Looks like a hung parliament on #FishyFriday in Newlyn!

The only fish on the market this morning...

were from the netter New Harmony...

with two boxes aptly representing an approximation to this morning's #hungparliament at 43% & 41%...

a handful of boxes of pollack and mackerel...

were all that there was for auction so the forklifts were largely redundant...

on a morning filled with stunning light the big beam trawler, Sapphire II headed slowly through the gaps...

as the sun broke through a cloudy covering over the bay...

picking out an early-bird yacht ahead of the Mount...

at the end of the North pier there is a Cornishman at rest...

while the new quay plays host to a number of Scottish prawn boats, a few Newkyn netters and a couple of Rowse's crabbers...

looks like a set of combination bridles from one of the prawn boats...

she's still still waiting for that propeller...

and you thought the stern of the Govenek of Ladram was on the large size...

the crabbers, Chris T'acha and the Harriet Eve at rest...

filling an ocean.

INDUSTRIAL FLEET vs ARTISANAL FLEET - MYTHS AND REALITIES

“The term tends to imply a simple, individual (self-employed) or family type of enterprise (as opposed to an industrial company), most often operated by the owner (even though the vessels may sometimes belong to the fishmonger or some external investor), with the support of the household. The term has no obvious reference to size but tends to have a connotation of relatively low levels of technology but this may not always be the case. In practice the definition varies between countries, from example from gleaning or a one-man canoe in poor developing countries to more than 20m trawlers, seiners or long-liners in developed ones (e.g. in Europe). Artisanal fisheries can be subsistence or commercial fisheries providing for local consumption or export.” 

Definition source: Garcia, S.M. (Comp.). 2009. Glossary. In Cochrane, K. an

In this document and based on the above, both artisanal and small-scale fisheries (family-based, low machining and small size), are called as “artisanal fisheries” as opposed to “industrial fisheries” (corporate companies and large-size). We think this option is the best one to understand what we want to explain in spite of the fact that there are exemptions where corporate companies operate small fishing vessels and family-based companies

operate large fishing vessels.

Lorient Fish Market - everything done to enhance the value of the fish.

La criée de Lorient, tout pour valoriser le... by Lorient-Agglomeration

The French port of Lorient is the largest in the country - boasting annual sales of around €86,000,000 and is the number one langoustine port.  Newlyn is long due a major overhaul of its fish market and fish handling infrastructure to best compete against the likes of Lorient - so looking at how the daily catch is landed, graded and auctioned is a good place to start.  As the port sees it, they add val;ue to the fish form the moment they come ashore.

Fishing - a statement from Andrew George, standing for St Ives constituency which includes Newlyn

Cries of 'take back control' have often been heard going back to the campaigning days of the Referendum last year - but turning battle-cry rhetoric into reality is another battle altogether - or it might just have been achieved a long time ago. Through the Gaps asked Andrew George for his vision of the future for fishing as it affects the industry here in the St Ives constituency and beyond.

Andrew George at Newlyn Fish Festival

"The fishing industry is often treated as a political football. This is no less now than at any time in the last 30 years. No one would be more pleased than I if we really could get our fishing waters back and successfully scrap the despised quota system during our exit from the hated CFP. These were amongst the claims confidently predicted as the easy to deliver benefits of Brexit during the referendum campaign a year ago. These claims might as well have been 
emblazoned on the side of a red campaign bus along with many of the other claims made.

In reality the process of securing better control of fishing activity in the 6-12 mile zone and within the 200 mile/median line etc are not matters which will be resolved through Brexit negotiations. They would of course require international agreement, but through the London Convention and the United Nations’ Law of the Sea, ie not the EU or Brexit process.

Indeed, these are matters I’d been pressing for previously but secured little enthusiasm from successive Labour and Tory Fisheries Ministers. My primary concern for the industry is that politicians are honest with the industry about
what can be achieved and don’t commit the kind of cruel hoax – ie of raising undeliverable expectations - which has been perpetrated on the industry many times previously.

Securing complete control in the 12-mile zone has to be a firm objective of future Government policy, even though the Brexit negotiations are not necessarily the primary vehicle to achieve this. It is clearly absurd that the foreign vessels which take advantage of access to the 6-12 mile zone are not the same that secured that entitlement decades ago and are often many times more powerful and therefore destructive than those that were originally granted this favour.

Whichever way the negotiations go, it’s clear we should at least maintain if not expand and deepen our international links with other fishing nations as it is only through better joint working that we can secure the improved longer term sustainability of the industry. The example of the annual Trevose ground closure is a case in point and one which demonstrates both the far-sightedness of the industry and the necessity of fishermen working together to secure a shared benefit for all, including the marine environment.

Of course I have long supported the view that we should move away from a quota based regulatory system as soon as practicable, but that will take time. The sooner we achieve a management regime created by fishermen, scientists and other stakeholders working in concert with each other and taking the politicians and regulators out of the equation the better. However, whichever system is adopted fishermen fully understand that a fishing free-for-all is not an option. My favoured option of closed areas, satellite enforced surveillance and reasonable protections for smaller and medium sized enterprises and vessels ought to form the backbone of a way forward, but we’re a long way from that point at present.

Above all, my promise to local fishermen is to give them a voice which they’ve lacked for a couple of years now. We need to have someone who can hold the next (inevitably I’m afraid) Tory Government and Ministers to account and not someone who acts simply as their local echo chamber."

Andrew George, Liberal Democrat candidate for the west Cornwall and Isles of Scilly constituency of St Ives

Monkfish - A floor price that does not pass

Last week the Breton newspaper Le Telegramme reported huge quantities of monkfish that remained unsold on the fish market at Le Guilvenec. France operates a withdrawal system whereby if the price fails to reach a certain point the fish are withdrawn and the boat compensated - a month later at the withdrawal price for that fish. With fine weather and big catches throughout European waters last week fish markets were in glut for some species.


The following is a Google translation of the article - the gist is clear!


Victor Emmanuel returned Monday evening from a tide of ten days. On board, a crew tired but happy with his fishing, mainly monkfish, 9.3 tons Yesterday morning, however, the boat with the quasi-imperial name had no longer the same panache. Verdict on the sale of 6 h, only six tons of monkfish found takers, at the floor price of €4.15.  Below this price floor, the fish is removed from the sale. The remaining 3.3 tons remained on the tile. In the middle of the morning, Emmanuel Le Saint, the patron fisherman, looked at the crates filled with fish, shining with freshness, incredulously and disgustingly: "When you see that, you want to vomit."


 €13,573 of unsold ones that go badly. He will have to advance this amount to pay the wages of the seafarers, the Organizers Producers (OP). The fishermen of Brittany (an insurance system) will only repay it within a month. Friday will be the start of a new tide. However, the cup is full and the state of dejection, tenfold by the fatigue accumulated during the tide. "It's been four tides that's how it is. The fish is sold at the floor price, when it is sold. This is no longer possible ". And the artisan fisherman added: "I do not want to go back to sea again ...". Even if he knows, in spite of himself, that on Friday he will be back on the bridge when the fatigue will be dispelled and this bad sale digested.

© Le Télégrammehttp://www.letelegramme.fr/finistere/le-guilvinec/lotte-un-prix-plancher-qui-ne-passe-pas-31-05-2017-11535155.php#4gtEvSGg81dQUdqk.99

Monday morning market fish in Newlyn.

Market fish aplenty this morning in Newlyn with a wide range of trawl, beam trawl, inshore trawl and inshore and offshore net fish from nearly 20 boats...

a trio of monk tails...

dozens of Dovers...

filled main market...

with a good range of fish like these haddock...

rays...

a dozen boxes of John Dory...

brill and turbot were in good supply as the Ygraine landed about as late as you can get, her fish still being sorted...

and yet to be iced included these superb gurnard...

brill...

and turbot...

cod...

monk...

as well as the Ygraine the inshore netter, Myghal landed a similar haul of top quality flats like this trio of big turbot...

and a huge number of their slightly smaller cousins...

Red October, or like some sort of Jules Verne submarine...

Cefas Gary gets some lens attention again...

as he gathers yet more data...

a small step for man from the market...

red on red...

a handful od squid...

pristine pollack...

some big shots of ray...

the odd spotted plaice...

a mix of blondes...

typical of the fish caught by tangle net from boats like the Ygraine...

latest addition to the Rowse fleet and her older sister the Intuition...

classic lines...

ther more pragmatic lines of an MTS workboat...

with poor weather arriving last night and more forecast the number of yachts stopping over has grown...

the business end of a Scottish prawn trawler...

the port's biggest beam trawler and a netter...

woodwork in progress.

Quotas ‘must be based on science’

ANY future quotas once Britain leaves the EU should reflect the state of the resources in UK waters at the time, the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFF0) has declared.

The NFFO, which represents fishermen in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, said that when quota allocations were set up in 1983 as part of the Common Fisheries Policy relative stability was the intention.

But it was widely acknowledged that the interests of the UK’s fishing industry did not occupy a particularly high place in the UK government’s priorities at the time and, as a result, the UK’s Relative Stability allocations did not reflect a fair or reasonable share of the stocks which are fished in UK waters.

The NFFO said: ‘Our view is that as a matter of principle, as with any coastal state, the UK’s quota shares should reflect the resources present in our waters.

‘It may subsequently be in our interest to use some of these resources as currency to negotiate other fishing opportunities, or to secure access to European markets.

‘But the baselines for a post-Brexit fisheries regime should be the renegotiation of the UK’s quota shares to reflect the resources located in UK waters.’

As part of the recalibration of quota shares between the UK and EU, the NFFO said it expected the Hague Preference, or other mechanisms derived from the CFP, will no longer be relevant to the UK.

‘It is our view that the UK’s quota of stocks shared with other countries should be based on a scientifically robust objective evaluation of the resources located in the respective European Economic Zone (EEZ) .’

Info courtesy of the NFFO website.