A day in Looe

With the busy fish market in such close proximity to a very public touristy town their is understandably restricted access to the quay and the fish market...

looks like plenty of weed on the inshore ground...

everybody knows Pengellys of Looe...

good to see the Looe harbour staff neatly sorting and stacking their fellow...

 Newlyn Fish Market boxes ready to return them at a moment's notice...

no need to look!, you can tell from the smell that the fishroom bilge is now pumping happily

home of the Kraken maybe,,, 

these days angling charter boats are mostly cats - more deck space...

 and greater comfort, two big plusses when taking...

plenty of weed growing and floating downstream...

looking towards the sea and across to the fish market...

of this historic town which boasts its own Literary Festival with much written about the fishing and smuggling - check out Paul Greenwood's, Once Aboard a Lugger for a great insight into the life of a fisherman in the 60s and 70s!

Fish trap?

Given that much of the fish and certainly the highest value species are largely exported to the EU this makes for sobering reading:

Brexit Britain on the road to nowhere, says FTA

Tuesday 05 June 2018

With three weeks to go until crunch Brexit talks in Brussels, the UK’s leading logistics trade body says that its confidence in Government’s ability to deliver a ‘frictionless’ Brexit that will ‘Keep Britain Trading’ with the EU is fast collapsing. The Freight Transport Association (FTA) is one of the UK’s largest and most influential industry groups, and speaks for the whole of the logistics industry.

As James Hookham, the organisation’s Deputy Chief Executive explains, the lack of progress on the industry’s key demands of government for a trade agreement, means that those in the industry charged with maintaining the country’s supply chain after Brexit are left with no means by which to operate effectively:

“Of the eight demands made in FTA’s list of essentials to ‘Keep Britain Trading’ issued at the beginning of the year, not a single one has been progressed,” he says. “Details of whether or not the country will have a Transition/Implementation Period are still unclear, there is still no decision on what Customs arrangements we will have from March 2019 onwards.

“We keep getting told that all food and agricultural exports to the Continent and Ireland will be checked at EU ports - but there is nowhere to check them, and the system to check them does not exist. We still don’t know if we will be able to employ the 43,000 truck drivers in the UK that are nationals from another member state – that’s 13% of our driver workforce! There is no clarification on whether UK drivers’ qualifications are to be recognised, so they could well be barred from driving their own vehicles on the Continent.

“But the real show stopper is that, under European law, unless an agreement is reached, there will only be 103 international haulage Permits to cover the 300,000 journeys made by British trucks to Europe each year. The logistics industry is being asked to decide who would get a Permit to Drive if there are not enough to go around – in effect, being asked to destroy the businesses of its international haulage members.”

As Mr Hookham continues, with less than 300 days to the UK’s scheduled departure from the European Union, and no progress made on trade talks, the lack of clarity over key issues is eroding the country’s invaluable trading relationships with businesses overseas, and foreign businesses based in Britain:

“All these potential barriers were thrown up by the Government’s decision to leave the Customs Union and the Single Market. In return we were promised that ‘frictionless’ trade would continue through special agreements reached with the EU. Trade talks haven’t even started. In the event of a No Deal Brexit it will be the logistics industry, which operates 24/7 365 days a year, that will have to pick up the pieces of the failure of politicians to agree. No doubt we will face the unwarranted ire of consumers and businesses if goods cannot be delivered on time.

“The industry’s frustration with the lack of progress is building daily. Logistics businesses simply cannot answer their customers’ questions about how they will move goods after Brexit. Manufacturers and retailers are losing faith and fear that post-Brexit Britain is at real risk of becoming nothing more than a series of road blocks at our ports and airports.

“What is really making our members angry is that these real, legitimate concerns are simply being dismissed by some members of the Government on the basis that it will not be in the EU’s interests to impose them. This is a reckless attitude to take and is playing chicken with crucial parts of the British economy and the livelihoods of the seven million Britons in the industry. All the evidence is that the other EU member states are recruiting hordes of border officials to enforce their rule book, regardless of the cost to their businesses and consumers. Expecting economic realism to kick in after 50 years of top-down bureaucracy is a bit of a stretch from UK politicians who have always slammed the EU for its obsession with rules and bureaucracy. The reliance on the other side blinking first is hanging the logistics industry out to dry.

“To date, all the focus has been on what the new Customs arrangements will be. But this misses the point. The real issue will be the lack of permits to allow the trucks carrying the goods to travel to the Continent in the first place. This is the trucking equivalent of the threat to the aviation sector because of the ending of Europe-wide agreements when the UK leaves the Single Market.”

Mr Hookham is adamant that Britain’s supply chain requires decisions now, in order to provide the required logistics support to the nation’s business community, but is frustrated that no decisions are being made:

“Over the past year, we have continued to push the Government on what needs to be agreed to ‘Keep Britain Trading’ after Brexit. Yet with less than ten months to go until the country is set to leave the EU, we have nothing agreed and there is every prospect of another flunked summit at the end of this month. Kicking the can down the road to October may be easy for politicians but by then the Christmas delivery season will be in full swing for the logistics sector and another four months of planning time will have been lost. Our members want to make things work, but our hands are tied. With “Armageddon” scenarios apparently being developed by Whitehall to cope with a No Deal Brexit next March even the Government seems to think it may be all over!”

FTA is hosting a one day conference, entitled Keep Britain Trading, on 20 June 2018 at 1 Great George Street, London SW1 to enable logistics operators to discuss the arrangements which need to be implemented for a smooth Brexit. Speakers will include Robin Walker MP from the Department for Exiting the EU, as well as Karen Wheeler, Director General of the Cross Government Border Delivery Group. To find out more, and book a place, please visit https://fta.co.uk/events/preparing-leaders-in-logistics-for-brexit

Mist not fog for #FishyFriday in Newlyn

Next weekend, make your way down to the Newlyn Archive opposite the Coop for their latest look at the past which recalls the early days of 'trippers' in Newlyn...

while the work might be hard at times the rewards are unparalleled for a young person in Cornwall - not only spiritually but also financially - there aren't many other jobs in the region that pay so highly as fishing does...

it's a pretty full #FishyFriday market this morning...

and it looks like a marauding seal had its full dining out on these prime fish...

luckily these, being fished in much deeper waters further off escaped its unwanted attentions...

eyes down for a full house, the auction is underway...

Only a single box of the largest grade of monk tails for Juicy's trip with the St Georges......

while the big net boats pulled in a few pollack

the St Georges hauled up boxes of megrim soles...

out west always produces a bigger run...

while this good sized plaice came from one of the inshore boats...

a sure sign summer is here, sacks of scallops back on the market...

with little or no mackerel on the grounds to small boats are handlining for pollack which seems to be everywhere these days...

even Plugger with the Shiralee found little comfort chasing the likes of John Dory - welcome to what is traditionally the worst month for trawling in these parts...

an example of how provenance and tracking of fish has moved with the times - boats can print tallies that record every detail of the contents including the number of the box that contains a microchip to allow for easy identification...

several of the bigger net boats work trammel nets and fish for part of the time on turbot...

monk and ray... 

steaming away from Newlyn the sight of the punt Butts steaming past the Low Lee buoy means that Captain Incredible is off to sea again...

not content with operating his boat with the additional burden of two artificial legs...

he is now heading into Mousehole harbour...

to pick up a young trainee fisherman, Jamie...

safely aboard...

Cap'n Cod can be heard explaining to the youngster how to leave Mousehole harbour and head out through the gaps when the tide is so low that there is very little water...

not a problem this morning though...

back in the harbour the resident cormorant is diving...

in the clear water looking for breakfast...

the morning sky suggest that there is little chance of seeing the sun on the south side of Cornwall today...

up on the slip, the Harvest Reaper looks astern at the kind of trawler it wants to be when it grows up...

as another boat heads out through the gaps.

Cry fish for England, Newlyn and St Georges!

Prawn trawlers, beam trawlers, scallopers and netters, just a few of the fishing methods that make up the fleet be it local or visiting vessels. Here, one of the largest beam trawlers in the local Stevenson fleet returns to land her catch after a week at sea. Ryan Ladd does the honours on the back of the lorry handling the 120 boxes.

Also making it back after a a few days working nets for turbot and monk is the hake netter, Karen of Ladram, skipper Sid Porter.

FISHERIES SCIENCE PARTNERSHIP (FSP) – CALL FOR INVITATIONS TO TENDER FOR 2018/19 PROGRAMME

Both these trial projects on offer from Cefas should instigate some lively debate within and beyond the industry!

Read on:

Cefas is seeking tenders for the following single year projects as part of its
ongoing FSP programme:

• FSP58: a survey to assess the impact of pulse trawling activity on the south east English fishing grounds.

• FSP59: testing semi-pelagic trawling as a method to reduce unwanted catches in the south west English otter trawl fishery.

To download the Tender documents, visit the Cefas Delta e-Procurement
system:

FSP58 – access code Q995GXCC9K
FSP59 – access code YS7B8N25PH

Or alternatively, tender document packs are available by post or email
from the Cefas Procurement Team procure@cefas.co.uk

Deadline for submission of Tenders is Friday 15th June 2018.

For queries in relation to the procurement process contact Emma Roberts
on 01502 527766

Next steps for UK fisheries - trade, sustainability and policy Morning, Thursday, 7th June 2018

This would no doubt be an excellent meeting to be involved in!

Today'as Westminster Forum Conference in London.

Next steps for UK fisheries - trade, sustainability and policy

The focus:

The future for the UK’s fisheries post-Brexit - looking at priorities for policymakers, and key issues around trade and sustainability.


Key discussion points:

• The future for UK fisheries policy and the anticipated Fisheries Bill;
• Priorities for trade, tariffs and quotas for the industry;
• Next steps for developing the necessary institutions and decision-making structures as the UK leaves the EU;
• Sustainability and environmental priorities for domestic fisheries management going forward; and
• Key challenges for improving skills across the sector and supporting different interests across the fishing sectors and communities of the UK involved in fishing.

Context:

The announcement that the UK will remain in the Commons Fisheries Policy during the transition period until December 2020;

The Government’s publication of the analysis on returning EU powers, which included fisheries management and support as part of the 24 policy areas that are expected to be temporarily retained by Westminster;

Government targets from the 25 Year Environment Plan to achieve ‘good’ environmental status whilst allowing marine industries to prosper;

The UK’s planned withdrawal from the London Fisheries Convention;

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee inquiry into how fisheries and seafood trading arrangements between the UK and the EU will affect the fishing industry and others;

The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee inquiry into the impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland’s fishing industry; and

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs consultation for the proposed Marine Plan for Northern Ireland.


Guest of Honour

Nigel Gooding
Deputy Director, EU and International Fisheries, Defra

Keynote Speakers

Shanker Singham
Director, International Trade and Competition Unit, Institute of Economic Affairs

Andrew Kuyk
Director General, Provision Trade Federation and Leader, UK Seafood Industry Alliance

David Mundy
Partner and Parliamentary Agent, Bircham Dyson Bell

Bertie Armstrong
Chief Executive, Scottish Fishermen’s Federation

Simen Svenheim
Counsellor for Trade, Industry and Fisheries, Royal Norwegian Embassy in London

Chairs

David Duguid MP
Vice-Chair, All-Party Parliamentary Fisheries Group

Rt Hon Alistair Carmichael MP
Vice-Chair, All-Party Parliamentary Fisheries Group and Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Northern Ireland

Speakers

Mike Park
Chief Executive, The Scottish White Fish Producers Association

Mike Hardy
Chief Executive, Northumberland Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authority

Dr Bryce Stewart
Lecturer, University of York

Helen McLachlan
Fisheries Governance Programme Manager, WWF-UK

Barrie Deas
Chief Executive, National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations

Our Seas: Fishing methods, sustainability, technology and management.

Part 1.  Over the past 50 years technological advances have led to dramatic changes in our fishing industry. Fishing boats can now travel further from port, stay at sea for longer, and can locate fishing grounds to pinpoint fish more accurately. They also harvest fish far more efficiently. All fishing activities have an environmental impact. However, the extent varies dramatically between boats, areas and types of fishing methods used.

Part 2.  As human population grows and demand for seafood rises, it is vital that fisheries are properly managed enabling them to provide sustainable food sources without depleting fish stocks or harming marine ecosystems. A successful fishery aims to catch the largest number of fish that still allows fish stocks to rapidly rejuvenate. This film explores factors considered by management and scientists when setting fishing legislation and why a thorough understanding of fish biology is vital to ensure that fish populations remain stable over time.

Part 3 .  Increased global population and consumer demand for seafood products have led to technological advances such as sonar and refrigeration, which allow fishing vessels to remain at sea for longer and catch more fish. Over time, the number of over-fished stocks, has increased, meaning that managing these resources sustainably has become more critical than ever. This film explores modifications to fishing equipment and legislation to minimise adverse impacts on fish populations, collateral damage to marine habitats, and by-catching. It also explores the future significance of fish farming and aquaculture in meeting increasing consumer demand whilst ensuring a sustainable future for fish stocks.

Part 4 of 4.  This film explores the ways in which marine habitats and marine life are managed and protected from threats such as overfishing and habitat degradation. It also explains how the introduction of marine protected areas around the British Isles protects marine life and habitats by regulating and restricting human activity in these areas.

These films were produced by Nina Constable Media and funded by Garfield Weston Foundation, The Headley Trust, Seafish, Daylesford Foundation, The Tanner Trust.