Tuesday 7 February 2017

Selectivity in trawl fishing gears.

INTRODUCTION

In this manual we describe the different stages of the fish capture process, highlight how different parts of the gear may influence selection and identify possible design changes which can alter the selectivity of the gear. The intention is to make fishermen, net makers and fisheries managers more aware of the possible modifications that can be made to their gears so that they can design and develop gears with a selective performance suitable for their particular fishery.

We have also assembled a catalogue of fact sheets which provide brief descriptions of many of the catch comparison and selectivity trials that have taken place in the North Atlantic and adjacent seas. This is again to highlight the potential gear modifications that can be made and to provide an indication of their likely effect. It is important to bring together this type of information and to disseminate it as broadly as possible. Not only will the preferred selective performance differ at a fishery by fishery level, it may also vary at a vessel by vessel level, as individual fishermen may wish to tailor their gears to
the specific catch and quota restrictions they may face and/or to optimise their response to the prevailing market forces.

The catalogue of factsheets is by no means exhaustive, indeed, it is just a starting point, and it is anticipated that the web version will be added to and built upon.

www.discardless.eu

Marine Scotland is the directorate of the Scottish Government responsible for the integrated management of Scotland’s seas. Marine Scotland Science (formerly Fisheries Research Services) provides expert scientific and technical advice on marine and fisheries issues. Scottish Marine and Freshwater Science is a series of reports that publishes results of research and monitoring carried out
by Marine Scotland Science.

Help our fishing environment with the Fishy Filaments crowdfunder

From this...

and this...

Fishy Filaments can do this...

Lifecycle of a Cornish Fishing Net from fishyfilaments on Vimeo.

The Whys and Wherefores

The plastics contained in fishing nets have a value as a raw material, unfortunately the economics of the global recycling industry works against establishing a local-scale solution, and as a result we see the value of those nets exiting the county, or worse; going to landfill or being added to waste-to-energy streams.

Fishy Filaments wants to provide a local, commercial route to intercept and recycle marine plastics and by doing so capture the value of those materials for the local economy after their first life as fishing gear.

To this point the project has been self-financed, but has been working with the support of Fishing for Litter (South West) and The Newlyn Pier and Harbour Commissioners, with the aim of taking both caught marine litter (sometimes known as ghost gear) and end-of-life fishing nets, processing them locally and producing a valuable hi-tech material for the fast-growing 3D printing sector.

The project has already produced a world first; we made a 3D printed form made entirely from recycled fishing nets that were used by the Newlyn fleet and in the longer term we have plans to take other locally-arising wastes, produced by boat and board-building, to add further products to the portfolio.

The ultimate aim is to go into commercial production, securing supplies of used fishing gear from around the county, and maybe further, making local hires and selling the 3D printing filament to a national or possibly global market. For Fishy Filaments a sustainable business is one that is self-supporting as well as being socially and environmentally responsible.

However before we can get to that full commercial roll-out, there remains a phase of up-scaling and product testing that needs to be done. It is this advanced feasibility study that we are asking for help with.

To this point our Research and Development has been a well-thought through, but manual process able to produce only limited lengths of filament at a time. To get our product consistency high enough to justify sending the product to external testers, the R&D kit used so far needs to be replaced by lab grade production machinery.

The £5000 target is sufficient to buy the professional-quality equipment necessary to produce a testable product and construct demo pieces from that product. This feasibility study will also provide the numbers upon which a final business plan will be built before we enter a final round of ‘go live’ funding.

Technically we’ve proven the process. Now we need to prove that a business can be built on it.

Rewards

It is customary to offer rewards for funding pledges. Fishy Filaments is offering a range of pledge options, some of which include 3D printed plastic items.

These items were produced by Fishy Filaments in Cornwall using an open source design posted on Thingiverse by StevenDuval (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1360291) and are made from PLA, a biodegradable plastic whose raw materials are cornstarch or milk. We have conducted independent tests to confirm that the PLA used does degrade over time.Given the nature of the issues surrounding marine plastics we have also given pledgees the option to NOT recieve a plastic item, even one that we feel is appropriate, and we respect that choice.

Our rewards include;

Monday 6 February 2017

Porthleven Baulk Art Lightshow.

On Sunday evening, over 140 works of art were projected on to the wall of the clock tower in Porthleven - exactly 3 years to the day a huge storm smashed the 12"x12" timber baulks to pieces that protect the inner harbour from huge seas - ten boats sank and thousands of pounds worth of fishing gear were lost or damaged - the Fishermen's Mission were there to help.

Next month, on the 16th of March, all the works of art will be auctioned by local Penzance auction house, David Lays - online and live from the Atlantic Inn in Porthleven. A big thank you to Impact Sound & Light for the projected lightshow.

Sunday 5 February 2017

Live! - Porthleven Art Lightshow - from 6:30pm on Sunday

Weather permitting you can watch the Porthleven Art Auction Lightshow live here. On the evening anniversary of the storm, all the pieces of art that have been created for the auction will be projected onto the Porthleven clock tower for everyone to see.

Friday 3 February 2017

iCatch - Stress-free IFCA & MMO shellfish returns!

Check out this unique tool developed by Graham Murt whose brother, Johnny is a shellfisherman from Padstow in Cornwall. The daily drudge of filling out both IFCA and MMO catch returns has now been reduced to almost zero - a few minutes on your mobile (iPhone or Android) and your catch returns are completed and sent off for the record books - keeping everyone happy. The app is not free - but when you see the price you will know it is a bargain - it will save you time, grief and aggravation - what price that!

This is a fantastic example of citizen science at its best - one man's problem solved by another - it just so happens they are brothers!

Here's how it Works

Here we’ll give you a run through of the various features/screens within the app and give a brief description of how they work in order to give you a better idea as to how the app works.

Shellfish Returns Screen

This is the main screen you see when launching the app and allows you to view all of your returns and add new returns at the touch of a button.

Monthly Return

On the monthly view, you get an overview of which days you’ve fished. Clicking on a single day takes you to the Daily Catch screen and allows you to record the shellfish you caught.

Daily Catch Screen

On this screen you can record which species you caught for the day including the area fished, gear set and hauled. Potting, Netting, Scalloping and Trawling are all available as fishing methods on this screen.

Area Selection

No more time spent interpreting maps to work out the area code, simply tap on the map with your finger and the area code will be calculated for you.

Preview/Submit Screen

At the end of the month, you can preview your shellfish returns and submit them to the authorities in a matter of seconds.

IFCA/MMO Returns

Here you can see an example of a shellfish return form which the app generated and sent via email to the MMO.

If you need to, get more information or contact the app developer direct - remember this was developed for fishermen by someone who knows fishing!

Mapping fishing effort: Combining fishermen’s knowledge with satellite monitoring data in English waters

Just published! - bring on the day when fishermen can use mobile technology to easily record fishing effort for the purposes of managing effort and directing management by region for and with the MMO.

Fishing activities are complex and vary greatly across different ports, seasons and gear types. Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) are required in the UK only on vessels ≥12 m long (EC No. 1224/2009), which represent 15% of the UK fleet size (MMO, 2014). Prior to 2002, VMS were limited to vessels ≥15 m (10% of UK fleet size). As most fishing vessels are not required to carry VMS there is a paucity of data describing the spatial distribution and intensity of effort by smaller, generally “inshore” fishing vessels at the resolution required for setting Marine Protected Area (MPA) conservation objectives (Hinz et al., 2013).

For more info see the publisher's site here: