Trawling is tough - on the men and the gear.

The inshore trawler Millennium was forced to return to port and put ashore what is left of her trawl - the fishing circle and not much else...

with Tom providing some extra muscle to load the pallet...

the replica langoustier (crayfish) sailing boat Skellig from Douarnenez, she took 10 years to build just after she arrived from a passage from Douarnenez via the Scillys...

Penzance's new set of promenade flags went up today - though prancing horses are not such an entirely nautical theme as in previous years...

along in Newlyn the market landings board has a couple of beam trawlers and most of the inshore trawler fleet in order of sale...

Newlyn reeling from the news that Brixham landed £31,000,000 pounds worth of fish last year...

sculptor Shelley Anderson on the market this morning looking for perfect examples of fish to cast in bronze...

while there were two groups of visitors getting guided tours including the latest recruits to Jamie Oliver's Newquay 15 restaurant and cookery school..

getting a close look at some of the finest fish in the far west like this huge red mullet...

and a party of wet-fish counter staff from Morrisons being shown round by FalFish...

with some cracking examples of quality white fish like these John Dory...

a couple of big blues...

and a specimen red mullet and his cousin...

a few cuttles...

looks like the lobster made a new friend...

great to see the youngster's enthusiasm for getting the chance to see just where the fish they cook with come from and what is involved in putting fish on a plate...

there were a few boxes of line caught pollack...

and a shadowy figure or two hovering at the market doors...

tub gurnard are next on Shelley's list of fish to cast...

while these red bream will have to wait before being immortalised in metal...

just the one netter left in the port today...

many local anglers try each summer to catch these sensitive fish - the ever-elusive grey mullet...

a quiet night's sleep for the crew of the yacht off the Mount...

with not a ripple on the water of the Jubilee Pool which is now open to the public again...

showing off its Art Deco lines...

amid the stunning setting that is Mount's Bay in the morning light.

Newlyn gets back to a working week after the gales.

Bideford powerhouse, Olivia Belle heading out through the gaps early on Monday morning...

closely followed by the handline...

and Dreckly Fish's inshore potter Guiding Star with young Francis Harris at the helm...

beam trawlers often suffer from the bends...

while the quay hosts yet another trawl being put together...

after several days of appalling summer weather the fish were quick to come off the market...

from just the one beam trawler...

the AA who had all her fish in the fridge...

turbot sometimes suffer bruising to the skin when fished in poor weather...

though the monk...

and red mullet...

were all looking bright...

and bright-eyed like these John Dory...

last minute landing of monk tails...

and turbot...

both fridges holding fish from over the weekend...

kept buyers busy inside and out on the market floor...

the ever-present blackback gulls keeping an eye open for something to scavenge...

the remaining prawn trawlers should all sail this morning...

at Wherrytown, the new Lidl's superstore is well underway, reportedly it will be one of the biggest in the UK.

Looks like a hung parliament on #FishyFriday in Newlyn!

The only fish on the market this morning...

were from the netter New Harmony...

with two boxes aptly representing an approximation to this morning's #hungparliament at 43% & 41%...

a handful of boxes of pollack and mackerel...

were all that there was for auction so the forklifts were largely redundant...

on a morning filled with stunning light the big beam trawler, Sapphire II headed slowly through the gaps...

as the sun broke through a cloudy covering over the bay...

picking out an early-bird yacht ahead of the Mount...

at the end of the North pier there is a Cornishman at rest...

while the new quay plays host to a number of Scottish prawn boats, a few Newkyn netters and a couple of Rowse's crabbers...

looks like a set of combination bridles from one of the prawn boats...

she's still still waiting for that propeller...

and you thought the stern of the Govenek of Ladram was on the large size...

the crabbers, Chris T'acha and the Harriet Eve at rest...

filling an ocean.

INDUSTRIAL FLEET vs ARTISANAL FLEET - MYTHS AND REALITIES

“The term tends to imply a simple, individual (self-employed) or family type of enterprise (as opposed to an industrial company), most often operated by the owner (even though the vessels may sometimes belong to the fishmonger or some external investor), with the support of the household. The term has no obvious reference to size but tends to have a connotation of relatively low levels of technology but this may not always be the case. In practice the definition varies between countries, from example from gleaning or a one-man canoe in poor developing countries to more than 20m trawlers, seiners or long-liners in developed ones (e.g. in Europe). Artisanal fisheries can be subsistence or commercial fisheries providing for local consumption or export.” 

Definition source: Garcia, S.M. (Comp.). 2009. Glossary. In Cochrane, K. an

In this document and based on the above, both artisanal and small-scale fisheries (family-based, low machining and small size), are called as “artisanal fisheries” as opposed to “industrial fisheries” (corporate companies and large-size). We think this option is the best one to understand what we want to explain in spite of the fact that there are exemptions where corporate companies operate small fishing vessels and family-based companies

operate large fishing vessels.

Lorient Fish Market - everything done to enhance the value of the fish.

La criée de Lorient, tout pour valoriser le... by Lorient-Agglomeration

The French port of Lorient is the largest in the country - boasting annual sales of around €86,000,000 and is the number one langoustine port.  Newlyn is long due a major overhaul of its fish market and fish handling infrastructure to best compete against the likes of Lorient - so looking at how the daily catch is landed, graded and auctioned is a good place to start.  As the port sees it, they add val;ue to the fish form the moment they come ashore.

Fishing - a statement from Andrew George, standing for St Ives constituency which includes Newlyn

Cries of 'take back control' have often been heard going back to the campaigning days of the Referendum last year - but turning battle-cry rhetoric into reality is another battle altogether - or it might just have been achieved a long time ago. Through the Gaps asked Andrew George for his vision of the future for fishing as it affects the industry here in the St Ives constituency and beyond.

Andrew George at Newlyn Fish Festival

"The fishing industry is often treated as a political football. This is no less now than at any time in the last 30 years. No one would be more pleased than I if we really could get our fishing waters back and successfully scrap the despised quota system during our exit from the hated CFP. These were amongst the claims confidently predicted as the easy to deliver benefits of Brexit during the referendum campaign a year ago. These claims might as well have been 
emblazoned on the side of a red campaign bus along with many of the other claims made.

In reality the process of securing better control of fishing activity in the 6-12 mile zone and within the 200 mile/median line etc are not matters which will be resolved through Brexit negotiations. They would of course require international agreement, but through the London Convention and the United Nations’ Law of the Sea, ie not the EU or Brexit process.

Indeed, these are matters I’d been pressing for previously but secured little enthusiasm from successive Labour and Tory Fisheries Ministers. My primary concern for the industry is that politicians are honest with the industry about
what can be achieved and don’t commit the kind of cruel hoax – ie of raising undeliverable expectations - which has been perpetrated on the industry many times previously.

Securing complete control in the 12-mile zone has to be a firm objective of future Government policy, even though the Brexit negotiations are not necessarily the primary vehicle to achieve this. It is clearly absurd that the foreign vessels which take advantage of access to the 6-12 mile zone are not the same that secured that entitlement decades ago and are often many times more powerful and therefore destructive than those that were originally granted this favour.

Whichever way the negotiations go, it’s clear we should at least maintain if not expand and deepen our international links with other fishing nations as it is only through better joint working that we can secure the improved longer term sustainability of the industry. The example of the annual Trevose ground closure is a case in point and one which demonstrates both the far-sightedness of the industry and the necessity of fishermen working together to secure a shared benefit for all, including the marine environment.

Of course I have long supported the view that we should move away from a quota based regulatory system as soon as practicable, but that will take time. The sooner we achieve a management regime created by fishermen, scientists and other stakeholders working in concert with each other and taking the politicians and regulators out of the equation the better. However, whichever system is adopted fishermen fully understand that a fishing free-for-all is not an option. My favoured option of closed areas, satellite enforced surveillance and reasonable protections for smaller and medium sized enterprises and vessels ought to form the backbone of a way forward, but we’re a long way from that point at present.

Above all, my promise to local fishermen is to give them a voice which they’ve lacked for a couple of years now. We need to have someone who can hold the next (inevitably I’m afraid) Tory Government and Ministers to account and not someone who acts simply as their local echo chamber."

Andrew George, Liberal Democrat candidate for the west Cornwall and Isles of Scilly constituency of St Ives

Monkfish - A floor price that does not pass

Last week the Breton newspaper Le Telegramme reported huge quantities of monkfish that remained unsold on the fish market at Le Guilvenec. France operates a withdrawal system whereby if the price fails to reach a certain point the fish are withdrawn and the boat compensated - a month later at the withdrawal price for that fish. With fine weather and big catches throughout European waters last week fish markets were in glut for some species.


The following is a Google translation of the article - the gist is clear!


Victor Emmanuel returned Monday evening from a tide of ten days. On board, a crew tired but happy with his fishing, mainly monkfish, 9.3 tons Yesterday morning, however, the boat with the quasi-imperial name had no longer the same panache. Verdict on the sale of 6 h, only six tons of monkfish found takers, at the floor price of €4.15.  Below this price floor, the fish is removed from the sale. The remaining 3.3 tons remained on the tile. In the middle of the morning, Emmanuel Le Saint, the patron fisherman, looked at the crates filled with fish, shining with freshness, incredulously and disgustingly: "When you see that, you want to vomit."


 €13,573 of unsold ones that go badly. He will have to advance this amount to pay the wages of the seafarers, the Organizers Producers (OP). The fishermen of Brittany (an insurance system) will only repay it within a month. Friday will be the start of a new tide. However, the cup is full and the state of dejection, tenfold by the fatigue accumulated during the tide. "It's been four tides that's how it is. The fish is sold at the floor price, when it is sold. This is no longer possible ". And the artisan fisherman added: "I do not want to go back to sea again ...". Even if he knows, in spite of himself, that on Friday he will be back on the bridge when the fatigue will be dispelled and this bad sale digested.

© Le Télégrammehttp://www.letelegramme.fr/finistere/le-guilvinec/lotte-un-prix-plancher-qui-ne-passe-pas-31-05-2017-11535155.php#4gtEvSGg81dQUdqk.99