G7 and it's not flaming June!

You don't just have to be a keen gardener to notice a distinct lack of ladybirds and aphids that will tell you it is not quite flaming June, just look out the window!..

traditionally, John Dory show up when there's plenty of sunshine

while hake tend to be a more year-round fish...

while spurdogs are currently caught in a sort of no-mans-land where they are being found on fishing grounds all round the UK in plentiful numbers - and all but a handful of Cornish gill netters are allowed to land 1 ton a month, the rest of the UK fleet has to dump these hugely tasty fish straight back into the sea whenever they catch them...

tub gurnards are every bit as tasty as they look...

superb ray still being landed in quantity by inshore trawlers...

while the ling, fish that was once the mainstay of the 1960s and 70s long ining fleet working from Newlyn are now seldom seen - which no doubt would please Lamorna Ash describing them in her book Dark, Salt, Clear about her time at sea and ashore in Newlynas "her least favourite fish...their long, thrashing bodies are reminiscent of eels and, when they die, their innards come up through their mouths so it looks as if they have vomited bright pink sausage meat"

at the other end of the fish beauty pageant come Couch's bream...

and red mullet...

which along with John Dory...

are top-earners...

for the inshore boats like the Lucy Too

New Venture...

Harverst Reaper...

and Millennia...

who along with Tom on the Harvest Reaper look to increase their landings by picking up these top quality fish, especially turbot which in recent days have topped £175 a stone (£28/kilo)...

though even haddock have been making good money for the likes of the Spirited Lady III...

there's plenty of sunshine at the end of the market this morning though

the good ship Butts is about to carry Cod out to sea for a day hunting the incredibly elusive bass...

but not so fruitful for Mr Morley on the mackerel...

Lucy Too in berth...

Britannia IV, a signwriter's delight...

one day it's the Sheila-T...

and then the Jen-T

Cod out Chris in...

landing crab from the Nicola of Ladram...

the latest boats to join the Rowse fleet...

as Mr Morley heads back to a berth after the third fruitless morning in a row searching mackerel out in the Bay...

Newlyn has another big cat visitor, Tia Elizabeth wind farm vessel stops by for an overnight rest and a fuel-up

tied up across the harbour are two police launches...

and the Border Force vessel, Valiant, more evidence of the increased security surrounding the G7 Talks at Carbis Bay which start in earnest today...

slipped and ready for anit-fouling and new anodes, an annual ritual for every vessel in the harbour...

Cornish crab, Polish truck...

the guys aboard the Amethyst take a good look at the departing windfarm cat.

 

EU and UK reach agreement in principle on fishing opportunities for the remainder of 2021 - with figures.

 

The EU and the United Kingdom concluded today the negotiations on an agreement in principle setting out catch limits for jointly managed fish stocks for 2021. This was finalised in a phone call this afternoon between Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, and UK Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Rt Hon George Eustice MP.

Today's agreement closes the first ever annual consultations on fishing opportunities between the EU and the UK under the terms of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). The successful conclusion of the negotiations, which started in January, creates a strong basis for continued EU-UK cooperation in the area of fisheries.

Today's agreement in principle on the management of key shared stocks secures the fishing rights of both the EU and the UK fleets in both the EU and the UK waters until the end of 2021, as foreseen under the TCA. It establishes the total allowable catches (TAC) for 75 shared fish stocks for 2021, as well as for some deep-sea stocks for 2021 and 2022. It also provides clarity on access limits for non-quota species. The signing of the agreement, expected in the coming days, will also enable both parties to engage in quota exchanges.

Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius said: “Today we reached a deal with the UK on fishing opportunities under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. This agreement provides predictability and continuity for our fleets with definitive TACs for the remainder of the year. This is good for fishermen and women, our coastal communities and our ports, as well as for the sustainable use of our marine resources. This also proves that two partners on both sides of the Channel can find agreements and move forward if they work together.”

The agreement is based on the best available scientific advice on the state of fish stocks, as provided by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. It takes into account important sustainability and management principles, such as maximum sustainable yield and the precautionary approach, which are central to both the EU's Common Fisheries Policy and to the fisheries provisions of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

Next, the Commission will shortly propose to the Council to incorporate today's agreement into EU legislation.

The NFFO gave a summary of the negotiations:

The marathon 5-month negotiation between the UK and the EU for a fisheries agreement for 2021 has concluded with a settlement. Some details on the written record are still being finalised but the Secretary of State for the UK and the Fisheries Commissioner for the EU have both announced agreement in principle.

The NFFO will reserve comment on the package as a whole until after the agreed record has been published. In the meantime, the information that has been made available is reproduced below.

It is worthy of note that the following factors have been significant both in the content of the agreement and how the negotiations were conducted:

The terms of the UK/EU trade and cooperation agreement

The UK’s insistence on its right of regulatory autonomy as an independent coastal state

The EU’s efforts to limit divergence from the CFP

The constraints applied by having to negotiate remotely because of Covid related restrictions

TACs


One of the central purposes of the agreement, setting TACs for 2021, had already been taken out of the equation after the UK, at the beginning of May, autonomously set provisional quotas for the UK fleets; these will now be formally adopted into the agreement without significant change.

Precedents

The main points of disagreement between the two parties (now resolved) eventually boiled down to:

Area flexibility

The following changes to Area flexibility apply North of 58.30’, between Area 6a (West of Scotland) and Area 4 (North Sea). Otherwise, existing flexibilities continue to apply.



Both parties have committed to engage urgently on interim quota exchanges and to a clear timeframe ahead of the establishment of the establishment of the Specialised Committee. The Specialised Committees (yet to be established) will formulate arrangements for a more permanent exchange mechanism.

Non-quota species

Both parties have agreed that notwithstanding the terms of the TCA, and reflecting the late stage in the year, tonnage limits on catches of non-quota species in each respective EEZ will not be enforced for 2021. Instead, catches on non-quota species will be monitored and work on a long-term management plan will be initiated within the context of the Specialised Committee

Bass management measures

Arrangements for bass have been amended:

• Trawl/seine catch limits have been changed from 520kgs per two-month period to 380kgs per month, within a 5% per trip limit

• The ban on bycatch of bass by shore nets has been removed, subject to close monitoring and limitation to those involved in this fishery prior to 2017

• There is no change to the recreational bag limit for bass

• Joint work on bass will continue in the specialised committee

Celtic Sea technical measures

The UK will apply new technical measures in the Celtic Sea which will apply to all vessels operating in that zone. These will apply from 3rd September 2021. Details to follow.

Industrial Species

Notwithstanding the UK’s principled opposition to industrial fishing, the following TACs were agreed:

• Sandeel 92,500 tonnes

• Norway Pout 128,300 tonnes

Skates and Rays

Better ways of managing the various skates and rays stocks will be referred to the specialised committee

Mixed Fishery Advice

It is expected that the agreed record will contain wording on a more rational approach to managing mixed fisheries in the future.

Written Record

All of the above is based on oral information and may be subject to adjustment when the UK/EU written record is made available.

Final #FishyFriday in May.

Low water on a big spring tide sees the port's largest beam trawler Enterprise high and dry...

while owners of other smaller vessels take advantage of being able to dry out on the hard for a lenghty period between tides to get annual jobs like checking and anti-fouling the bottom  of their boats...

Cornish Lass a piece of Newlyn history is free to a good home if someone wants to take on a small restoration challenge...

the extent to which the harbour dries out revealed...

work continues of the outdoor seating area for the harbour's latest eating venture...

that's a lovely shade of turquoise on Plugger's inshore trawler Shiralee

which would no doubt have appealed to the half dozen artists enjoying a day's painting on the Old harbour...

the Canner's slip is a hive of activity these days...,

a  brace of local lifeboats...

looks more like some muddy estuary at low water...

the never-ending job of gill net repair, small comfort for the non-EU workers who live aboard their boats for the duration of their time fishing in the UK, once, the port had a Fishermen's Mission building with rooms, showers, canteen and recreation room...

now all they have is this tiny ex-office which has now been commandeered by the Newlyn Export Office...

Newlyn's resident seal is not likely to be fed any mackerel any time soon this morning...

as these rather rare fish are currently making around £12 a kilo when they appear on the market...

today's market brings a good mix of quality inshore fish like these grey mullet...

John Dory...

stunning wrasse, which make for great sashimi dishes...

with no netters landing (they don't fish over big spring tides) there were precious few hake on the market, this single jumbo hake was caught by Tom on the harvest reaper...

top species by weight landed by the beam trawl fleet like the Enterprise are Cornish (megrim) sole

along with the odd tub gurnard...

young Mr Smart displays a similar countenance to that of the cheerful looking John Dory he is holding

Dover sole come next in valur to the beam trawl fleet but ICES Area VII quota is scarce, much of it in Belgian and Dutch hands...

every trawlerman loves to see these beauties fall from the cod end at hauling time...

as ever, pristine whiting from the Spirited Lady II

anyone would think it was the middle of winter...

now where did that box of large pollack go?..

this visiting Dutch yacht is due to come out of the water for repairs at the Sandy Cove Boatyard - just goes to show - "build it and they will come"...

Ocean Queen, sadly, there are fewer and fewer of these classically lined Cornish designed and built wooden toshers plying their trade around the coast these days - GRP rules the day. The knock-on effect is a decrease in the superior boat-building skills that are inevitably dying out too.

 

Brexit: fishermen appeal to Emmanuel Macron

 

The UK's continued blocking of all measures to implement the Fisheries Trade Agreement is beyond the National Fisheries Committee.

In a letter sent on Wednesday May 26 to the Presidency of the Republic, the president of the CNPMEM Gérard Romiti alerted Emmanuel Macron to the fact that the delaying tactics on the negotiations of quotas, the rights of access in the 6-12 miles and at Jersey "are installing a climate of total exasperation on the coast" . He officially requests a hearing to examine the political and legal support measures.

Regarding retaliatory measures, the European Council, which brought together the European heads of state on 24 and 25 May, had indicated in its conclusions "invite the Commission to continue its efforts to ensure the full implementation of the agreements, in particular in the areas of fisheries and equal conditions of competition, by making full use of the instruments provided for in the agreements, by continuously coordinating and in permanent dialogue with the Council and its preparatory bodies, in accordance with practice established ” .

Behind this diplomatic language, it seems that the United Kingdom is starting to annoy even the most conciliatory countries with it. The partnership council provided for in the trade agreement, which must be held, in its fishing composition, during the second week of June, promises very tough negotiations according to Pierre Karleskind, who raised the subject this Thursday, May 27 with the commissioner in charge. of peach, Virginijus Sinkevicius. "The decision to initiate retaliatory measures requires legal delays ," said the chairman of the European Parliament's Committee on Fisheries. But then, the activation of these measures can be fast. "

Full story courtesy of Bernard Jegou writing for Le Marin