Mid-week market in Newlyn

When conditions are deceptive, although there is barely a breath of wind in the harbour the signs overhead tell a different story...

looks like preparations are in hand to begin work on the fish market's major upgrade...

keeping the buyers informed - good to see ALL the vessels with fish on the market make it on the arrivals board this morning...

and there is plenty of fish too...

and more than enough to keep the Cefas staff busy taking otolith samples and length measurements of species...

like plaice...

of which the beam trawler Cornishman landed the biggest trip of them seen on the market for many years...

where there's plaice there's no monk or megrims...

so its eyes down for the length data being collected...

other big flats included a few boxes of turbot...

a handful of reds...

an odd hake...

late landing for an inshore boat putting in the tows before the weather closes in later...

it's that bass time of year and the handliner Cynthia  came up trumps - Mr Astley will no doubt be itching to get back to sea and stuck into the bass... 

Nigel picked up a nice touch of JDs yesterday...

fresh blood, a sure sign of the freshness of the catch...

tons of cuttles...

and even auctioneer Ian looks surprised as the price paid by young Edwin for FalFish stays well above £4 a kilo - though Brixham market saw 75 tons on Monday's market alone this week!...

this is what cuttlefish look like (video clip courtesy of Brixham Fish Market)just after they get released from the cod end of the beam trawler's nets...

the 'umble scad...

the 'ansum 'ake...

and the delicious 'erring...

ex-fisherman, Mr Bullus still maintains his sense of humour at Celtic Fish & Game...

the scallopers are back in town...

big boats need big hydraulic motors - and plenty of oil to run them...

to lift those 17 dredges a side...

sterns don't come much bigger...

slowly slowly with the forklift...

temporary refrigerated storage has arrived for the fish market's refurb.

The fishermen gather in Quimper, in the fog of the Brexit

It's not just UK fishermen who are concerned about the kind of Brexit being negotiated:

Concerned about a Brexit threatening their prosperity, French fishing players want to make their voices heard Thursday and Friday in Quimper, fearing to be left behind in the negotiations for divorce between London and Europeans. Do not fish "the Brexit adjustment variable": the claim often comes up in the mouths of professionals and will be in all the heads of the 500 delegates. "We do not want to be marginalized," Hubert Carré, director general of the national fisheries committee, told AFP: "for three years, we can make money, we must not allow the Brexit to achieve the equivalent of what the steel industry experienced in the 1980s, "he explains.

British secession threatens the horizon of the French fishing, the British having announced to want to regain the exclusive control of the fishing rights near their coasts. However, after very difficult years, the sector in France is doing better. Inventories have returned to sustainable levels, demand for seafood is still very high and prices are rising, and although caution is warranted, the price of gas oil is at its lowest level in three years . "Companies have earned money and that is why a number of companies are taking advantage of it" to shyly renew an aging fleet, Hubert Carré explains.

But, according to the outlines that it will adopt, the Brexit could leave to dock many armaments. Catches in British waters represent on average 30% of the catches of the French fishery. A figure that can climb very quickly to more than double in the northern regions. "You take the gangs of Dunkerque or Calais, they are 20 minutes out of the harbor, they are in British waters, it is 75% of their turnover," Hubert Carré alarmed. Hence a concern for employment: the seamen on boats are close to 15,000, not to mention the thousands of jobs on land, especially in fish trading (4,500 jobs) and processing (16,000 jobs). - Papy-boom -

Problem, the Brexit occurs while the demographic curve of the employment of the sector begins a critical turning point. Between 2016 and 2020, 1,400 entrepreneurs - 30% - retire, according to the national fisheries committee, who fears that many are not replaced. "We must defend access to water for artisanal fishing and inshore fishing ... without which there is no fishing," explained in July the Minister of Agriculture Stéphane Travert to journalists in Brussels. This will require "finding agreements" with the British, he added, trying to reassure the industry.

The British had announced two weeks earlier that they would leave the 1964 London Fishery Convention (ie before the United Kingdom acceded to the EU in 1973) to regain exclusive control over fishing rights British coasts. The signal of a willingness to negotiate a "hard" Brexit, for some, of the shock for others, even if the absence of news of the negotiations does not leave to worry. "The English also fish in European waters," recalls the boss of the port of Lorient, Maurice Benoish. "If it were a hard Brexit, it would be very bad for the French and the port of Lorient, but it would not be good for the English either," he said.

Especially since "the fish do not know the administrative boundaries that are fixed on the sea. (...) One can hope that the common sense will prevail". Another argument in the negotiations, says Hubert Carré, the British "will be completely dependent on the European market and this is where we will start saying to them: + good, you do not want European ships in your economic zone , you simply do not consume what you fish, you export everything from the United Kingdom to Europe, it's going to be give-and-take. " 

Full story courtesy of Romandie.com

Lifeboat action over the weekend.

Saturday saw both Penlee lifeboats out on escort duty for the Round the Mount swim...

Classic ships...

always look good when they prepare to set sail from Newlyn, a reminder of days of yore...

a new scalloper has appeared on the block...

not a breath on Sunday morning...

as the lifeboat made her way out...

followed by another little classic sailing boat, the Tyler boat complete with family aboard head out for a day's sail around the Bay...

wok in progress for the Newlyn Gallery's Wet Auction...

as a heavy front moves across in front of the ever-watchful Tom...

the day boats get landed for Monday's market.

Fish to share.

Many British fishermen rejoiced after the UK vote to leave the European Union. They hoped it would mean fewer EU boats fishing in UK waters. 

Business reporter and sailor Lesley Curwen visits ports and harbours at both ends of Britain to talk to fishermen about their hopes and fears, and hears from a group of European fishermen who argue a hard Brexit would destroy thousands of their jobs.

Courtesy of producer Smita Patel at the BBC Radio 4 Business Programme.

It's #FishyFriday and the bad weather hits landings

Three Jays on the hard this morning...

no trawl and no beam trawl fish for the market this morning...

so apart from a few boxes of line caught mackerel...

and a dozen or so top quality red mullet...

there were almost more merchants than fish...

with just the Karen of Ladram making the first and only netter's landings this week...

so it was pretty slack pickings for many of the buyers...

with prices sky-high for fish like these hake...

and cod...

like many things these days.

The Wet Auction is coming! - major art event this Saturday in and around Newlyn.

Plein air painting in Newlyn for the last Wet Auction

In recognition of Newlyn’s history of ‘plein air’ painting, artists will once again be invited to leave their studios, equipped with materials and a packed lunch, and spend a day working outdoors in Newlyn, Penzance and further afield in Penwith. This is a unique opportunity to buy contemporary art created on the day in situ and, at the end of the day at Newlyn Art Gallery, buyers will have the opportunity to bid on the works created, which may, in some cases, still be wet!

You can follow the artist's movements throughout the day via social media using #wetnewlyn.

At 1800 the gallery will be open so that you can preview the works. There will be food from Little Wonder cafe and a pay bar. By 19.00, the works will be hung in the upper gallery ready to be auctioned by David Lay of David Lay Auctions. The money raised is eligible to be matched, and therefore doubled, by Catalyst: Evolve in our 10th Anniversary Year so that we can continue to support art and artists in West Cornwall.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS

Samuel Bassett - Simon Bayliss - Lizzie Black - Angela Cockayne - Richard Cook - Mary Crockett - Jack Davis - Anthony Frost - Catherine Haines - Caroline Pedler - Michael Porter - Rachael Reeves - Shelly Tregoning - Jason Walker

LOCATIONS

Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens - Polgoon Vineyard - The Old Coastguard Hotel - St Michael’s Mount - Penzance Railway Station

Newlyn Art Gallery, New Road, Newlyn, TR18 5PZ

01736 363715
info@newlynartgallery.co.uk
newlynartgallery.co.uk

Opening Hours: 6 - 10pm

Annual Fleet survey

Follow the fish and help with the annual Seafish survey in your area.

As part of Seafish's main areas of focus we seek to provide accurate, timely data to inform decision making. Data gathered during the Annual Economic Survey of the UK Fishing Fleet provides the foundation for a number of reports and all of our bespoke expert advice. In order to provide information, analysis and this advice, we need your help.

Every summer, Seafish seek to speak to as many vessel owners and skippers as part of our annual Fleet Survey. The 10 week project enables the Seafish economics team to build an up-to-date picture of fleet performance as they visit ports around the UK. It also doubles as an opportunity to gather stories for our Quay Issues magazine.

The results, published on an annual basis across our Quay Issues suite of reports, are intended to help industry and policy makers better understand the socioeconomic consequences of changes in fisheries management measures and the wider financial climate.

Those who take part in the survey can benefit directly by requesting a financial performance benchmark report. These reports allow vessel owners to compare the performance of their own vessel with the average performance of other similar vessels.

Steve Lawrence, Economics Project Manager, said: "Thanks to the participation of several hundred vessel owners, the Economics Team at Seafish has been able to accurately represent the economic performance of the UK fishing fleet for a number of years."

"Only with the continued support of the industry can we keep up this hugely valuable exercise, producing outputs that allow us to better understand the industry as a whole and to inform key decision makers. Therefore, we would encourage skippers and boat owners to speak to our researchers and complete the survey so that we can present the most accurate picture possible."

The survey is supported by the national federations and local associations around the UK. All information provided is treated as confidential and no individual vessel figures will be revealed in any report.

A team of four researchers will conduct the survey with vessel owners. Regular updates will be tweeted as researchers work their way around the coast and progress can also be followed @seafishuk.

If you would like to take part in the survey, or for more information, please contact Steven Lawrence on 0131 524 8663, steven.lawrence@seafish.co.uk or if you would like to view the latest reports generated by the survey please visit the Industry Economics section of the website.