Support fishermen called to ensure every Friday is a #FishyFriday in the future!

Andrew Pascoe, chair of The National Fishermen's Federation has put out a plea to all those in and beyond the the fishing industry to demand from the government that there is no sell-out in the process of negotiating an exit from the EU.

Thousands of flags and wheelhouse stickers in fishing ports across the country are delivering the fishing industry’s message to the Government and politicians as the UK/EU withdrawal negotiations edge towards a critical stage. By flying the No Sell-Out flags, thousands of vessels, in dozens of ports around the coast, urge the UK negotiators to stand firm against the EU’s pressure to keep the status quo on access for their fleets and the current unfair quota shares. Cornish fisherman and NFFO Chairman, Andrew Pascoe, in a letter accompanying the flags, spells it out:

“As you will already be aware, we are exerting a huge effort to secure the best outcomes for the UK fishing industry, as the UK leaves the EU.

Meetings have been held and assurances received from the Prime Minister, as well as secretaries of state at Defra and Dexeu, that the UK will become an independent coastal state outside the Common Fisheries Policy, as the UK leaves the EU.

We know that the EU will strongly resist this change and, as part of any withdrawal agreement, will seek to tie the UK back into the current access arrangements and quota shares.

It is extremely important, therefore, that the UK Government stands firm on fishing. To that end we have met with all the main political editors and held a very successful lobby day in Parliament attended by around 50 parliamentarians from right across the political spectrum.

To back up these efforts, we feel that it is important that there is visible support in the ports, and to that end we have produced a large number of flags, banners and stickers to display on your vessels, fish-markets and wheelhouses.

Hopefully, the flags and show of support will be amplified by the media – a picture can tell a story of a 1000 words.

If you require additional flags or stickers, these can be supplied.


Thank you for your support.

Yours

Andrew Pascoe

Chairman

National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisation

FIS011B - SMARTFISH: Selective management and retention of target fish

FIS011 Developing and facilitating a range of possible future FIS projects in innovation in selectivity through on-net or alternative technologies.

What can we learn from shared experiences?

Exeter Uni Phd student Nigel Sainsbury is in the process of collecting first hand evidence from skippers who have faced bad and extreme weather while engaged in fishing.

New book revives memories of cod hunters

A NEW book is set to shed light on a little known period in Shetland's rich fishing heritage when it is published later this week.

John Goodlad, a former chief executive of the Shetland Fishermen's Association, has spent considerable time tracking the cod hunters who fished the waters around Faroe and Iceland during the second half of the 19th century.

What surfaces is the fascinating story of an enterprising community that took the traditional Haaf fishery a step further, and laid the foundation of today's model of local fishermen owning shares in their own vessels.

Goodlad said he had always intended to research the story of the cod hunters.

"I was brought up like many Shetlanders on the stories of the Faroese smacks, as some of my great grandfathers and great great grandfathers have been involved with it," he said.

"Since I was peerie (small) boy, I was aware of all these stories; it has been an enduring part of my life, and I wanted to find out more about it, but there wasn't much written about it.

"There is a lot of material written about the Haaf fishery and the sixareens, and lots have been written about the herring fishery, these big two periods in Shetland fishing history.

"But there is very little about the distant water fishery that existed from the middle of the 19th century."

The cod hunters went out in big, decked sailing vessels on fishing trips to Faroe, Iceland and Rockall that lasted between 12 and 14 weeks.

They fished for cod, salted the fish on board and brought it back to Shetland where it was cured on beaches before being sold to markets as far away as Spain.

Some vessels were even fitted with a well enabling the crew to carry live fish for landing at Grimsby, which was then taken by railway to London.

"It was an amazing business based here in Shetland," Goodlad said, "with up to 70 boats employing hundreds of men."

He added: "Apart form a few distant memories there is very little known about it.

"The book is a collection of stories of very ordinary folk doing really quite extraordinary and amazing things during this incredible period in Shetland's history."

The Cod Hunters is being published by Shetland Heritage Publications. The book will be launched at an event at the Shetland Museum and Archives' Boat Hall in Lerwick on Thursday 10 May.

On sale via the Shetland Museum's shop, and also online, the Shetland Times book shop and via Amazon, all of the proceeds will go towards the Swan Trust.

Written by Hans J Marter

Money Talks: EU demands post-Brexit.

Fishing associations from nine EU countries are threatening to impose tariffs on UK fish supplies, if they're denied access to UK waters after Brexit. But British fishermen say Brexit is their last chance for a big catch. Adefemi Akinsanya reports. Interview with Gerard van Balsfoort, the Chairman of the European Fisheries Alliance.


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Tom Brown's fish days!

It’s the talk of the country’s food fans, specialises in produce from Cornwall, has its own unique Cornish gin and has been opened by a heavily tattooed Cornish chef thanks to money left to him by his Cornish nan.

All in all, Cornerstone is a huge Cornish success story. The thing is it’s in London, not Padstow or Charlestown.

The restaurant in Hackney Wick has been opened by Nathan Outlaw protégé Tom Brown and named after his favourite Arctic Monkeys song.

Opened for just a month, the 46-seater restaurant has already got food critics salivating. If you can get a good review out of The Times’ curmudgeonly Giles Coren you must be doing something right.

In a review this weekend, he wrote: “The cooking at Cornerstone is out of this world – confident, brilliant and beautiful. The big money is going to come begging for Tom’s attention pretty soon. I wonder what he’ll do?”

A Cornwall College student, Tom spent six years under Outlaw’s wing, starting out at Outlaw’s at the St Enodoc hotel in Rock before taking on the role of head chef at London’s Outlaw’s at the Capital in 2016. He made a memorable appearance on the BBC’s Great British Menu last year.


In a brave move, Tom has started Cornerstone without any backers, partially funded by the sale of his grandmother’s home in Cornwall and other family backing.

The restaurant specialises in modern British cuisine but that means there’s a lot of Cornwall on the menu including Porthilly oysters and its own Cornerhouse gin, distilled by Cornwall’s own Wrecking Coast. It has been distilled with cloudy apple juice from Polgoon Orchard in Penzance.

Dishes include: Raw mackerel with lime pickle, coconut yogurt and crispy garlic; Marinated squid accompanied by black pudding, blood orange and a brown butter dressing; Roast cod served with Café de Paris hollandaise; Ox tongue served with salt cod, tomatoes and gremolata; and for dessert Cornerstone’s pear crumble accompanied by Earl Grey ice cream or coffee ice cream sandwich served with a banana, pecan and rum sauce.

Catch up on this year's Scottish Fishing Conference.

The Bi-Annual Scottish Fishing Conference 2018

This was held in St Andrews on 9-10th July and the theme was "Fisheries Management in Changing Times" - Download final programme here.

The presentations delivered at the conference can be opened at the links below:

Monday afternoon

• FIS010 - Innovation in governance and management - Daniel Skerritt
• FIS011A - Innovation in selectivity - Daniel Skerritt
• FIS011B - SMARTFISH Selective retention - Paul Fernandes & Tara Marshall
• FIS012A - International quota management - Stuart Reeves
• FIS012B - Economic analysis of quota allocation - Aaron Hatcher
• FIS013 - Ecosystems: predator/prey interactions - Michael Heath
• FIS014 - Management in shared seas - Beth Mouat
• FIS015 - Nephrops survivability 2 - Amaya Albalat
• International study bursary - Hannah Fennell
• 2017/18 FIS projects summary - Richard Slaski
• FIS029 - Assessment of FIS research - Donal O'Herlihy

Tuesday morning

• Being a Coastal State: some experiences from Norway - Vidar Landmark
• A new era in the sustainable management of Faroese fisheries - Høgni Hoydal
• The Big Picture: Becoming a Coastal State - Bertie Armstrong
• The importance of sustainablity: the view from a retailer - Steve McLean
• The importance of sustainablity: the view from an NGO - Euan Dunn
• The importance of sustainablity: the view from a processor - Sarah Pilgrim-Morrison & Juliette Hatchman

Tuesday afternoon

• The business case for marine conservation - Kenny Coull
• The future of science and its funding: as it applies to fisheries and the marine environment and marine sciences - David Paterson

Day 1 of the live stream of the Bi-Annual Scottish Fishing Conference hosted by Fisheries Innovation Scotland. Live-streamed by Mindfully Wired Communications.

Day 2 of the live stream of the Bi-Annual Scottish Fishing Conference hosted by Fisheries Innovation Scotland. Live-streamed by Mindfully Wired Communications.