Newlyn Farmers Market at the Centre opens next Wednesday.

One boat on Wednesday.

Empty harbour boxes stacked high this morning with fish from...

the beam trawler Aaltje Adriaantje being the only fish on the market...

a few boxes of cod...

cuttles...

whiting...

and monk...

meant that Lionel was on wash down duties much sooner than usual...

not a single box for auction in the fridge this morning...

down the quay with the weather having abated for the time being the bigger boats are all set to sail today and straining at their moorings ready for the off - but there is a big ground sea still running which means that it won't take much of a breeze to make conditions unworkable for the smaller inshore boats even up to 10 or 12m in biggish tides...

if all goes to plan these big guys won't be back in port to land until the end of next week, if they get away today...

meanwhile, Capn'n "hail the hake" Phil has the Govenek up on the slip...

and it doesn't take much of a weather eye to see that those clouds are not bringing beach weather just yet form the West.

Fishermen-led initiative identifies research priorities to support industry in avoiding shark, skate and ray by-catch.

Shark By-Watch UK 2 project releases new report: “Research priorities: innovative solutions for preventing by-catch and dead-discards of threatened* sharks, skates and rays” – drawing on expertise from across industry, the retail supply chain, science and NGOs.

Celebrating eight months of fisher-led participatory research around the UK coast, the second phase of the Shark By-Watch UK project – run by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (Cefas), but led by fishermen – held a concluding workshop on the 17^th December 2015.

Commenting on his experiences as part of the Shark By-Watch UK 2 initiative, Thames Estuary inshore fisherman, Stuart Moss, said:

“We hope that our involvement in this project will lead to greater coordination of knowledge between fishermen & scientists to fully understand the thornback ray population in the Thames Estuary so that it can be better managed, hopefully on a more local level. We hope working together like this will be to the benefit of the thornback ray population in our local area, in turn supporting a healthy stock and the future of inshore fishermen such as ourselves.”

The concluding event in December included fishermen from across the UK, as well NGO, science and national retail representatives - andserved as the launch of the new report, which identifies key issues and highlights important research priorities related to elasmobranch (shark, skate and ray) by-catch.

Concluding with five concrete recommendations for policy-makers and funders, the report focuses on four key species: spurdog, common skate, porbeagle and basking shark. The report and recommendations were developed through a day of in-depth discussions as part of a Shark By-Watch UK 2 workshop on threatened elasmobranch by-catch, and months of fisher-led data gathering, including participatory tagging programmes. For the purpose of a dedicated field study, which provided insights for the report, and the report itself, ‘threatened’ refers to ‘vulnerable’, ‘endangered’ or ‘critically endangered’ species as defined by the IUCN. The field study centred on fisheries in the Celtic Sea, with vessels from the Cornish port of Newlyn participating.

A key theme running throughout the report is the need for more data on numbers, locations, and behaviours of the species discussed. Cefas scientist Stuart Hetherington explains why this is so important to ensuring a future for both fishermen and elasmobranchs, threatened or otherwise:“It is vital that more up-to-date information is collected to feed into fisheries and conservation policy for sharks, skates and rays. Projects such as Shark By-Watch UK 2 work with fishermen, using their knowledge, fishing vessels and gears to efficiently  gather information on numbers and locations of sharks, skates and rays. A better understanding of the species we’re studying can lead to better management for the future of the species and for fishermen.”

The report provides practical advice, drawing on fishers’ experiences, to develop measures for by-catch avoidance of species such as spurdog. It emphasizes the importance of using fisher knowledge in research initiatives, as well as trialing innovative technologies and management measures to advance understanding and prevention of economically and environmentally costly unwanted shark, skate and ray by-catch.

With delegates at the final Shark By-Watch UK 2 workshop in December agreeing that further research in this area – and other areas related to securing sustainable elasmobranch fisheries into the future – is required, the project will be looking to secure funding for a longer-term, third phase of the research.

Find out more on: www.sharkbywatch.org and read the report here.

For further information on the research, please contact Stuart Hetherington, Cefas, on: stuart.hetherington@cefas.co.uk

The Melizenn and storm Irene

Despite the forecast, the 25m Melizenn from Roscoff sailed on Saturday from Roscoff bound for the fishing grounds north of the Scillys - the AIS animation picks her up at 8am on Sunday morning off Land's End passing the Longships lighthouse steaming at around 7 knots - the rest of the animation plots her course until midnight on Monday as storm Irene passes.

The price of fish.

Small boats, big seas.

With gale warnings giving 10s and 11s for Plymnouth, Sole, Lundy and Fastnet...

it's no wonder to see a dozen French trawlers east side of the Lizard, a small number are dodging out of the weather close to the land off the Helford while a few hardy types continue fishing right along the six mile limit...

further out to sea, the small coaster Arklow Ranger is battling into huge seas off the Lizard and has been reduced to making around 2knots ever since she cleared the Lizard in the early ours of this morning, she has altered course to make the run north around Land's End more comfortable as the wind hopefully eases...

though at the moment the new Cefas Wavenet weather service webpage is showing 10 and 11 meter high waves right where she is headed!

the weather is so bad that the Sanskip Endeavour has been forced to turn round and seek shelter in Mount's Bay - the skipper having decided that rounding Land's End would be too dangerous for her.

Good morning Irene, Good morning!

Four big beam trawlers and three netter put ashore the bulk of fish...

 on this Monday morning's market in Newlyn...

as storm Irene blew her way through the side doors...

blowing cold air over the Dover...

and lemon soles...

megrim...

big turbot...

on a crowded market floor...

with just a few tubs of cuttles from the Sapphire II...

while at the western end of the market the net boats had plenty of fish to keep the porters...

and buyers busy...

bidding on the biggest and best fish of its kind...

to be had in the south west...

thereby hangs a tail, name this fish...

more tails this time from the monkfish...

big mesh in the nets also means bigger fish...

and the most sustainable of these are our very own MSC Certified Cornish Hake...

from the Ajax this morning...

throw in a few big tub gurnards...

all of the fleet are now in port so there won't be much in the way of fish for a few days again...

while Irene blows through the port...

no doubt the Nowell family all enjoyed their son's epic performance for England over the weekend, especially as young @Nowellsy15 scored yet another try for England to help win back the Calcutta Cup...

he even helped sports photographer Dan Mullen win Getty Images Sports Photo of the Year Award!...

away out to sea at the Sevenstones lightship the wind has been gusting up to 50 knots...

and the average wave height has now crept up to over 30 feet...

while a few dodging in the lee of the land off the Helford, half a dozen French trawlers are toughing it out still fishing.

Poor weather hits Newlyn and Penzance as gale force winds lash Mount's Bay.

Saturday's weather is poor enough; ahead of storm Irene the fishing fleet of Newlyn is already weather-bound. The gill netter Karen of Ladram lands her fish to the market as the French trawler Alexandra runs into the port to escape from the heavy seas. Penzance promenade is lashed by by waves as the Isles of Scilly supply ferry Gry Maritha rolls her way into Penzance Dock.