresh fish sourced from UK waters available over the counter is just the end result of the efforts of the 12,150 British fishermen working at sea. It is not only evidence of the hard work of the fishermen who caught the fish – but also the producer organisations, suppliers and trade bodies involved in ensuring there is a constant supply of sustainably sourced fish on our counters.

There is a common misperception that it is just the large trawler boats which supply us with fresh fish. The truth is that the UK has a diverse fishing fleet and smaller boats like my own are just as important for the supply of this sustainable food source.

As a fisherman myself, I have seen the industry evolve over the past 40 years with consumers and chefs becoming more adventurous with their choices of fish, although the UK's top three choices are still unsurprisingly cod, haddock and salmon. Over 50% of us eat seafood at least once a week, but perhaps it's time we were more adventurous with our choice of fish – with species such as Hake and Plaice sourced from UK waters, available in our supermarkets.

Anyone involved in the fishing industry knows that it can be risky and hazardous. Despite all the improvements in safety and technology, the sea is still an extremely dangerous, unpredictable and often not- too- friendly workplace! You only have to watch the rescue helicopter footage of the UK's youngest fishing boat skipper, 16 year old Jake Bowman-Davies shepherding his crew into a life-raft as his 50ft crabbing boat, the Cresca, sank at night in high seas off the Llyn Peninsula in February, to appreciate that.

For all these reasons, the NFFO is launching a week long Twitter campaign called #CatchOfTheDay, to champion the hard work and diversity of the UK fishing industry. It is also to open consumers' eyes to the breadth of species of this healthy food choice that is available.

During 16th to 20th March, we are urging fish lovers and members of the UK fishing industry to get involved with the campaign by sharing photos on twitter which represent their involvement in the industry or to celebrate the fantastic variety of sustainable fish now available to UK consumers.

We are asking anyone who has an involvement with the fishing industry – producers, suppliers, chefs, trade bodies, or anyone who just loves a tasty fish dish, to get on board and celebrate the diversity of the industry and give it the recognition it deserves.

We think this is a fun way of getting across a serious message not only about the importance of the industry in providing a healthy, sustainable food source to a growing population, but also its inherent commitment to ensuring its future through sustainable methods.
You can download the poster to print off and use for your catch of the day here: