Always plenty of colour down the quay

The oldest trawlerman in Nelwyn still has a full head of hair...

just like this character created on the quayside...

therre's a whole lot of chain links to check and both trawls on the big beam trawler Sapphire II...

back in action with her new propeller, the Troon registered scalloper Philomeena...

has work to do like greasing all the running gear... 

it's great to see still more new investment in the industry, this time in the form of a new punt...

 

 PZ62, the Sea Fox...

with the usual arrangement on deck - a waterproof housing for the electronics like radio and fish finders...

up for'ard the engine box and gear store offset to port...

maybe its time for another @thefishmish yellow-welly campaign!.. 

with only a few trawlers working from the port a rare big piece of sea coal...

heading for the islands in fine(ish) weather...

 

shellfishing and recycling - these whelk pots...

and these are made from recycled plastic containers... 

still plenty of chain links to check!

Hastings and Rye: Fishing for a fair deal? - Fined £5,000 for a box of fish

Fish have become the prop of choice in this election. Nick Clegg posed with a cod in Cornwall, Boris Johnson and Ed Miliband were snapped in chippies, while Nigel Farage visited Grimsby docks. But in many traditional coastal fishing communities, the industry is facing collapse. Fishermen with smaller boats complain the current fish quotas are weighted heavily in favour of large corporations and they aren't allowed to catch enough to survive. All the parties accept the quota given to the 'inshore fishermen' needs to change.

As part of our visits to 100 constituencies, Claire Marshall reports from the marginal seat of Hastings and Rye.

Paul Joy has been fishing for forty years and is chairman of the Hastings fisherman’s protection society. He told Today: “my cod quota at the moment is 1.4 kilo a day. Now I’ve got three people that go to sea on my vessel and one who helps on the shore, so four people can derive a living from half a fish”.

Mr Joy added: “the enforcement is very rigid.. I had half a box of fish too much and got fined £5,000… they’re literally putting you out of business”.

Will McCallum is from Greenpeace and also believes the quotas should be changed: “small boats should be right at the very front (of the quota allocation). They’re the ones that fish sustainably, they’re the ones that provide jobs in coastal towns and they boost the local economy and they deserve to have their fair share of the quota”.

Courtesy of the BBC.

Meet the fisherman - David Stevens

David is a twin rig trawlerman working out of Newlyn with his family owned boat, Crystal Sea II. He is adopting modern techniques and technologies, such as cameras on board, to regulate their catches and to collect important scientific data to help better assess the state of our Cornish fishery.

David is a contributor to the new Cornwall Seafood Guide.

#FishyFriday is here!

Big white flakes of from big cod... 

the AA was the only boat to land on the market this morning...

with a few sleepy ray...

the fish were soon on their way out of the market doors...

top morning...

the visiting yachts are always a little different at this time of year as the sailing seasin gets underway...

looks like the boys have been busy on sorting the twin-rig trawls on the big Scottish trawler...

closeup of her foredeck...

the scalloper towed in by the lifeboat after losing her propeller waits for the new one to arrive...

keeping an eye on the Bay...

with an early morning mist rolling away over the Mount.

Penlee boys in action twice in one night.

Troon registered scalloper Philomena coming in through the gaps with the Ivan Ellen astern.

Penlee RNLI’s lifeboats launched twice last night (Wednesday 22 April) to assist two separate vessels in Mounts Bay. The all-weather lifeboat Ivan Ellen and its volunteer crew launched to assist the Newlyn based Scallop trawler Philomena which had lost her propeller 30 miles east of The Lizard, whilst the inshore lifeboat, Duckhams 2001, assisted a small sailing vessel just outside Penzance Harbour. At 4.30pm on Wednesday 22 April the all-weather lifeboat Ivan Ellen launched from Newlyn at the request of the Philomena’s owners. In a force five easterly wind with Coxswain Patch Harvey at the helm, the lifeboat escorted the trawler back to Newlyn. About a mile off shore the crew attached a rope on the stern of the trawler, to act as a brake and to keep her straight, and once through the gaps they safely manoeuvred the Philomena into a berth at Newlyn Harbour.

At 7.49pm the same evening the crew pagers were activated and a launch request was received from HM Coastguard at Falmouth, who had received a number of 999 calls from members of the public who had witnessed a small sailing vessel capsizing more than once in rough sea conditions just outside Penzance Harbour.

With Dave Pascoe at the helm and accompanied by volunteer crew members, Ben Keogh and Tom Matson, the inshore lifeboat Duckhams 2001 launched from Newlyn and swiftly made its way to Penzance. On arrival they found that the small sailing vessel was just entering the harbour. Volunteer crew member, Ben Keogh, said: ’We spoke to the chap on board and everything was in order and under control. He was properly kitted out with a life jacket and wetsuit. We just stayed with him until he was safely inside Penzance Harbour. The inshore lifeboat Duckhams 2001 returned to Newlyn and was made ready for service.

Life aboard a typical Breton prawn trawler from Guilvenec.

Discovering fishermen and fish traders by francetvinfo

Wednesday's market a little quiet with the netter fleet and many of the smaller less powerful inshore boats kept in by the huge tide.

Back in Newlyn for a landing, the Brixham beam trawler Lloyd Tyler...

a good run of lemon sole...

and, name that fish in one, which are not lemon sole...

plus a few 'snakes' as these young conger are called, really small are known as 'whips'...

one big Cornish cod keeping an eye on the auction...

out in the harbour the netting fleet are all tied up as one of the biggest tides of the year, the Spring Equinoctial tide plays out its course...

the big Scottish prawn freezer is still with us...

giving the local trawlermen a chance to check out the twin-rigging arrangement on the stern...

and her seemingly small trawl doors...

unlike the boat herself as she is huge despite being only 20m in length...

the Banff registered Tranquility is back in Newlyn again, she is also twin-rigging but for whitefish...

the easterly breeze is keeping the harbour's latest sardine boat well of the quay this morning...

en passant is the Ullapool registered prawn trawler Franchise...

with a typical inshore prawn trawler deck layout featuring a gutting and sorting shelter on the starboard side deck...

complete with sorting table...

a must when prawning as even half decent fishing meant that at least two of the crew would be stood around the sorting table and kept busy sorting and grading each haul from first tow of the day hauled around 8 am right through to the last haul taken aboard at dusk - often the crew would finish up clearing down the deck as gone midnight with only a few hours to go before the trawl would be shot away again before first light - around 4.30 am in the summer.