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.
There's a connection between this boat, its previous owner and the greatest British naval captain...
sounds more like a Christmas song, four Scottish prawn trawlers, three Newlyn beam trawlers and a trio of inshore trawlers - and if you look very carefully in the big, black space below you can nearly make out the names of the four netters that also have fish on the market this morning...
here's big, quality turbot from one of them...
all the boats land haddock these days no mater where or with what gear they fish with...
but only the AA had such huge Dovers as these guys...
Cefas regular Gary heads up the data collecting team, given the size of the undertaking every morning - measuring and recording the measurement of each individual fish - there may well be a case for the introduction of something a little more technically advanced than a light pen to make the workload much more efficient and enable the team to record and store data cataloguing all the fish landed and not just a sample- given that your average mobile phone has apps that can recognise your fingerprint or iris, measure anything using the camera and store more data than the average home PC could a few years ago there has to be a better way - all the big fish on the market is guarded by machine - and the fish have to pass one at a time down the conveyor - it too could use the same technology as a part of the grading process - and the relevant data easily exported...
megrim soles stacked four boxes high, monk tails stacked two - that ratio of 2:1 is about right for the mix of fish, by weight, between the two species for beam trawlers landings...
there's plenty for fish for the guys to measure this morning...
so Spike must be well impressed he was down on the market this morning, am sure he would love a penny for every ray he has picked up over the years...
the big-eyed haddock and his unmistakable thumb print...
sport the ray...
some of the invisible netters fish (with different kinds of net - tangle as apposed to gill) for turbot and hake in a single trip...
while the Scottish prawn boats are all equipped to weight their fish at sea - as the fish are weighed the catch data is sent by Inmarsat C satellite to their respective processors keeping them informed in real time how the boats are fishing which enables them to plan ahead for processing capacity and to alert customers - most of the catches are sold before the boat begins the long steam back to port to land...
one invisible netter...
and another...
and another...
hake are stacked in 100kg lots for the suction so that the landings take up less market space...
and make the buying process that much quicker...
our sharks have fins...
big hake, bigger turbot...
six of the netting fleet in full view of the market...
the painter's tale or is it tail?..
keeping the beam trawlers at sea, 7 link lengths of chain - the basic unit of construction for a beam trawler's chain mat...
each length is held together by shackles...
boat with bite...
come in number 6 your time is up...number 9 are you OK?..
The Management of Fisheries within the UK Zone Post-Brexit - how the NFFO would like to see the future of the industry:
Leaving the EU will provide an opportunity to manage our fisheries in a different way. We can:
⦁ Learn from the experience of non-EU countries whose management has evolved in different ways
⦁ Learn the lessons of the last 30 years within the CFP (mainly things to avoid)
⦁ Simplify the regulatory regime and reduce the regulatory burden
⦁ Develop an effective integrated fisheries administration
⦁ Explore ways of reducing bureaucracy and cost in fisheries management by shifting away from prescriptive micro-management to a focus on outcomes and results (particularly but not exclusively in the realm of technical conservation measures)
⦁ Shorten communication chains between regulators and regulated
⦁ Use increased confidence in catch reporting to reduce the overall level of detailed restriction
Redesign an integrated regulatory system to better reflect the new conditions outside the CFP to achieve:
⦁ High quality policy decisions and effective negotiations
⦁ Proportionate risk-focussed enforcement
⦁ High levels of understanding and compliance
⦁ Decisions based on solid evidence base
Governance arrangements and the Management of Fisheries We envisage two layers of management post- Brexit:
1. The design and implementation of measures by the UK authorities that will apply to all vessels operating within UK waters. These would apply to UK vessels and to non-UK vessels operating within UK waters alike. Technical conservation measures would be the obvious example.
2. Where there are shared stocks, it will be desirable to have a mechanism to jointly set agreed exploitation rates, quota shares, access arrangements and long term management strategies
We anticipate that the UK will have much more freedom of movement than under the CFP to design and apply a customised management regime covering:
We envisage all aspects of UK policy will be anchored in sustainability and profitability.
The NFFO's previous newsletter contained some excerpts from a letter to them form George Eustice, ex-Fisheries MP
MINISTER PROVIDES BREXIT ASSURANCES
In a letter received before the announcement of the General Election, Fisheries Minister, George Eustice, has sought to allay the NFFO’s concerns over the level of Government’s ambition for the fishing industry after the UK leaves the EU. "Although the “Great Repeal Bill” will transfer much European law into UK legislation, to be revised by Parliament over time, the Minister makes clear that key aspects will change from day one. Most significantly, the arrangements for TAC setting and access arrangements will reflect the UK’s new status as an independent coastal state. The industry has concerns about being ensnared in unworkable CFP rules even after the UK has left because of an anticipated bottleneck in Parliamentary time available to revise the law. Top of the list of anxieties is the implementation of the landings obligation which will come fully into force for mixed demersal fisheries on 1st January 2019 without any clear idea of how the problem of chokes will be resolved. Selected parts of a letter from Fisheries Minister, George Eustice MP, to the NFFO on 19th April 2017 “Fisheries will be a key area in the EU Exit negotiations. We have a ‘once in a generation’ chance to regenerate UK fishing grounds and improve the conditions under which they are fished." "As I have previously mentioned, we are currently analysing all EU fisheries legislation. No decision has yet been made on the extent to which the EU legislation governing the Common Fisheries Policy will be incorporated into domestic law. However, as we leave, we will look to dis-apply the key elements of the CFP that are most unpopular and unworkable for the UK as a coastal state, including those on mutual access and EU-level quota setting. We will take the opportunity to develop a fisheries regime that is better suited to our seas and industries. We are considering the issue of the London Fisheries Convention carefully to ensure that we have full control of UK waters after we leave the EU and, as the Prime Minister said on 29 March 2017, we hope to be able to say something on this point soon." "More specifically, the Government will continue to champion sustainable fisheries and are committed to ongoing co-operation with other countries over the management of shared stocks." "I note your concern about the implementation of the EU landing obligation. I can assure you that we will continue to work with the industry to ensure that the transitions to full implementation in 2019 is as smooth as possible and that we remain committed to ending discards. We are working with other member States and industry to identify the best solutions to deal with choke species." "I have greatly welcomed the information and ideas that you and other stakeholder groups have provided us with, in the months since the referendum. I have asked my officials to step up the level of engagement with you and other stakeholders over the coming months, and I would encourage you to continue your participation. I hope this reassures that the government remains committed to delivering the best possible outcome for the UK fishing industry as we leave the EU.” The Minister’s letter provide the most detailed insight yet into the Government’s thinking about its aspirations for fishing post Brexit and are closely aligned with the Federation’s own ambitions. Whoever forms the next government after the general election, and whoever forms the ministerial team for fisheries, the NFFO will work to ensure that these commitments are delivered.
Great to see the next generation of fisherman coming through - and what better way to learn than aboard Dad's punt working a few post and handlining - there are plans afoot to invest in a small fleet of punts specifically for trainee fishermen to cut their teeth the way fishermen have throughout history - start small and work your way up - by doing so and appreciating the vagaries of the weather, understanding how the tide affects fishing gear and fish behaviour, learning what knot to tie and why, practising boat handling skills all learned at first hand and backed up by a sound knowledge of the rules of the road make for a sound fisherman that any skipper would want to have on board and bring on...
Girl Pamela looking as good as the day she came out of the mould in 1988...
plenty of scallops going ashore form the big Brixham scalloper Anne Marie...
Karen of Ladram slips in through the gaps with another haul of MSC Certified Cornish hake...
closely followed by the new Rowse crabber, Harriet Eve...
probably the smallest cat ever to grace the harbour with its presence, the ROV survey vessel, Inception...
operated by a team from Swathe Services based here in Cornwall...
the miniature survey vessel is controlled remotely and can survey inside closed waters like a harbour far more efficiently than a larger vessel could...
not least because the boat is easily stopped out moved out of the way so as not to encumber normal working traffic in a busy fishing port like Newlyn...
data is fed wirelessly back to a laptop and the software processes the data to enable full coverage of the survey area - post processing allows an accurate 3D chart of the harbour to be modeled for use by the harbour authority saving thousands of pounds over traditional big-boat methods...
the boat has sufficient range to work well away from the operator thereby maintaining safety of operations at all times without compromising any of the port's workings...
compare that to the kind of vessel that would be commissioned in the past!
