High water, high tide in Newlyn this morning.

During one of the bigger tides of the year the inshore trawler Harvest Reaper rides high against the fish market this  morning...

inside the market there is only one boat's trip of fish up for auction...

so it's fitting that these big plaice from big Don should make big money on a fish-starved market...

though it's not too often you see one of these fish on the market, this one is somewhat deflated ... 

no prizes for guessing what kind of fish made up the bulk of the Filadelfia's trip...

as they are taken outside ready to be transported as soon as...

yes, it's Toms' alright...

all quiet down the new quay this morning apart from two on a tour...

much still to be done on the good ship Galilean...

while nudging the top of the quay parapet three of the port's big netters will be in port for the next few days over the top of the big spring tide...

and many of the inshore boats will wait to see if the winds drops enough to get out today...

giving Tom something to keep an eye on...

as an early morning prom walker captures the heavy skies hanging over the Bay...

the latest Art Deco house along the prom is nearing completion...

while there are always a good selection of maritime art works at W.H. Lane's auctions.

#Mackerel agreement and support for fisheries affected by Russian ban

Last week the UK government achieved two key agreements in Europe which will support our fishermen and mackerel industry.

On Friday, a long term management strategy was signed between the EU, Faroe Islands and Norway to support the long-term future of North East Atlantic Mackerel stocks and deliver vital stability for UK fishermen.

While the agreement will see a 15% cut in the quota for 2016, it has been welcomed by industry as a fair deal for fishermen in light of the challenges facing these vital stocks.

Having lobbied to avoid more severe reductions, we have struck the right balance between supporting industry and our fish stocks, and the UK can now expect to receive around 208,000 tonnes of mackerel quota in 2016. This agreement is worth around £200m to our fleet, which includes around £130m for the Scottish fleet based in key ports such as Fraserburgh, Peterhead and Lerwick.

As part of our long-term, international strategy we will also be collaborating with Member States on a new fish egg survey to ensure we have access to the very latest science and data we need to protect mackerel stock for the future of our industry.

Commenting on this agreement, Fisheries Minister George Eustice said:

Mackerel is the UK’s most valuable stock and Friday’s agreement represents a good deal for the UK, and particularly Scottish fishermen.

As well as careful quota management to protect the long term future of this fishery, we must also ensure the scientific advice we use to agree fishing levels is as robust as possible. Our contribution to next year’s comprehensive egg survey will play an essential role in securing the data we need to safeguard the marine environment and ensure we have enough mackerel for generations of fishermen.

UK government secures support for fisheries affected by Russian ban

The mackerel deal comes hours after another agreement which will see fishermen affected by the Russian food import ban benefitting from further EU-wide support thanks to lobbying by the UK government.

Late on Thursday evening, the UK led efforts to secure EU measures so that fishermen can ‘bank’ a higher proportion of their 2015 quota for some pelagic stocks to use next year. The agreement reached at a meeting of the EU Council of Fisheries Ministers will mean that, for example, up to around 42,500 tonnes of UK 2015 mackerel quota would be available for use in 2016.

This agreement continues the flexibility in managing quotas for stocks impacted by the Russian import ban.

Fisheries Minister George Eustice said:

Thursday’s success is a good example of industry and Government working together to deliver practical help and shows the UK’s leadership in Europe.

This agreement will continue to help underpin confidence in the market, enabling industry to find alternative markets for fish that would have been exported to Russia.

Further information

• There will be a further Coastal States Meeting on 14/15 November which seeks to bring Iceland, and possibly Russia into this new agreement.
• EU rules limit banking of quota into the following fishing year to 10%.
• This year, the UK government secured around 243,000 tonnes of mackerel quota for UK fishermen.
• According to 2013 data, Russia’s market for our fisheries accounts for 18% of our mackerel exports and generated £16m.
• For the stocks of interest to the UK, fishermen will be eligible to bank:

17.5% of the following stocks of 2015 UK quota for use in 2016:

• North Sea mackerel
• Western mackerel

25% of the following stocks of 2015 #quota for use in 2016:

• Western horse mackerel
• North Sea herring
• Atlanto-Scandian herring

ICES symposium on “Targets and limits for long term fisheries management”

This looks just the kind of symposium where the case for using data collected in the day-to-day work of fishermen should be made a priority - and the means to make use of cost effective mobile devices like phones or tablets to collect the data the norm.

Symposium guide:

The goal of the symposium is to document and synthesise the best quality scientific approaches to management advice and implementation under potentially conflicting objectives. This will be done by facilitating exchange of ideas and the development of new and innovative solutions. The symposium will bring together scientific experts from across the world and in a variety of disciplines, with stakeholders and managers to enable the communication between suppliers and recipients of scientific management advice. The MSY (Maximum Sustainable Yield) and precautionary frameworks as well as Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management approaches (such as Good Environmental Status under the MSFD) already implemented by ICES have solved some of the initial challenges in implementation.  

However, substantial issues remain particularly where objectives are in conflict, such as is the case in mixed fisheries, areas where prey and predators are both exploited, forage fish fisheries, divergence between e.g. MEY and MSY, where ecosystem goals are mutually inconsistent and in the exact implementation of the approaches in management plans.

The symposium will take a global approach to these topics under a series of themes:

• Identifying trade-offs and conflicting objectives, and identifying approaches to inform and resolve these.
• The role of targets and limits in a variable world
• Economically and socially feasible management tools
• Practical implementation of targets and limits in management

ICES symposium on “Targets and limits for long term fisheries management” will be held from 27-30 October 2015, in Athens, Greece.

Great to see JNCC back in action aboard MRV Scotia and Cefas Endeavour!

Good to see postings includng the work of the Cefas Endeavour live again!

"Greetings all from the deck of the Marine Research Vessel (MRV) Scotia, where we are currently surveying in the East of Gannet and Montrose Field (EGM) and Norwegian Boundary Sediment Plain (NSP) Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas (NCMPAs) with our Marine Scotland Science colleagues.

Sunrise on the MRV Scotia © JNCC, 2015.

 

This first week has gone by quite quickly and has been spent adapting to ship life, where we work in 12 hour shifts to ensure the ship is able to collect scientific data around the clock. As we have spent a good deal of time this year planning this survey, I have really enjoyed this week and the opportunity to get out into the field to test the preparation work completed back in the office!"

By Joey O'Connor 
Read the full story and follow subsequent blog posts here:

They had it covered on Monday in Newlyn!

Looks like someone ran out of chalk...

along with some top quality inshore fish this morning the mareket on Newlyn was packed with...

a big trip of monk tails for the big beam trawler Cornishman...

a few boxes of big plaice from the Sapphire II...

plenty of pollack from the Ajax...

a few boxes of the ever-present ray...

and some monster cod...

with their huge jaws that so love to feed close to the bottom on shellfish - when cod are caught anywhere near langoustine grounds their stomach contents are pink!...

name the tail that this fish belongs to...

it's great to see fish fans of the future prepared to wake up at 5am just to see the fish market in action for the first time - and what a market to see, full of fish from end-to-end...

these guys, scyliorhinus canicula will end up languishing in a crab pot some time this week...

that's ten greater weavers in a box, though these guys are much less likely to cause some unsuspecting bather pain as they seldom come close inshore and lay half buried in the shallow waters of the local beaches like their much smaller cousin the lesser weaver...

bagged and ready to go - chefs, give these monk livers a go - they make superbly sweet paté...

of course big bass are what some of the boats chase at this time of year... 

while the 'C' word is responsible for the market floor looking the way it does this morning...

hake from the netters Ajax, Govenek of Ladram and Britannia V helped keep the buyers busy though the price took a tumble...

as the fish fell under Ian the auctioneer's virtual hammer...

and with all the early morning auction action a dozen or so first year Press and Editorial Photography students had plenty to shoot using a variety of angles to capture the fish auction in full flow...

though this is the first time the White Crane technique has been seen in action...

bigger bass...

and despite the early hour it's smiles all round from senior lecturer Mal Stone and his budding photojournos...

though they might have missed this grisly story being acted out by the Wherry Town Plaza skatepark...

under heavy skies...

as a few seas in the strong sou'easterly breeze pounds the prom.

Check it out - the all new Ajax website address!

First there was Ajax AH32....

then there was Ajax TO32...

and now there is Ajax PZ36 and a new website address to celebrate the new boat.

Penzance harbour - Notice to Mariners

CORNWALL COUNCIL

HARBOUR MASTERS NOTICE

NOTICE NO. 17 OF 2015

PENZANCE HARBOUR

TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF DOCK GATE

Please be advised that the Dock Gate at Penzance Harbour will be unable to operate from the 11th November, 2015, for a period of approximately two weeks. 

The reason for this closure is to carry out major repairs on the ram which will render the gate unusable during this period. If you have a vessel in the floating dock which needs to depart around this time, the last opportunity to leave the dock will be on the evening tide on the 10th November, 2015. We will advise accordingly as to the duration of the works once we know more about the problem that we have with the ram.


For further information please contact the Harbour Office on 01736 366113 or

neil.clark@cornwall.gov.uk