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.
This story from a Spanish Magazine. The strong wind makes sardine fishing difficult in Pontevedra a week from San Juan "The gusts complicate using the nets," the shipowners say. "The species has already doubled its price for San Antonio and they expect it to be maintained -" For that day, it will appear, "they explain The Galician siege is in the key dates for sardine capture. The quotations from San Antonio (the last lights) and San Juan encourage the species to double its price and capture becomes a priority, taking advantage of this way the scarce quota of which they have jointly with the Portuguese vessels. However, fishing is not being good in the area of Pontevedra, since strong wind gusts are making it difficult to use the nets. "Today [by yesterday] we could have easily arrived at 200 boxes of sardines, but it was not possible", explains one of the shipowners of Cesantes (Redondela) with port base in Vigo . Although some preferred to continue the anchovy campaign in the Bay of Biscay until recently, most of the purse seiners in the Vigo estuary are working in the area. Earlier in the week they were able to fish normally because time allowed. Then, they were able to capture some sardine boxes coinciding with the festival that enjoys a great following in Portugal. "Already then the box was paid more than 30 euros, when before it was in the middle," he explains. The sardine made a lot of presence in this area when the fishery opened on March 1, but the siege was reluctant to catch because of the scarce quota (3,200 tons until July). With a cap of 6,000 kilos a week per boat since last June 5 (until then was at 3,000 kilos), the siege looks for the best banks, away from the tuna, "which also causes the sardine to escape." In the case of the province of Pontevedra, the boats fish outside of Ons, in A Guardia and also in the mouth of the estuary of Muros-Noia. "Now we expect that the wind will calm down for a week and we can fish well, but as always, for San Juan there will be sardine Galician," the shipowners explain. Of course, in front will have as "rival" the imported sardine. "The Moroccan is invading us," they say. And is that, as published FARO, the country is the one that sardines most sardine sells to Galicia, a community that has since 2011 importing more sardines than the one that is caught because of the cap imposed. Situation in the north A totally different case is that which occurs in the northern part of the community. There they find quite a lot and sell well, as explained by the spokesman of the Association of Siege of Galicia (Acerga), Andrés García, which specifies that the capture of the species is mainly concentrated between Cabo Prior (Ferrol) and Punta Candelaria (Cedeira)), as well as in the area of Sisargas and the Tower of Hercules. "Two days ago that appears a lot and what is clear is that there will be sardines of ours for San Juan," said Garcia, who assures that there is more quantity than last year and that fishermen are limited by the cap established by The Ministry of Fisheries. Vice-President Cerqueiros Galegos (Cergal), Gonzalo Pérez, corroborated that the species moved north and that the boats that were on the anchovy coast and returned from the Basque Country to catch sardines do not have good figures. "At the beginning of the year you could see more sardines, but in the south there is no more, it can be a bad San Juan," Gonzalez lamented.
Professor Emeritus Doug Butterworth of the University of Cape Town in South Africa is one of the world’s most influential fisheries scientists. In this video, he speaks about the value of harvest strategies in fisheries management and why it is critical for tuna regional fisheries management organizations to implement these science-based management tools. *TRANSCRIPT* Doug Butterworth Emeritus Professor, University of Cape Town On the Benefits of Harvest Strategies Q1: What are harvest strategies (i.e. management procedures)? Doug Butterworth: In essence, harvest strategies amount to agree the rules before you play the game. Essentially, they are just an elaboration of what became evident from the fairly disastrous collapses of the major pelagic fisheries in the '60s and '70s of the last century. Where the post-mortem examination said the problem really was, every time action needed to be taken, an argument would be found to say-- let's just put it off one more year in the hope things get better. What harvest strategies are doing, is they're saying no. You set up the rules first, and then you stick to the rules. Because if you don't have that situation, when you get into trouble, the action that’s taken is too little too late. Q2: What is management strategy evaluation (MSE)? Doug Butterworth: MSE stands for Management, Strategy, Evaluation. And in essence, what it is saying is-- use computer simulation testing to check out the rules you plan to apply to a fish stock before you actually go out there and apply them. In other words, make sure that they're going to work before you try them out. Q3: What are the advantages of harvest strategies? Doug Butterworth: The great advantage of management procedures is they specify beforehand what the rules will be for setting the TACs. So you don't get unnecessary debates and changes that make no effective benefit for the stock concerned. From the manager's' point of view then, the advantage is a quick and simple way of getting agreement on what the TAC recommendation is going to be. As far as the industry is concerned, it actually gives them greater security. Because they have an idea of what's going to happen, and then not live to suffer the vagaries of a debating process around what is the best assessment for this year. So in the longer run, we get better management of the resource. Q4: How are harvest strategies better at dealing with uncertainty? Doug Butterworth: A great advantage of management procedures is they provide a structured approach to deal with uncertainty that the conventional assessment procedure does not. And they look for what is called robustness. What it means is that, even if you got it wrong -- as regards, what is the resource doing, how does it behave – the formula you use to set the catches will still provide reasonable performance. That means it will still provide, not exactly, but fairly close to the level of catches you’d have expected. And more particularly, it will still secure you against levels of depletion of the resource that you want to avoid. Q5: What is the role of managers under harvest strategies? Doug Butterworth: There is the concern that harvest strategies tie the hands of managers. But I think, this is ill-placed because it fails to recognize that it is the managers who are choosing the harvest strategies in the first place. The responsibility of the scientists is to present a range of harvest strategies, and importantly, also the implications of each of those harvest strategies. What is critical, though, is the managers, having accepted the rules, must beprepared to stick by the rules as they play the game. Q6: How are harvest strategies expanding globally? Doug Butterworth: The progress has been slow. But slowly, one is seeing an expansion of these activities. If you go back 10, 15 years, perhaps, you had application in no more than one or two countries and one or two RFMOs. Now, that is expanding. It's particularly expanding in the tuna RFMOs, where originally, there was only the CCSBT, the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna, which led the way and put a management procedure in place some years back. But the other tuna RFMOs have accepted that they need to go the same way. And the implementation of at least some management procedures has either happened very recently, or is imminent.
This article from Jason Holland writing for SeafoodSource.com singles out key features of the likely drive to determine the future of the industry - great to see first and foremost a spirit of collaboration - and good part of that means the industry working with science and science working with the industry - read on:
"While the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union and the negotiation of a good severance package is the most immediate priority for the country’s seafood sector, a new vision will soon be laid out that is aimed at establishing a prosperous industry worth double its current value of GBP 6.2 billion (USD 8 billion, EUR 7.2 billion) within the next two decades.
Delivering the keynote presentation on the second day of the recent Shellfish Association of Great Britain (SAGB) 48th Annual Conference in London, Mike Mitchell, founder of the seafood consultancy business Fair Seas Ltd. and a member of the government-appointed Seafood Industry Expert Working Group, said that the 2040 Vision would help the country’s collective seafood economy see beyond the immediate horizon dominated by the “momentous” Brexit task, outlining strategies to help it reach its full potential.
“When faced with such a significant challenge, it’s difficult to have the luxury of a longer-term view, but it is important that we do, which is one of the reasons why we have continued to work on the 2040 Vision for the seafood industry – to help define and remind us of what good could look like if we act collaboratively toward shared and agreed objectives,” he said.
Mitchell has been part of the project for two years. It officially began with the establishment of a ministerial task force in October 2015 –predating the country’s Brexit referendum of June 2016 – to “explore the challenges and opportunities facing the English industry and shape a long-term ambition that can realize its potential.” This led to a consultation exercise across all sectors (November 2015) and a high level strategy that was submitted to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and published two months later. Then in May last year, Fisheries Minister George Eustice appointed a Seafood Industry Expert Group to progress the Seafood 2040 strategy.
The resultant 2040 action plan is built on three foundations: Collaboration; science and innovation; and working to best-practice, with the primary purpose to grow the demand by expanding markets and increasing consumption. A supporting aim on the supply side is to grow the resource availability to furnish that demand.
“Collaboration is essential,” Mitchell said. “The industry needs to work together to fully realize its potential; to ensure shared goals are agreed upon and a common strategy is pursued.”
As well as breaking down barriers to enable stakeholders to work closer together while helping increase consumption, having insight, expertise and robust science at the heart of all decision making will drive efficiency, profitability and innovation within the seafood industry, he said.
One way to help grow the market by a further GBP 6 billion (USD 7.7 billion, EUR 6.9 billion) is through the promotion of two seafood-based meals a week – a diet recommendation that is widely touted by numerous health agencies. Also, in addition to reinforcing the health and taste credentials of seafood, the industry should look to establish a more valued place for products in public procurement – such as in schools, hospitals, military commissaries, and other similar establishments, he said.
Another major growth prospect is through the promotion of “English” or “British” seafood as a brand, and to also use that regional or national provenance to drive a thriving export market – ramping up overseas value and volume. “There is a very big prize there if we make the most of that opportunity,” Mitchell said. “If we are going to dare to dream that we will double the market by 2040, we need to grow the resource. We need to maximize our wild-catch opportunities through good stewardship of the fisheries that we have and also grow a profitable English aquaculture sector. We also need to ensure that U.K. buyers are competitive in the international raw material marketplace, because even with a maximized wild catch and a flourishing aquaculture sector, there still wouldn’t be enough to meet that huge demand.”
Other ways to grow the resource include supporting business growth and driving innovation across the entire supply chain, particularly with regards to reducing waste and optimizing the use of resources through the development of high-value co-products. It is also essential to develop port system infrastructure and capacity, ensure a responsible supply chain and establish a skilled workforce, he said.
A finalized action plan is to be submitted to authorities this summer and published publicly. So far it has been a three-way contribution between DEFRA, the U.K. Seafish Authority and industry, but the Seafood Industry Expert Group believes it provides a unique opportunity for all stakeholders to engage and together grow a thriving seafood economy.
“Surely there is a benefit to this,” Mitchell said. “We do have two years of fighting ahead of us, but lets not lose sight of this longer term vision. It would be a real shame if this was published and then just left on the shelf.”
While the 2040 Vision is by no means the first battle plan or wish list to have been drawn up for the U.K. seafood industry’s future, Mitchell maintains that this one is different and can deliver where previous plans had failed by providing strategies to overcome the historical barriers that have prevented projects from getting off the ground or over the line, particularly at a political level where government changes or resistance have put the brakes on a number of highly regarded initiatives.
“I think where we have gone wrong in the past is there hasn’t been any kind of legacy. The vision was identified and that was basically it. There was no strategy to deliver it. The hope and what I will be trying to work towards is that as this initiative draws to a close (with the delivery of the plan), the legacy will be some operational changes to help deliver some of these strategies,” he said. “It is going to be a challenge, but hopefully some value will come out of this. If nothing else, to break down some of those barriers and create some new multi-stakeholder platforms with shared views could be where we make a difference.”
This is the reference document of the Workshop on “Common Fisheries Policy and BREXIT” of 21th June 2017, organised by the Committee on Fisheries (COMPECH) and the Policy Department B (PECH Research) of the European Parliament. It is structured in three parts: 1. Legal framework for governance 2. Trade and economic related issues 3. Resources and fisheries
Good seamanship - smaller boats are always advised to put out a leg when grounding against a quayside - just in case the boat falls to lean into the quay as the tide drops away...
a pinch of salt or a ton of ice...
mixed bag of boats in the harbour this morning...
with three beam trawlers,an inshore trawler and a couple of netters filling Friday's fish market...
with plenty of megrim sole...
stacked four boxes high...
along with good shots of monk...
and their alien-like skin...
along with a good selection of ray from the beamers...
line caught pollack stiff as a board...
and some of those big flatfish so beloved of the more expensive restaurants...
these tub gurnards would make ideal fish to cast from...
two of the MSC Certified Cornish hake boats, the Karen of Ladram ...
and the Ajax made big landings...
with a few kilos of monks cheeks...
and the odd blue shark...
prime 5kg hake would make a superb fish for a big family gathering - eaten hot or cold, baked, roasted, steamed, poached or cubed and added to a curry - hake is one of the most versatile fish swimming in the North Atlantic and we have loads!...
looks like a bit of a summer refit underway for the Arkin Castle...
for the moment the Lisa has lost her numbers...
one 8' pram dinghy for sale, give the man a bell...
a 'rule-beater' the Rejoice BH220 up on the slip for under the waterline work...
huge Dutch beam trawler Zuiderzee and the Spirited Lady III laying outside her...
one of the oldest and most successful beam trawlers in the port, the Algrie...
signs of summer, the marina pontoon filled with yachts...
high contrast morning light looking towards the Mount...
time to Rejoice in the fine weather...
when it was a private bus route people used to say they would catch Harvey's or the 'blue' bus to Mousehole...
- who made several visits to Mount's Bay in his lengthy career as these preparatory sketches show...
one of his iconic works and the full title of which is, The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last berth to be broken up, 1838 ...
is a scene often witnessed in Newlyn over the last 25 years as a good number of boats were towed to their final resting place before being broken up.
This new Turner five day course is an exciting departure for the art school. Three respected landscape artists will be helping students to respond to the work of J M W Turner with demonstrations and lots of hands-on exercises. Hannah Woodman will help students try their hand at exploring how Turner used drawing materials and watercolour sketches in his work. She will also provide a brief presentation of paintings by Turner from various points in his career looking at his techniques. Paul Lewin is a highly respected coastal landscape painter and will be taking the group for two days exploring Turner's ground-breaking use of watercolour. Turner made over 20,000 works on paper over his career. Artist Gareth Edwards will be taking the last two days of the course sharing his in-depth knowledge of oil painting methods and materials with a lively and hands-on series of demonstrations and exercises enabling students to learn how Turner used oils in a way that had not been seen before his time. Now things get really exciting! Here is your chance to win not only the five day course but also a complete staycation package to boot! The Prize! One place on the five-day Turner course on 10th-14th July, 2017 - worth £550. 3 nights B&B at Artist Residence Hotel, Penzance on 9th, 10th and 11th July - worth £585 (accommodating up to two people). 3 nights B&B at Chapel House Hotel, Penzance on 12, 13 and 14th July - worth £525 (accommodating up to two people). Two places at the public talk on Turner at Newlyn School of Art and the subsequent dinner and talk at Chapel House Hotel on 13th July - worth £65. Enter for the prize draw and get full details by visiting this page on the Newlyn School of Art website!
