Monday morning market in Newlyn.

Haven't seen a pair of these for years! Developed by a local sailmaker and surfer back in the late 1970s, these neoprene rubber (wetsuit material) sleevelets were worn under the protective rubber gloves and over oilskin or smock sleeves by fishermen to reduce chaffing during the winter months when handlining for mackerel or later, netting

they also provided additional protection against the razor-sharp spiny bucklers of fish like the thornback ray, dogfish...

and gurnards...

treat yourself to some big flaky turbot steaks every now and then...

or some super-fresh squid...

mackerel...

or even better, lined bass caught by the Cod-father himself fishing aboard his boat, Butts...

or in no particular order of quality some sweet monk tails...

delicate Dover sole...

or, hugely popular among many local fishermen as a treat when at sea, lemon sole...

one fish that is one of the port's biggest earners but still largely consumed abroad rather then in the UK...

 is the megrim or Cornish Sole, staple catch of the beam trawl fleet like the William Sampson...

long before somebody thought of fingerprinting as a means of identification the fish that, according to folklore, bears the thumbprint of St Peter is the John Dory...

while all of the fleet whether using trawl, beam trawl or gill net cannot help but catch what was once rarely seen, the humble haddock - another fish blessed with a thumbprint-like mark just behind the head but without being awarded such religious significance...

though none of these facts matter to the buyers who are solely interested in getting the right fish at the right price for their, but-a-phone-call-away customers...

a solitary box of cuttles on the market this morning - this time last year over 47,000kg of cuttles were landed in a single week on the market in Newlyn...

young Mr Hosking, like all the other Newlyn crab boats, is about to clear the fish market and head out to sea hoping that after storm Callum ravaged the south west that his strings of pots are where he left them last week.

Fishing industry funding opportunity - UK Fishing Animateur

We have recently launched the UK Fishing Animateur project 

www.fishinganimateur.co.uk

which is in place to support fishing communities, businesses, harbours and fishermen’s associations to understand and unlock grant funding with a focus on the following themes: 

• Improving health and safety (onboard vessels and personal safety) 
• Improving harbour infrastructure 
• Adding value to catch

The website contains a series of short videos, downloadable PDF self help guides taking you through the MMO grant e-system step by step, as well as a range of images highlighting typical grant funded projects to build ideas and inspiration. The website also has a very easy to use function to start a project idea, which collects the basic information to kick start an idea and allow an Aniamteur to being turning your idea into reality.  So please take a look, familiarise yourself with it and then promote to people you think this would benefit. 

Event - AFISH - tools of the trade to develop successful fisheries grant projects in your community, 1st November, Fishmongers Hall, London.

In order to launch the project and website we are hosting a 1 day workshop at Fishmongers Hall, London on 1st of November.  If you are wanting to support your fishing community and get a better understanding of what help is available and how to access funds then please follow the below link for more details and to confirm your place:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/afish-tools-of-the-trade-to-develop-fisheries-grant-projects-in-your-community-tickets-50916777452

Places are limited so please complete the short application and we will confirm your place as soon as possible. 

The website will be updated monthly, so please continue to visit, as more content and videos will be added as the project progresses. We will also be delivering out reach work to support fishing communities in person, this work will be advertised on the website. If you would like us to visit you then please get in contact via the website, or respond to this via email here. 

Storm Callum arrived on #FishyFriday in Newlyn

Sea condition from the Sevenstones buoy for the last 24 hours show how the worst of storm Callum, with wave heights reaching 14 ft...

and winds of 45knots have now passed this part of south west Cornwall...

the AIS track of the beam trawler St Georges captures the moment in time when skipper James decided enough was enough, boarded the gear and headed for home...

and a berth alongside the fish market in Newlyn at high water...

whereupon the crew set about...

stowing the starboard......

and port side trawls correctly...

in the safety of the quieter waters of the harbour...

which is much safer than trying to do so at sea in a gale of wind...

meanwhile the last auction for the week has just started...

with the buyers gathered round the boxes - a subject recently captured by local portrait artist Henrietta Graham which won the Sea Pictures Gallery Award at this year's Royal Society of Marine Artists exhibition at the Pall Mall Gallery, London...

with three beam trawl trips including plenty of megrim soles from the Twilight III...

the odd ray..

a few octopodes...

while the Sapphire II picked up a few good sized turbot...

and plenty of monk tails...

to go with the megrims...

while inshore line caught fish like these mackerel...

kept auctioneer Ryan busy...

along with a few tub gurnards...

there were plenty of turbot with the Twlight...

and a few John Dory too...

and a couple of vicious looking thornback ray which belie the fact that they make such sweet eating

there's inevitably a bit of banter between the buyers on the market at this time of day...

as they rush to get their purchases away...

storm Callum has forced all of the fleet back to port...

including four of the Rowse crabber fleet berthed together...

along with the netters...

two of which have their haulers, unusually,...

rigged on the port side...

heavy rain is still laying down cover over the Penlee lifeboat, Ivan Ellen in the harbour

while a mile away in Penzance harbour high water is still an hour away and Abbey Slip is already underwater.

Presentations from the Discard Action Group meeting 10th October 2018.

The Discard Action Group is a forum for the discussion of industry-wide problems relating to discards.

The Discard Action Group (DAG) was set up by Seafish in 2009 in light of the many initiatives being adopted by the fishing industry to reduce discards. It is a prime example of an integrated, interdisciplinary, co-operative approach to the issue, and is the only UK cross-industry group addressing the discards issue from all perspectives.

The group is indicative of the whole seafood supply chain with representatives from the catching sector, environmental non-governmental organisations, legislators, regulators, technologists, scientists, retailers, foodservice and, where appropriate, the media. It is a key forum to allow individual interests to have a voice in the debate and to explore means by which discarding can be reduced to the minimum level practicable.

The group is chaired by Mike Park, Seafish Board member and Chief Executive, Scottish White Fish Producers Association Limited. The group meets twice a year.

The Discard Action Group Terms of Reference can be read here.

All the presentations and minutes from DAG meetings are below. We have archived presentations from previous meetings and the minutes prior to 2013 but these are available from Karen Green.

The last meeting was on Wednesday 10 October 2018 in London. The presentations are below and the minutes will follow in due course. The next meeting will be in Feb/March 2019.

Seafish is undertaking a lot of work with regards to the introduction of the Landing Obligation (which will be introduced gradually, between 2015 and 2019 for all commercial fisheries (species under TACs, or under minimum sizes) in European waters. We are providing valuable services to industry and government and our coordination role in communicating about ongoing projects is limiting duplication of work. Key work areas for Seafish are: economic implications; gear selectivity; the Seafish Discard Action Group; briefings and guidance; outreach; a project to assess the impact of the LO on the UK supply chain; sectoral support; and marketing and communications.  See

For more information about the Discard Action Group contact Karen Green. To be added to the DAG mailing list to receive our monthly news update and details on the meetings please register here.

PDF versions of the presentations from 10 October 2018 meeting:

The landing obligation and the path to compliance. Barrie Deas, NFFO
Defra update on discard plans. Stella Bartolini Cavicchi, Defra
Impact of North East Atlantic Multi Annual Plans. Line Groth Rasmussen, DH MARE C1
Discards survival probabilities of flatfish and rays in North Sea pulse-trawl fisheries. VisNed/Cefas
REM scheme in the North Sea and scientific data collection. Martin Arris, Marine Management Organisation
Perspective on the introduction of cameras. Helen McLachlan, World Wildlife Fund
The Take Up of Selective Gears by Industry. Mike Montgomerie, Seafish
Overcoming Economic Barriers: The case for economic data collection. Ana Witteveen, Seafish

Integrated ecosystem analysis in Irish waters; Providing the context for ecosystem-based fisheries management

Highlights

• Provides an expert-driven integrated ecosystem assessment useful for management.

• Places fisheries in the context of wider anthropogenic pressures.

• Top ranked pressures highlight most important linkages for management action.

• Highlights areas of threat to Marine Strategy Framework Directive targets.

• First independent use and critique of the ‘ODEMM’ approach.

Fishing has long been considered the most impactful human activity on the marine ecosystem. To adopt ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) requires consideration of all human impacts, not just those of fishing. The ODEMM (Options for Delivering Ecosystem-based Marine Management) approach provides an integrated ecosystem assessment that is a flexible, cost-efficient and expert-based. 

The framework traces the sectors affecting the marine environment, the pressures they create, and the ecological characteristics affected. This research presents the first application of the ODEMM framework outside of the ODEMM project, completed for Ireland’s marine waters. The assessment places fishing in the context of other anthropogenic pressures and highlights areas of threat to Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) descriptors. From 1874 impact chains, just 59 (44 of which were attributed to the fishing sector) account for 64% of the Total Risk score, highlighting areas for management action with a high risk-reduction return. Of the sectors, The analysis showed Waste Water to have the highest average risk of all sectors, followed by Land-based Industry, Fishing and then Shipping. In terms of total risk, Fishing was the most important sector, due to its high connectance to many ecosystem components and widespread influence, even though many of the impacts are relatively low and the components impacted show a high degree of recoverability. 

Litter was identified as the pressure with the highest total risk scores (average and summed) due to its persistence, and widespread reach. Among the ecological characteristics, deep water habitats that have low resilience to pressures showed the highest average total risk, yet the highest impact risks were for ecological characteristics that were closer to land and were impacted more frequently. These conclusions highlight the importance of context and interpretation in the analysis. 

The impact chains were further linked through to the MSFD environmental status descriptors, indicating Biological Diversity and Food Webs as the descriptors most at risk, followed by Sea-floor Integrity. As the first independent application of the method, issues arose with interpretation of some categories and definitions, and some modifications are discussed.

Overall, this has proven a valuable exercise for helping to identify management priorities. The analysis presented provides useful context for EBFM and a basis for decision making and trade-off analysis for Ireland. The ODEMM framework employed offers a comprehensive, adaptable, globally-applicable tool to guide ecosystem management and the decision-making process, by highlighting risk areas and priorities for management action and research.

For more details go here or contact Anthony Knights at University of Plymouth @benthicecol