Fishy tails in Newlyn

Yesterday produced a storm of hailstones of rare proportions and this morning's clouds also look full of vigour...

two of the biggest beam trawlers along with the James RH landed for this morning's market...

with the Cornishman targeting megrim...

and monk...

from the 'deep water', meaning anything around and over 50 fathoms sou'west of Newlyn...

which is why her trip only produced a handful of Doversole...

and over 160 boxes of megrim soles...

and monk tails...

talking of tails, how many fish can you ID from just the tail?...

an easy one to start, but which mermaid's purse laying beast is this...

bigger and flatter...

and flatter still...

still flat...

but which one is this...

just can't place this one...

by now you should be a dab hand at this...

a little rounder...

easy one to spot...

not so this...

or this one...

a few clues in the pic...

maybe bigger eyes needed for this one...

a slippery customer...

don't be fooled by the colour...

almost too easy...

as is this one...

no one will get this one wrong...

but maybe this distant cousin is a little harder...

a break for the black, the James RH...

who in contrast to the Cornishman, fished the cuttlefish grounds...

where they would be unlikely to catch any of these...

showing signs of age...

not what you want to see when swimming, but which toothy predator does this belong to...

not remotely related to this guy...

or this...

not what you might think...

missing off the landings board, bigger fish MSC Certified hake from the Govenek of Ladram...

the old and the new, looks like some serious gear maintenance work for the boys aboard the James RH today...

a season's pots awaiting dispatch to the deeps...

a rare visitor to the port, IFL's Admiral Grenville...

the port beam is ready for repairs on the James RH...

Lionel exchanges a few words with Rob McCabe, skipper of the beam trawler Louisa N while giving a group of youngsters one of his most excellent guided tours hoping to engender a love of fish in them...

work continues apace to get the newest, biggest sardine boat ready for the forthcoming season... 

as it does aboard the crabber, Harriet Eve complete with her recent £5000 nose job...

they might be made of chain but they are often still referred to as end-stones...

these big crabbers need plenty of deckspace to cater for strings of fifty pots, when they can work over twenty strings in a day...

Dreckly Fish's Francis aboard the Guiding Star gets a royal cygnet fly-past this morning...

out one, in t'other....

are these for?

• a new boat build
• lugger masts
• pier fenders
• the new lifeboat house
• none of the above

Latest issue of Hook and net is out now!

The March issue of Hook & Net has just been published and features two innovative new fishing vessels, fully documented fisheries becoming a reality, the new Bluestream pelagic doors, how to polish the contents of your tanks, Spain's fleet renewal, and the challenges facing the demersal sector in Sweden... and much more besides...

Click on the contents to access the magazine or better still download the app (IOS and Android).

Le Guilvinec: the great disillusionment

Breton fishermen - many of whom fish within sight of the South West coast fear the future in the present political turmoil that is sweeping the world:

(Apologies for the translation by Google)

"At first sight, it is not the fishermen of Guilvinec (29) who fill the urns in this municipality. On the quays, one seems to have distanced itself from the political thing. Even though this fishing port has seen a lot of tenors left and right in recent months. Like a break. A great disillusionment.

Sarkozy, Macron, Valls, Le Drian, Urvoas, Rama Yade. The quays of Guilvinec have often been courted by politicians. Visits which, unfortunately, have not left much traces in the minds. "They come here to get a picture or be filmed. The sailors-fishermen, it is authentic and close to the people, "commented ironically Thierry, who is embarked on Bara Bihan, a trawler that Emmanuel Valls had visited last September. "What worries me is the payment of pensions. In three years, it's the keel. I hope to live with dignity afterwards. I will vote for sure. For whom, I do not know. I think in the end, I will draw lots ".

Not far from there, the patron of one of the 40 highwaymen who landed here launches: "The countryside? What campaign? We only talk about pots. It is deplorable. I too would have enjoyed a fictitious, well-paid job. Instead of risking my life off. This time I will vote for the worst. " Which ? We will not know.

Retired for Le Pen?

La campagne & vous. Le Guilvinec : la grande... by Letelegramme

Would Guilvinist fishermen be angry with politics? "No," says Grégory Pennarun, the director of the auction. They are very attentive to what is happening in the UK with the Brexit. In this story, they know they can lose access to fishing areas. " The advance of populism, with its national withdrawal as a corollary, makes us fear many things here. "Seafarers know that only Europe can guarantee them international access to the resource. Even if the regulations are binding. Today, the profession asks only one thing: a management of quotas at five years, for better readability.

At the local bar, not far from the fishwork shops, it is said that the retirees will put a stroke right on the right. "With them, the Republican Right and the Left have pimples to make themselves. We hear everything here, "says the boss.

Should it be inferred that the assets working at sea or in the port area would be less tempted by the FN? The ballot will say so. In any case, facing us, not a single voice has risen in favor of Marine Le Pen.

"Surely at sea on voting day"

Under the morning sun, Jean-Valéry Le Drezen installs, on board a trawler, spotlights to illuminate the back beach. "I settled on my account as a marine electrician a year ago. I have come to such a level of activity that I sometimes refuse new projects. And, at the same time, I can not hire. The loads are too heavy. We really have to put the self-governing regime that strangles us down. " He will go and vote, that's for sure.

The Sergagil, a boxer, is about to leave for a new campaign. The box cases are aligned on the platform. On board this boat, Morgan, Mickaël and Alexis, three young sailors. "We will surely be at sea on the day of the vote," said Morgan. I will establish a power of attorney on behalf of my parents. Generally, they vote to the left. They will do whatever they want. I fully trust them. " Morgan is optimistic about his profession. "There are more and more young people to embark. It's good. The future is clearer than before. "

"No one listens to us"

Mickael, the oldest of the three, said he had only voted once. "To show my daughter how it works." On April 23 and May 7, he will abstain. Why ? "Always a lack of confidence in the policies". In his office, Soizic Palmer Le Gall, who firmly holds the Bigouden fleet (eleven boats, a hundred employees including 79 sailors), is disillusioned.

"We are very small on the scale of the global economy. Nobody listens to us and does not take our grievances into account. The state is far from us. What I am asking, and I do not like to beg, are helpers for young people who want to invest in a boat. Not alms. But a device that encourages the renewal of the fleet ".

The patroness of the armament said to have started to vote late, after 35 years. "I'll go again this time." And I will vote according to my deep convictions. Even if the level of debate is very low. And that business falls in cascade. For me, the media have a share of responsibility in this.

Full story here courtesy of Le Telegramme:

Where are the fish and Who gets to Fish them?

ICES and ASC have just published a report on the changing distribution of fish in the NE Atlantic since 1985.  The report is the first significant such document to address the issue backed up with hard data. Greatest of these changes is with hake - with obvious consequences:

"For instance, the expansion of hake into the North Sea currently has such implications because the relatively small quota allocated to the North Sea no longer matches the regional abundance, resulting in extensive discarding: since hake is caught as part of a mixed demersal fishery, fishers can't avoid catching it and are forced to discard the over-quota catch. This is likely to be an issue once the landings obligation comes into place for demersal fisheries. Such management implications could potentially apply to the other species showing changes in relative distribution across TAC management areas as reported by FISHDISH, although there is no evidence of this yet."

The report is not a stock survey and therefore carries no advice on quota management but instead makes calls for the need for action in view of the full implementation of the Landing Obligation legislation due next year - which unless addressed, will have dire consequences for all those vessels engaged in mixed fisheries.

Read the report highlight below or access the full report here:

Also this week, Griffin Carpenter from the New Economics Foundation published a report based on the thorny question of which and how do 12 EU countries get to fish in the NE Atlantic.

"Fish stocks are owned by no one but desired by many. How, then, should access to fish stocks be determined? In the EU, member states have answered this question very differently, with many different systems in use. We analyse 12 countries in detail, and find that despite different systems designs, none of them are fully managing their fisheries in the public interest. In this report, we describe these systems of fishing opportunities, assess their performance against defined objectives, and make recommendations for reform."

Adding to the debate, Erik Lindbo gives his take on the fishing industry in Europe in an even wider context:

Sea changes: The ‘interesting times’ facing European fisheries

Calm seas or stormy waters? Well, we are only three months into 2017 and, for a number of reasons, it's already looking like a tumultuous year – calling to mind the ancient Chinese curse “may you live in interesting times”.

Around the world, we are seeing dramatic political shifts. In Europe, Brexit has sent shockwaves through political establishments and, regardless of the final outcomes, we now face years of political uncertainty, and highly complex and no doubt emotive negotiations. Brokering a deal around fisheries will certainly be no exception, if past is prologue; only time will tell how access to waters, resources and markets will look in a divorce settlement with the EU. These changing times require new, adaptive ways of thinking about fisheries management.

Chokes and complexity in the CFP

The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) continues, of course, and we continue moving closer towards the full Landing Obligation coming into force in 2019. With this, pressure on Member States (and their fishermen) is building – with questions on how to tackle the most challenging issue of ‘choke’ species at the forefront of many people’s minds. This step-change policy has already thrown up some concerns over the rigidity of founding measures of the CFP; challenging the way quotas are being allocated in the face of changing fish stock distribution and fishing patterns. In parallel to this 2019 goal, we have the task of achieving Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) objectives by 2020. The delays in adopting a North Sea mixed fishery plan and a new technical measures framework will only add further complexity to the European picture.

Climate change: a new frontier for fishery management

At the same time, a warming climate is causing changes to global ocean ecosystems at an unprecedented rate: triggering profound impacts on species distributions, with subsequent shifts in fishing patterns and preferences. Recent collaborative research between the Environmental Defense Fund, University of California Santa Barbara and Oregon State University shows that even though total global production of seafood may not be severely impacted by climate change, shifts in fish stock distribution at a regional level will be significant. Critically, the research findings underline that with effective management most fisheries could yield more fish and more prosperity, even with the challenging backdrop of a changing climate.

In Europe, the effects of climate change on fisheries and marine ecosystems, is something that – like recent political shocks – we are hearing a lot more about. Recent shifts seen in commercially important pelagic species has resulted in conflict around quota allocation between coastal states responsible for management of these stocks. Dubbed ‘the herring and mackerel wars’, regional governance structures such as the Northeast Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) were not able to overcome the unilateral decision-making of individual nations, putting into question the strength of these over-arching agreements in the face of intense competition for shifting stocks. When unilateral decisions are taken on quota, this does nothing for fish stocks, nor for the collective livelihoods of fishermen, which depend on collaborative governance of an interconnected ecosystem. With climate change expected to exacerbate future fluctuations in fish stock distributions, such governance challenges can only be expected to intensify. We therefore urgently need to absorb and harness relevant research and consider its application through a regional European lens. Applying sound analytics through a regional focus will aid in our prediction of future shifts in stocks, as well as help map out smart management responses to these challenging and complex issues.

Building a shock-resistant future for fishing

Comprehensive and inclusive discussions on how our ecosystems and fisheries will respond to management decisions in the coming years need to start now. We must find a way to absorb and balance the many systemic ‘shocks’ that fisheries may face in the near and distant future. It is critical that everyone contributes their knowledge to offer the best chance of a successful cooperative outcome. If we don’t get it right, the research points to the possibility that we may see widespread ‘fish wars’, a return to overfished and collapsed fish stocks, decimated marine ecosystems, and perhaps a squandering of a critical food and economic resource. Europe can lead the way, and lead by example: with the best available science and research at hand, and collaboration with all stakeholders, we can begin to explore adaptive options for regional fisheries management and develop meaningful solutions that provide a solid future for European fisheries in an ever-changing environment.

Only by building resilient, adaptable management systems can we secure sustainable, prosperous fisheries and protect the livelihoods that depend on them, both now and well beyond our current ‘interesting times’.

MARCH 20, 2017
By: Erik Lindebo