The Fishermen of St Ives Calendar 2018 from the Fishermen's Mission.

“The Fishermen of St Ives Calendar” was officially launched in Porthmeor, St Ives and is now on sale. The Fishermen’s Mission thanked who all attended, the photographer Chris Boulton, his girlfriend Clare Golder who designed the calendar and Chris Riddle at Porthmeor Studios who kindly offered the venue to show the images. The studios were a former pilchard works and below at sea level are the fishermen’s stores so it was wonderful to hold the launch there and look out to sea where many of the photographs were taken.

Endorsed by the fishermen, all who attended were delighted to see the pictures and many of the fishermen were asked for autographs. An evening of amazed and interested faces, the vibrate colours and the detail of the images on display from the calendar got the crowd excited. The images printed on to A1 and A3 were for sale, Ian Harris an active member of the Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, purchased a poster and a calendar “The calendar is stunning, Chris has managed to capture the mood, passion & toil of each fisherman and there surroundings. It was good to meet Chris but most impressed to see the number of fisherman that came to check out their pictures, yes but more importantly to support those that support them.” Long term supporter of the Fishermen’s Mission and local business owners, Sue and Pete Fraser from Harbour Lights in Falmouth and Fraser’s in Penzance added “We have made the Fishermen’s Mission our chosen charity over the past 12 years because of the amazing work they do in supporting the fishermen, their families in times of need and being a voice for the industry.  We owe a great deal to the fishing industry locally and nationally and we will continue to stand alongside the Fisherman’s Missions charitable efforts.”


The photographer Chris Boulton and his girlfriend Clare Golder, who designed the calendar said, “The response to the calendar has been overwhelming and every person photographed for it, took time from their precious free time to come along to the launch night, which meant a lot. These guys literally put their lives on the line for our fish supper and the Fishermen's Mission are there should the worst happen.  All profits from the sale of the calendar go directly to the Mission and it’s the least we could do to help the cause in some way.”


This A3 calendar, retails at £10, all proceeds to go directly to the charity, the Fishermen's Mission, as everyone involved in the compilation received no payment. 

On sale now in St Ives; 
the town centre Wharf Road Post Office, 
Tourist information, 
St Eia Cabin Newsagent, 
Gallery 38 and the 
Fishermen’s Co-operative. 

In Penzance; The Edge of the World Bookshop and Penlee Gallery. For online sales follow the link to the Charity’s website http://www.fishermensmission.org.uk/st-ives-calendar-2018/

#FishyFriday has arrived in Newlyn!

Dover soles...

lemon soles...

the cheerful face of the turbot...

a few dozen scallops...

redder than red tub gurnards...

bidding in the fridge on the line caught mackerel...

early signs of a few cuttles with a couple of tubs landed from the Twilight III...

the netter Joy of Ladram landed the last of the MSC Certified Cornish hake for this neap tide and can now enjoy a few days rest...

while the buyers bid on the catch...

which included a solitary John Dory...

and a few big red tubs...

the dawning of the day is beginning to take on a more autumnal air of late...

with the Crystal Sea looking very tidy after her annual refit up at Toms of Polruan all set to get away as soon as possible. Hopefully, future infrastructure investment in in Newlyn will see many of the fleet undergo refits in the port without having to steam a 100 mile round trip away from home.

Left school and want to fish for a living? Sign up for your free fishing course now!

Our next 3 week Introduction to Commercial Fishing course will take place from 25 September to 13 October 2017. I would be very grateful if you can do anything in your power to bring this to the attention of the commercial fishing skippers and crews using your port. There will be an opportunity to meet the instructors and find out about the course at a taster session on Wednesday 13 September 2017.

This free course is aimed at new entrants to the fishing industry who are at least 16 years old. The course consists of two weeks shore-based training (covering safety, gear and catch handling, net mending, rope work, navigation and boat handling) followed by one week of mandatory basic safety courses for fishermen (Sea Survival, Fire Fighting, First Aid, Health and Safety) as well as the Seafish Basic Fishing Vessel Stability course.

This introductory level course will suit both young people looking for a career at sea in the fishing industry as well as those looking for a change of career. The course aims to equip candidates with the basic skills and knowledge to commence work at sea in a safe and useful manner. It will be provided free of charge in Cornwall for a limited number of candidates via Seafood Cornwall Training Ltd.

If you can help get to fishermen then please get in touch with us at the office on 01736 364324 or call my mobile.



Clare Leverton
Acting Manager
07964 373708

Seafood Cornwall Training
Admiralty Boathouse
23 The Strand
Newlyn Cornwall
TR18 5HL
01736 364324
www.seafoodcornwalltraining.co.uk

Waiting to re-float the stranded scalloper, Le Men Dhu

The Padstow lifeboat is on standby as the netter, Charisma and the dredger Manin get lines aboard stranded scalloper, Le Men Dhu and wait for high water to re-float her.

Scalloper, Le Men Dhu runs aground off Padstow

The 15m scalloper Le Men Dhu ran aground just after 06:00 this morning at the mouth of the river Camel...

Photo courtesy of Cornwall Live

as she headed for Padstow.  The scalloper left Padstow around 04:30 yesterday to fish around 10 miles off the coast...

the chart shows just how narrow the channel is even at high water along with the need to cross the notorious 'Doom Bar' when there is any weather.  The boat is expected to be boarded by her crew and floated off the reef at high water this evening around 18:00.

Interesting twist in the push to force Uk registered vessels to land in ther UK

A group of pelagic skippers are set to fight moves to force Uk registered vessels to land their catches in the UK.  The idea behind the legislation is to target the many FoC (Flag of Convenience) boats that although British registered consign the bulk of their catches to another - most often Spain - EU country in an attempt to increase the economic benefit to the UK. 

The twist here is that through the law of unintended consequences this would also legislate against many of the big Scottish pelagic vessels who fish for mackerel, herring and scad often landing to Norwegian or other countries where they get better prices!

Pelagic net used to fish for herring, mackerel and scad.

Scotland's fishermen have threatened the SNP government with legal action if it presses ahead with a controversial plan to force them to land more of their catch in Scottish ports.

Fergus Ewing, the Rural Economy Minister, unveiled proposals that would mean Scottish trawlers would be refused a sea fisheries licence unless they agreed to land at least 55 per cent of their fish north of the Border.

But the Scottish Fishermen’s Organisation (SFO) told the Telegraph the move would cost pelagic fishermen thousands of pounds each as they would be prevented from selling their catch to processors in other countries that pay up to 20 per cent more.

John Anderson, the chief executive, warned he had legal advice that the move would contravene competition laws governing the EU single market by preventing them exporting their produce to other member states of the European Economic Area (EEA).

In a pointed attack on the SNP’s desire for an independent Scotland to join the EU, he questioned how this was consistent with wanting to ignore the basis of the single market and warned legal action would follow.

Relations between the SNP government and Scotland’s fishermen are already fraught thanks to Nicola Sturgeon’s fierce opposition to Brexit, which they hope will reinvigorate the industry.

Full story courtesy of The Telegraph:

"Land more fish or face quota cuts" - Flag of Convenience fleet being targeted

As a recent TV report from ITN's Rupert Everett highlighted growing concern among many UK fishermen that FoC (Flag of Convenience) vessels are providing little in the way of economic benefit to the ports or region they choose to land their fish there is news from across the border that the Scottish Government has at last responded for calls to benefit processors and merchants in the UK...

typically, similar flag boats when they land in Newlyn, land around 5% of the total catch to the fish auction - which is roughly equivalent to the expected landing dues that the boat will incur for using the port to put their fish ashore to a waiting lorry, bound directly for Spain...

Over a 6 month period the Monte Mazanteu landed all but two trips to Castletownbeare into the ROI

The Udra made just two landings, one to Milford Haven and the other to Douarnenez in France 

North of the border it seems that the Scottish Government is responding to increasing pressure form the fishing community to force the flag boats to make a genuine contribution to GDP rather than just a token gesture as this article:

Scotland’s fishing fleet will be forced to land more of its catch into “home” ports under new proposals unveiled by the Scottish Government. Fishing minister Fergus Ewing aims to make sure at least 55% of landings from boats bigger than 33ft are into Scottish ports – boosting this country’s processing sector and, in turn, the economy.

A consultation launched this week will run until October 31, with new licence conditions proposed to come into effect from the start of 2018. For vessels landing pelagic fish, like herring and mackerel, the target will initially be lower at 30% from the start of next year and rise to 55% by 2020.  
Fishers failing to hit the new Scottish target risk losing some of their valuable quota in lieu of “missed economic value”.  It is estimated that for every £1 of fish the value of fish landed into Scotland, an extra 65p is created for the economy.

Mr Ewing said: “With the value of fish landed by Scottish vessels at a record high of £563million, we need to make sure that the whole industry – whether that’s skippers, harbours, boat builders or fish processors – can benefit from this food and drink success story.  “A Scottish landings target will provide the wider fishing industry with increased security for the future, with more vessels landing at least 55% of their fish into Scotland.  “While the vast majority of Scottish vessels already land well more than half of their fish in Scotland, encouraging our fishermen to land more of their catch here will create jobs and support local businesses in communities on the islands and in the north-east.”

Ian McFadden, chairman of trade body the Scottish Pelagic Processors’ Association, said his sector had “lobbied hard for this for a long time”.  “We are really grateful the government has listened,” Mr McFadden said, adding: “The more we can put through our factories, the greater the financial benefits for this part of the world.”  The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation said it would look at the consultation and respond “further down the line”.

Current licence conditions require fishers landing more than two tonnes of quota species annually to make sure at least 50% comes into UK ports.  The Scottish Government says a “vast majority” of this country’s larger boats already land most of their catch north of the border.

But some white-fish boats use ports in other parts of the UK and “a small number” of vessels owned by non-Scottish companies prefer to land into Spain and elsewhere in Europe. Pelagic boats land “a high proportion” of their catch abroad, where skippers can often take advantage of better market prices.

Full article here from the Press and Journal website: