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.
The landings board sports a full list of all the boats with fish on the market this morning...
all users of the market will have been cheered by an announcement on Radio Cornwall yesterday morning's Breakfast Show about the future of the fish market...
with the market getting a good mix of inshore dayboat and offshore beam and trawl fish...
like these beam trawler Dover sole from the Billy Rowney...
a trio of haddock...
what fish sports this tail?..
a tubby tub gurnard...
and for the first time in weeks - a good shot of mackerel plucked from the bay...
were still moving having been landed only a few minutes ago by the godfather of Mount's Bay mackerel, Dennis Pascoe on the Sprigs of Heather...
these two hake look like the had a heavy night ashore...
a box of mixed from an inshore dayboat...
and some big thornbacks from one the remaining Scottish prawn boats still working out west of the Scillys...
with the ambient temperature both outside and inside the market on the warm side staff get fish away to their chillers as quickly as they can...
this morning saw the second day, finishing at 1pm of free dental treatment in the harbour courtesy of the Fishermen's Mission...
and Heidi, dentist Debbie and Maria aiming to oput smiles as big as theirs on the faces of any fishermen who are in need of treatment - given that Cornwall has some of the biggest and longest waiting lists for NHS dentistry in the UK...
that man in red, back at the fishing after 20 years offshore in the North Sea...
with the engine still running after landing it won't be long before...
that familiar hunched father-time-like figure heads back out to sea...
fresh off the slip and nearing completion of a major refit, the Rejoice is alongside the quay again...
rare is the yacht that has the woman on the helm manouvering and the man doing the deckwork - it's worth a thought that if the man goes over the side that the woman is more than adept and confident in being able to bring the boat round and affect a rescue...
ex-St Ives fishing boat looking spruce...
and the latest sardine boat is almost set for the start of the season...
as are the rest of the fleet...
Newlyn under the sign of the crossed lines...
@SmileTogetherUK - the Dentaid team will decamp this afternoon and head for Mevagissey tomorrow and Padstow on Friday...
The fishing industry is blessed with people for whom fish is a passion - from those who catch to those who consume and many more in between - one of the inbetweeners is food blogger and writer Mike Warner, perhaps best known in the fish world by his Twitter handle @EastCoastAvocet and food blog of the same name - Mike spent the last seven days aboard the Newlyn based hake netter, Ajax getting to see gill netting for hake under the auspices of skipper Alan 'the hake man' Dwan and his young, dedicated crew......
as trips go things couldn't have gone better if they were planned - fine almost flat-calm weather, blue skies, handy to Newlyn (well 6 hours off) and free from big Spanish or French trawlers...
and just the pleasantries of Padstow man Sid...
aboard his hake netter, Karen of Ladram...
who took this shot of the Ajax as they were hauling - duly noting that the fishing was anything but slack ;-)...so with plenty of fish to boot - the boat put ashore a landing mid-tide for Friday's market then headed straight back out to sea again to pick up the gear left to 'soak' in the water...
and there's nothing like having the gear earn money while you're steaming in and out to land!..
heavy fishing meant that the fishroom was full once again...
unused griefometer tabs, a sure sign the trip went OK...
young Mr Perry practises some of his dance-floor moves while landing...
as Mike catches the action in readiness for the story of the trip...
in the kind of weather you tend to dream about as winter gales wear on during those darker, shorter days...
there's ice on them boxes - these days all the boats have refrigerated fishrooms to help keep the prime fish they catch in perfect condition...
in the market fridge it looks like the mackerel handline boys had a good weekend...
as one of the port's senior practitioners of the dark art of punt fishing steams through the sparkling harbour waters to make a landing...
perhaps with a wistful glance, Mike films the Ajax leaving - safe in the knowledge that his next piece for the blog will demonstrate just what effort and teamwork their is in putting prime fish like hake on the piscatorial tables of UK and EU restaurants and homes...
a measure of just how much the trip was appreciated...
the following morning on Monday's busy market, Mike completes the trips pictorial record with shots of the Ajax's fish being auctioned...
