Sunny Saturday in Newlyn.

Saturday morning means the Mounts Bay gig crews are out practicing for this year's racing season...

heading out across the bay past the Trinity House service vessel, Patricia...

and the Asthore in the final stages of a seven ton haul of early morning Cornish sardines...

some of the netters are still in port waiting to take ice...

while others head back to port empty-handed...

three of the ports Stevenson beam trawl fleet at rest...

as the Mayflower heads back to port...

it's good to see the market refurb is forging ahead with one half of the roof replaced with a new surface that gulls don't like walking on...

but that message does not appear to have got through to the gulls it seems...

a promising look to the day...

as the resident Glaucous gull takes flight...

before finding another snack in the weed...

watched by one of the port's long-time resident turnstones...

the eerie world sous the fish market...

coated in weed.

An almost fishless #FishyFriday in Newlyn!

With fish from just two boats...

there were many more buyers than boxes...

who were all keen to get away with their morning's haul...

of pollack from the netter, Serene...

and a few flats form the Billy Rowney back in port after just the one haul...

early start for the netter, Ygraine...

while the Cornishman has just one more night in port...

at the end of the Mary Williams pier...

aided by the on-board crane...

12 days worth of fish are being swung ashore to the back of one of two waiting lorrys...

from the Fleetwood registred flag of convenience boat, Udra...

all duly noted by food blogger and Great British Shellfish guru, Mike Warner...

the water hose reel is sporting a new set of wheels that look a little more durable than the previous models...

high-water landing...

for the Udra...

then it's time to repair to the Harbour Cafe for breakfast...

while the resolute land's her morning's haul of sardines...

and the Udra gets ready to fill the second lorry.

Santiago Declaration by European fishing communities on Brexit

Declaration of Santiago de Compostela by the European fishing communities on the future of the fisheries sector in Europe after Brexit

We, representatives of European fishing communities, are gathered here in Santiago de Compostela, on October 23rd 2017, with one joint, shared, purpose. To call upon European governments, the European Council, the European Commission, and the European Parliament to make fisheries a priority in the Brexit negotiations and to safeguard the economic and social future of European fishing and coastal communities.

European fishing and coastal communities have relied on the fishing industry for their social, economic and cultural development for centuries. Indeed – the fishing industry is at the heart of our shared culture and shared traditions in Europe. It has, for centuries, shaped lives and values throughout the continent and provided food for millions of Europeans.

Fisheries embody the ideals of the European Union, such as shared territorial sovereignty and sharing resources in the common interest of all Member States, like no other. Fishing communities know the value of borderless travel and cross border commerce. We have built links across geographic and language barriers for centuries – all the while prioritizing the importance of solidarity and cooperation in the face of common challenges.

Through this ethos of co-operation, best exemplified by years of joint sustainable management of shared fish stocks, the fishing industry has continuously supported coastal communities – providing valuable employment, income and stability.

The economic prosperity of coastal communities in European regions and countries bordering the Atlantic and the North Sea is closely linked to our relationship with the United Kingdom. We have, for ages, shared resources and fishing grounds with our British colleagues.

We note with concern that the planned departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union has created considerable uncertainty for the fisheries sector and for the coastal communities that the sector supports. These are communities that – in the most part – are already facing significant homegrown socio-economic challenges, independent of Brexit, such as maintaining sustainable employment and avoiding de-population.

We also note with concern that many British policy makers and fisheries professionals have signaled their intention to move away from a fisheries management model based on cooperation and from the acknowledgment of our economic interdependence. Many appear to see Brexit as an opportunity to exclude European fishermen from their traditional fishing grounds. Continued access to those waters is of fundamental importance for the survival and continued prosperity of our coastal communities.

We also note with concern that many in the UK see Brexit as an opportunity to unilaterally alter the distribution of catch quota. A distribution arrangement that has allowed our economic prosperity and has been the basis for sustainable management of our shared fish stocks.

We call upon European decision-makers to take into account the challenges faced by coastal communities in Europe. We call upon them to uphold the principle of reciprocity in trade relationships so as to make access to European markets for British seafood products conditional on access to fishing grounds for our fleets.

European decision-makers need to work to support fishing communities all across Europe by upholding the values that we all share. We ask these decision makers to aim for an agreement that will guarantee long-term economic prosperity for our communities and sustainable management of fish stocks.

By our very nature, and through our shared history, European fishing communities will be the first to experience the new relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union. The future social and economic prosperity of our communities – and the fishing industry – will depend on European policy-makers approaching the issue rationally, sensibly and with an understanding of the shared history of European fisheries in mind.

We stand here today, united in a common purpose to ensure that fisheries is a priority in the Brexit negotiations and to safeguard the social and economic future of our fishing communities and fishing industry.



Signed in Santiago de Compostela, October 23rd 2017

The Santiago de Compostela declaration by European Coastal communities on Brexit is part of an ongoing process and we welcome new signatures. If you represent a coastal community or fisheries related professional organisation and wish to join to this appeal, please contact email@fisheriesalliance.eu

Some strategic thinking from our French counterparts - looking ahead to 2035!

Fishing by 2035: dive into the scenarios

Is the fishing industry going to close ranks, break in two, save the furniture or transfer to "everyone for themselves"?

France fishing industry (FFP) had entrusted a prospective exercise to FranceAgrimer. A group of 24 experts gathered 19 times in two years developed 1,000 hypotheses, integrating the dependencies between factors. They arrived at four contrasted scenarios. Presented in animated cartoons at the Assises de la Filière in September , then during regional workshops, they aim at " the elaboration of winning strategies" , recalls FranceAgrimer, who has just published the summary (16 pages) .

In the "fishing industry closes the ranks", fishermen's associations buy quotas (become private), pool ship financing and communicate to counterbalance the criticism of NGOs. The offer is massified and centralized sales. There are losers, but it is more attractive that "the sector breaks in two": there, deteriorated weather conditions and NGO lobbying reduce access to fish. The industry is shrinking, the fleet is aging, and only high-end players are doing well.

Less fatalistic, "the sector saves the furniture" illustrates an adaptation around reference ports, with consolidated upstream-downstream links. As for the "everyone for themselves", explicit, it starts from a strong disruption of catches due to climate change, exacerbated by the lack of cooperation.

Build a five-year action plan

But these brief summaries do not reflect the richness of the scenarios and the influences of each link on the others: one has to read the synthesis to foresee the levers to activate in order to anticipate the evolutions. Strategic thinking continues, in parallel with work including aquaculture and freshwater carried out in the wake of the States General of Food. A sector plan has been submitted (read "the sailor" of Thursday, February 8) , but it is more like a diagnosis, and it is to build by June "a real action plan on five years " , says FranceAgrimer .

Its fisheries and aquaculture council, meeting on January 31, proposes to open large-scale projects: renewal of the fleet, management of the rights to produce, organization of the first sale, circulation of information flows, interprofessional organization, dissemination of information. 'a culture of innovation, attractiveness of trades and product communication.

Full story courtesy of a Google translation from Solène LE ROUX writing in Le Marin. 

Live Tweets from the Discard Action Group meeting in Friend's House, London

#DAG Tweets

In case you missed it - Mike Mitchell: Minimising Discard for Improved Food Security

With improvement in fisheries management, many countries have committed to fishing at sustainable levels and an end to the wasteful practice of discarding. How can landing obligations be implemented? Examples are given on how several regions/ countries have addressed operational and governance challenges associated with discard bans such as the challenges of proper conservation of the by-catch.

Full story here:

Monday morning on Newlyn fish market.

Several hundred boxes of MSC Certified Cornish hake...

graced Newlyn fish market this morning...

along with ling...

huge whiting...

and, unusually for a netter working 120mm mesh two boxes of stickers...

normally, big meshes catch bigger fish like these pollack much less the elusive Dover sole...

which are normally landed in quantity by the beam trawlers in the fleet like the...

Cornishman that landed a few John Dory...

and a pair of bream, one silver, one red...

along with a good selection of plaice...

a few boxes of lemons...

and even more Dover sole...

while the Algrie squeezed a few boxes of monk from a trip mainly of cuttles...

over the weekend a few of the handliners picked away on a half decent run of mackerel...

arriving after steaming through the night from 50 miles south of the Lizard...

the resplendently varnished hake netter, Britannia V hoists her cranning pole...

ready to land her fish under the light of a crescent moon...

her nets all stowed neatly aft in the net pounds...

always good to see the lifeboat, Ivan Ellen tied up in her berth...

missing, one buoy, well in this case a wave buoy...

 that was picked up by the ring-netter Resolute while fishing for sardines overnight...

dawn has not yet arrived by the light of the silvery moon as the old song goes...

makes even the drabbest of stores vaguely charming.