Welcome to Through the Gaps, the UK fishing industry's most comprehensive information and image resource. Newlyn is England's largest fish market and where over 50 species are regularly landed from handline, trawl, net, ring net and pot vessels including #MSC Certified #Hake, #Cornish Sardine, handlined bass, pollack and mackerel. Art work, graphics and digital fishing industry images available from stock or on commission.
Preliminary fishing trials using a new design of prawn trawl developed to reduce unwanted bycatches of fish have produced encouraging results. The prototype trawl, which is the brainchild of fishing skipper Jimmy Buchan and netmaker Mark Buchan of Jackson Trawls, is designed to aid North Sea prawn fishermen comply with new Landing Obligation regulations (discard ban).
Jimmy Buchan's Amity II
Working in a project supported by The Gear Innovation Technology and Advisory Group (GITAG), initial fishing trials with the new trawl on the fishing vessel Amity II resulted in a significant drop in the amount of unwanted whitefish retained without any reduction in the prawn (langoustine) catch. Furthermore, the quality of the prawns was noticeably better compared with those caught in traditional trawls. The new design features an inclined panel which separates fish from the prawns within the trawl. The fish are directed upwards with many escaping through large meshes in the top part of the net, whilst the prawns catch is retained in the bottom section of the trawl. The whitefish which remain in the net are covered by the boat’s fish quota for the mixed fishery, keeping discards down to a minimum. The trials, which are still ongoing, have been experimenting with different configurations and mesh sizes to ascertain the optimum design. Skipper Jimmy Buchan said: “Innovation never stops nor should it. Having the support of GITAG with the industry experts it offers will help the fishers find solutions in developing more efficient ways to catch fish which will help us to continue sustainable harvesting over the long term. “We are entering a new era in fisheries management where fishermen are challenged to find new and better ways to harvest the sea. “This gear trial is part of the outward focus in finding workable solutions that are acceptable to all stakeholders and where fishermen can continue to fish responsibly. Much work has yet to be done but early indications are showing promising results.” Other skippers are also being supported by GITAG in conducting their own projects in developing innovative new trawl designs to reduce discards. GITAG was formed in the second half of 2015 after the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation’s wholly owned subsidiary company SFF Services Ltd secured funding from Marine Scotland to develop and trial innovative fishing gear exploring practical solutions aimed at reducing the amount of discards. GITAG aims to address these research and development gaps by working with key partners including industry, Marine Scotland Policy, Marine Scotland Science, Producer Organisations, the Scottish Industry Discards Initiative and Seafish to promote and encourage innovation from the fishing industry as a whole.
Atlantic Stream screens tonight in Queen's Film Theatre, Belfast and runs til Wed night; tomorrow night in Greencastle Centre, Donegal; it's still running in Eye Cinema Galway, Irish Film Institute (IFI) in Dublin, and Century Cinemas Letterkenny in Donegal. For more screenings nationwide: And if your locality isn't listed, email atlanticstream@outlook.com to help us bring it to you
Heavy clouds mask the sun over the Bay this morning...
as the latest boat, the Crystal Sea to join the fleet in Newlyn makes her way to the end of the New quay...
just astern of the Fladda Maid, which as many will realise is the old Crytal Sea II she is one of the fleet of Scottish prawn trawlers now working off to the west of the Scillys on the North West Banks...
both ships back-to-back...
the only other prawn boat in port is the Bracoden...
The Filly and the Lisa sit side-by-side in berth...
while the Imogen III appears to have joined the big boys' side of the harbour now
set for action, the Flat Hol...
and hoping to finish her refit sooner rather than later, the William...
on the market this morning it is all trawl fish for sale...
like these lemons...
and John Dory from skipper Curtis on the Elisabeth Veronique...
with auctioneer Ian in fine voice after enjoying a few days away on the Scillys...
he keeps the buyers on their toes...
bidding for these fine haddock...
and ling from the prawn trawler...
fine fish for all...
all whisked away post-haste...
red gurnard, once sent for crab bait, now favourite with chefs...
bagged scallops wait to be sold from the St Georges...
there's never a shortage of monk tails on the market...
but the buyers can never get enough of these guys...
one of the big factors that can affect how a trawl works when fishing, the length of the bridles needs to be exactly the same in order to balance the trawl and set its shape in the water when towed...
Crystal Sea skipper, David Stevens holds a G-link as adjustments are made to even the length of the combination bridles...
watched on by David Stevens Snr, the new boat's stern...
dwarfs the stern of the Rose of Sharon, the boat that the family of three brothers fished with for many years...
her Kevin main engine would have struggled to tow bridles this heavy!...
the old Crystal Sea II now the Fladda Maid enjoys an early morning shower...
along with her fellow prawner the Bracoden...
Newlyn's ginger tom like all good fishing port cats doesn't care about a drop of the wet stuff...
and provides a place of rest for one gull at a time...
one of the classic Cornish views on the coastal path walk from Sennen, looking over the top of the Black Widow rock towards Land's End...
away in the distance the Scapeche deepwater trawler Corail built in Concarneau passes the Longships lighthouse on her way back to her home port of Lorient...
after steaming down from the west coast of Scotland...
the wreck of the coaster MV Mulheim is a reminder of how dangerous the coastline is in these parts for unconscious watch keepers...
another passing boat, this time a Dutch beam trawler heading home after fishing in the Bristol Channel...
Land's End is always a good spot for cloud-watchers.
Marine plans for the South West are moving forward. You may have attended our recent launch events in the South west; if you couldn’t make the event this is a reminder that we would welcome comments on the draft Statement of Public Participation and the Scoping Report for the Sustainability Appraisal by the deadline of Friday 13 May.
For those who couldn’t make the April events, presentations from the events are in the book above. The next stage of the marine plans will be to complete the consultation on the Statement of Public Participation and the Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report. The consultations which were launched on Monday 11 April will close on Friday 13 May. You can find out more (and provide comments) about the consultations here. Following this stage we will also be starting to look at the issues and evidence for each of the marine areas in summer later this year. If you would like to be kept up to date with the development of marine plans please subscribe to our marine planning newsletter. If you would like to receive this please email planning@marinemanagement.org.uk If you have any specific queries regarding marine planning, or feel a direct one-to-one meeting would be beneficial pleased contact me direct. We look forward to meeting you again (or for the first time) at our forthcoming Evidence and Issues workshops.
megrims aplenty from both the beam trawlers and the visiting prawn boats who are landing their whitefish to the market...
with his first chance to fish away west of the Scillys, Roger on the Imogen III has made a solid landing of his favourite summertime fish, John Dory...
and a handful or cracking red mullet thrown in for good measure, just look at the quality of Roger's fish......
Scottish boats land their monk whole...
checking out the results of one handliner's early morning haul of mackerel...
the fish are flighty and elusive this week making them hard to catch...
Don picked away good box of tub gurnards for his week at sea...
the almost prehistoric tail of a ray...
plaice aplenty...
builders bags have become a gosdsend for small and larger boats working nets...
allowing punt men like Barry to get on with the job more quickly and efficiently...
new crab pots still go aboard three at a time on the Girl Pamela though...
the business end of the latest Scottish prawner to join the fleet...
taking shape...
the stern of the Galilee is looking neat...
while the William now sports her reconditioned derricks and mast...
prawners, Solstice...
Shekinah...
and Nereus..
joined by the Astoria and Bracoden...
which was prefviously the old Solstice - many steel boats have their original names made in steel letters and welded to the bow...
which means they have to becovered over rather than burnt off when re-named...
or just painted over like the Shekinah ex-Ben Arkle...
waiting for the tide to drop to ciontinue the antifouling work on the hull...
away to sea for the Prospector...
some classic artwork coming up for auction Lane's, though the boats look Breton rather than Cornish...
