Fine #FishyFriday in Newlyn

 

The SeaFit team and other health practitioners are in Newlyn again today...

like this cormorant, keeping an eye on local fishermen as they go about their day in the Bay...

and it's not a bad start to the day either...

with the market chocka with fish...

like these cracking hake from the netter Ygraine...

and the Silver Dawn...

together with ever present spurdogs...

alweys good to see some of the old timers like Magic still going strong directing operations on the market this morning...

amongst the sharks...

young Roger will have been disappointed with this slack haul of John Dory...

inshore boats land a good mix of fish and shellfish...

three boxes at a time, there's no stopping the man it seems...

while young Tom seems to have hot on a few golden beauties...

others are waiting for some scraps...

monk would go down well no doubts...

haddock are back on the menu again...

there are a few megs to go round...

from the beamers that landed...

the handliners found a few mackerel, mainly off St Ives...

along with plenty of bass...

to keep the guys happy...

along with the much harder to find or rather catch, sardines...

testament to the handliners efforts...

from the likes of Gary on the Bethshan

and still they come...

busy enough on the market...

as the sun breaks through...

no doubt it will be rocing again tonight in the Swordfish with the rugby set to keep the troops entertained...

she's looking shiny!..

as the lifeboat exactly where she should be...

any boxes missing?..

there's light on the pontoon access...

rumour has it they plan to paint the iconic red light at the end of Gwavas Quay black to comply with the regulations for lights no longer deemed relevant...

just a slight haze across the bay...

just some of the fleet at rest...

a young gull halfway through losing their first set of feathers...

a slightly piratical look...

young Richard is off to PZ to give the bottom a scrub for the day as the forecast is giving it scuffly later...

there's a few big mullet still cruising the harbour...

Cape Cornwall's fleet of gigs at rest.

More French boats headed for the breakers yard.

All these French boats are about to be scrapped.

and there's five more added today!

 With thanks to Eric Omerta for the pics.

SFF chief executive Elspeth Macdonald demolishes report on UK stocks by anti-fishing group Oceana.

 

Anti-fishing group report on stocks a ‘naïve assessment’ Responding to the latest misleading attack on the state of the UK’s fish stocks, by the corporately-funded, anti-fishing group Oceana, Elspeth Macdonald, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, said today: “This report is a naïve assessment based on only partial knowledge and limited understanding of fisheries science and management.

“It is routine for fish stocks to fluctuate. Increases and decreases in scientific advice between years are absolutely normal. Scientific advice also contains margins of error. These and other factors are taken into account by fisheries managers in setting total allowable catches (TACs). If TACs are set that exceed scientific advice, then that will have been carefully considered by fisheries managers within governments. We are fortunate in Scotland in having very well managed fisheries.

“Fisheries managers in the UK set quotas for mackerel based on ICES scientific advice, and the Scottish fleet fishes within these limits. Some other countries involved in the mackerel fishery do exceed limits, but we do not.

“Scientists now acknowledge that there is no such thing as a West of Scotland cod stock. We have a northern shelf cod stock that covers the North Sea and West of Scotland, and ICES advice due to be published very soon is expected to show that it is in good health. It will be evident that science is catching up with what fishermen have been saying for years – that cod are abundant in Scottish waters and that the stock is healthy.

“Science is always evolving – West of Scotland whiting had a zero TAC until ICES undertook a benchmark exercise, including a detailed review of the science. As a result, the advice changed and a TAC is now set, so management of the stock followed the updated science. ICES will shortly be starting similar benchmark work for anglerfish/monkfish, where TACs have been reduced due to the science being over-precautionary. Industry will be contributing to this work, as we want to see the best possible science to enable optimal management.

“Fisheries managers also have to make decisions that translate into the real world. If the scientific advice for one stock in a mixed fishery is for zero TAC, managers may have to set a small quota to account for bycatch – otherwise they risk closing a whole fishery where other stocks may be very abundant. When this happened on the West of Scotland, industry also took action through working with scientists to develop tools for ‘real time reporting’ that allowed fishing boats to avoid certain areas.

“It’s also worth noting that the Scottish Government has a national indicator of the percentage of fish stocks fished sustainably. In 2020, an estimated 69 per cent of commercial fish stocks were fished at sustainable levels in Scottish waters. This represents an increase of 35 percentage points from 2000. The percentage fished sustainably in 2020 is the highest level recorded since this data collection began (1991) and demonstrates the ongoing recovery of the commercial fish stocks.

“No-one has a greater interest in fishing sustainably than those who make their living from the sea, and we strongly support greater cooperation and knowledge sharing between fishermen and fisheries scientists so we can have the best possible information on which to base the best possible management.”