Through the Gaps! - Newlyn Fishing News Cornwall UK fish commercial fishing fish cooking and art

Wednesday 20 June 2018

Not so busy mid-week market in Newlyn.

One day off mid-summer's day and, as yet, there's no sign of flaming June in these parts...

not that the buyers busy bidding on the market are too fussed...

with only day-boat fish being landed form a handful of vessels like the inshore trawler New Venture...

top quality fish like John Dory, brill...

bream...

Dover sole...

and even haddock are making good money as the buyers try to buy for their fish starved customers...

this not-so-little chap went for £12.40 a kilo...

while small JDs

and big ones from the trawler, Shiralee

along with her lemons wait to be auctioned...

the second sale was over even more quickly as the buyers bid for line caught pollack...

and pushed the price of that rarest of fish these days, mackerel, to over £10 a kilo!..

not quite what these cracking bass from top bass man, Capn'n Cod

and the Ali Cat made...

even the Lamorn'a's landing was light...

not that the draggers were slow in whisking the day's haul off the market at speed...

venturing out for the first time from her paint up the Imogen III tallied a small but quality trip...

one of those days when the buyers almost outnumbered the boxes...

one of this year's young gulls taking an early morning stroll having not quite mastered the art of flight just yet...

trawl warp with marker - a short length of rope is wound and threaded through a single strand at intervals on both trawl warps - the first marks are normally at 10 fathoms so that the crew on the winch can brake the winch drums and check that the trawl doors have spread correctly - the next marks would then be at 50, 100, 125, 150, 175 and 200 fathoms - the marks are used to keep an eye on the warp and act as a visual reference for the skipper to check that the warps are both being payed out at the same speed by checking that each pair of marks pass by at the same time - normally the bottom trawlers work 2.5 times the depth of water, maybe slightly more in very bad weather - off to the south west in 50 fathoms of water the skipper would shoot at least 150 fathoms of warp before braking the winch...

the harbour is almost empty of boats, the Crystal Sea on the end of the Mary Williams pier is about to head off to the McDuff shipyard for her annual overhaul...

and the resplendent Spirited Lady III is taking ice for her first trip sporting her new colour scheme of royal blue rather than green...

back in Newlyn town the world famous purveyors of Jelberts ice-cream has taken up the plastic-free challenge...

with prices that won't break your bank balance if there are three littlun's that need feeding too...

Through the Gaps new set of wheels reminded some followerss of an ice-cream van so from this moment forth it shall be known as, 'Jelberts'!

Tuesday 19 June 2018

"FISHERIES MANAGEMENT IN CHANGING TIMES"

The main conference theme is "FISHERIES MANAGEMENT IN CHANGING TIMES"

Fishermen’s leaders push hard for positive Brexit outcome

Scottish fishermen’s leaders held positive talks this week with senior politicians and civil servants as they pressed the case for restoration of sovereignty over UK waters post-Brexit.

One of their meetings was with Olly Robbins, head of the Prime Minister’s Brexit unit, as they seek to persuade key decision makers in Number 10, DexEU, DEFRA and the Treasury that undiluted control is the key, with access and quota negotiated from a position of authority as a Coastal State.

Chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation Bertie Armstrong said: “Yesterday we saw the European Parliament vote to link access to our resources with trade and to retain 60% of our seafood resource. This simply cannot be allowed to happen – decisions in our waters as to who fishes for what and when will be ours to take under international law.

“This does not mean that there won’t be access for EU fleets, rather that it will be on our terms and not enforced by a system which currently entitles our vessels to a mere 40 per cent of the natural capital of the UK Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

“It is fair to say that we have had a positive reception during our various meetings this week. We will continue to walk every avenue in pursuit of a Brexit deal for fishing that we can all sign up to.”

The 2018 Bi-Annual Scottish Fishing Conference (BASFC) will focus on the future of fishing and the seafood industry in Scotland, taking into account its importance in a nation with such an extensive marine environment.

The first half day of the BASFC on 9 July will follow the successful format of 2016, showcasing some of the research FIS has been conducting and offering an opportunity to hear about important topics for the future. Speakers will talk about many different projects, from a study trip to Denmark to the survivability of nephrops. The conference will hear about currently running FIS projects, and the Chair of FIS will set the scene for Day 2.

Day 2 of the conference on 10 July will be opened by Fergus Ewing MSP (the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity), and Fergus will be joined by Fisheries Ministers from other northern nations. Together with Bertie Armstrong (SFF), all four speakers will set out their visions for the future of their fishing industries in these uncertain times. There will be the opportunity for wide-ranging discussions with delegates. The conference will also hear about the future of the Scottish industry from the perspective of NGOs, retailers and those tasked with providing our world-leading science. There will be a "Question time" session at the close of the day, with an expert panel tackling some of the key questions about the future management of the industry.

There will be ample opportunity for informal networking.

The full programme will be available soon.

Numbers are limited so early booking is recommended. This conference will be of particular interest to fishermen and vessel owners; fishing industry organisations; policy makers; fisheries scientists/managers, and other users of the marine environment.

The conference dinner will be held in Lower College Hall on 9 July - there is a charge for this. See http://www.fiscot.org/conference/2018-basfc/ for details and payment.

Delegates should make their own accommodation arrangements. B&B accommodation is available to book at the University's Agnes Blackadder Hall by contacting agnes.blackadder@st-andrews.ac.uk. Other accommodation is of course available within St Andrews and the surrounding area.

Alan Addison sharing some of his fresh-fish adventures.

Skipper Alan Addison aboard the fishing vessel Venture II steaming to Rockall Bank in 70 knot winds ( Violent storm 11) back in November 2015...

wind the clock forward and we find Alan busy with his GoPro camera again capturing the maiden voyage of the latest venture in the form of McDuff shipyard's Venture III.

Monday 18 June 2018

Fish on Monday morning's market in Newlyn

These days the St Piran is a regular on the north pier while the harbour is full of visiting vessels...

as is the Padstow Harbour dredger Manin...

which uses the traditional method of crane operated grab-bucket...

that drops silt in the dredger's hold the bottom of which is then opened at sea to release the spoil...

there's some creative cutting and welding going on down the quay...

surprisingly there was little fish on the market this morning...

with a part trip form the beam trawler St Georges...

landing quality fish like these red mullet...

there were several boxes of good sized whiting...

while some inshore boats picked up some line caught bass...

and the odd bream...

just enough to keep the discerning merchant happy...

at this time of year many trawlers are laid up for an annual refit or paint job as June is on average a poor month for bottom trawling - this year, the Spirited Lady is getting a change of colour too...

from her old green hull...

she is now all blue while the Ocean Harvester is the latest trawler to join the local fleet...

big tides mean a few days off for the netters and a few of the other boats in between trips...

legendary Fishing News hack Phil Lockley passes the time of day getting the low-down on the Fishermen's Mission Community Dental Service who are in Newlyn today...