Lobster fisherman Andrew Stevens nominated for Shellfisherman of the Year Award!

Hi All, feeling very humbled. Have been shortlisted for the shellfish fisherman of the yr. voting starts on March 5th. You can vote on http://fishingnews.co.uk/awards .

What's a Cornish fisherman to do with Twitter? Well, in the case of Andrew Stevens a whole new world opened up when he and three other Newlyn-based fishermen decided to use the phone app to show photos of their fish and shellfish they were catching to online customers. From that simple idea, the concept of Dreckly Fish was born. By the way, the word 'dreckly' is the Cornish equivalent of mañana, without the same sense of urgency.

After leaving school, Andrew's first berth was aboard a 50ft Frenchman in Newlyn, the Mon Rêve (My Dream) owned by Jesse Thomas, he then moved back to St Ives and spent a few years on the Harmony crawfish netting in the summer and then Newlyn for the winter mackerel...

at one time trawling then later netting on the Keriolet out of Newlyn, before co-owning and working the inshore trawler Sarah Jean PW45...

today, Andrew Stevens fishes with his own boat, Benediction...

 and a fleet of 160 pots...

sustainably targeting shellfish...

including prime lobster...

and exclusively supplies The Fish shop in Camberley near London where, at several times during the year, he takes time out from fishing to do a 'meet and greet' with the shop's customers to answer all their fishy questions.

Last summer he took top London chef Cyrus Todiwala out to sea to catch spider crab then back to shore...

to cook up some wonderful cab curry as part of a campaign to encourage the great British public to buy and cook spider crab as 90% of spider crabs are exported to France and Spain.

Andrew is mighty proud of his St Ives 'hake' heritage and carries a constant reminder in this remarkable tattoo on the inside of his arm...

meanwhile, as day and night times equalise on the day of the Spring equinox the first of this lobster season's pots are aboard the Benediction ready to begin fishing.

As it's Spring Equinox today so Spring, is sprung.

Good to see technological developments in use on the market - here Gary collects size and species data electronically for Cefas...

as the morning's mackerel are sold...

after nearly two weeks of gales fish from the entire inshore fleet that mustered on Monday morning were up for auction including this nice shot of John Dory from the Still Waters... 

plaice...

red mullet, ling...

and brill from the Shiralee...

enough to make that happy man Colin from Mousehole Fish serenade the fish...

so fresh these cuttles are almost alive...

more brill from the Harvest Reaper...

perfect thornback...

and red mullet from Nigel's Ocean Harvest...

as usual there's a good shot of ray from the Shiralee...
 

and when the fish are this fresh these Dovers are undoubtedly Chelsea bound...

with finer weather the mackerel men have managed to get their feathers wet once again...

and a good selection of this fine fish were up for auction this morning...

along with these luscious lemons form the Ocean Harvest...

more than enough to keep the buyers busy...

not quite skrei cod but so fresh they will need eating in a day or two's time...

the inshore netter Tracey Claire's fish looks superb...

in a few weeks time there won't be many boxes of these up for auction as the main spawning season for big white fish passes...

the Govenek of Ladram's spurdogs made good money...

fine start to the day...

and an early start for anyone needing to put their boat on the hard, like the Ygraine now just beginning to dry pout as the tide rapidly drops...

big tides keep the netters in from sea...

so it's time for Richard and Fred not to get in a flap and over-end those gillnets...

into the tubs ready to be repaired...

a thousand pots getting ready to fish...

further along the promenade, work continues on installing a new section in the Jubilee Pool as work continues to install geothermically heated water for the coming season...

both the lighthouse...

and the Scillonian III have been freshly painted...

while the Scillys supply ship Gry Maritha is undergoing a refit in the Dry Dock...

much of Penzance's sheltered harbourfront is now dedicated to housing for the retired...

while the old Bramwell Mill building will soon emerge from its chrysalis-like scaffolding cover as a Premier Inn, nice one Lenny...

and early morning paddle boarder makes his way to the Mount in the mist.

Opportunities to improve fisheries management through innovative technology and advanced data systems

Abstract

Fishery‐dependent data are integral to sustainable fisheries management. A paucity of fishery data leads to uncertainty about stock status, which may compromise and threaten the economic and food security of the users dependent upon that stock and increase the chances of overfishing. Recent developments in the technology available to collect, manage and analyse fishery‐relevant data provide a suite of possible solutions to update and modernize fisheries data systems and greatly expand data collection and analysis. Yet, despite the proliferation of relevant consumer technology, integration of technologically advanced data systems into fisheries management remains the exception rather than the rule. In this study, we describe the current status, challenges and future directions of high‐tech data systems in fisheries management in order to understand what has limited their adoption. 

By reviewing the application of fishery‐dependent data technology in multiple fisheries sectors globally, we show that innovation is stagnating as a result of lack of trust and cooperation between fishers and managers. We propose a solution based on a transdisciplinary approach to fishery management that emphasizes the need for collaborative problem‐solving among stakeholders. In our proposed system, data feedbacks are a key component to effective fishery data systems, ensuring that fishers and managers collect, have access to and benefit from fisheries data as they work towards a mutually agreed‐upon goal. 

A new approach to fisheries data systems will promote innovation to increase data coverage, accuracy and resolution, while reducing costs and allowing adaptive, responsive, near real‐time management decision‐making to improve fisheries outcomes.

Temporary rates of customs duty on seafood imports after EU Exit

The UK government has announced the rates of customs duty (tariffs) that will apply to imports of goods into the UK if the UK leaves the EU with no deal. The tariffs will be valid initially for 12 months. The government will be consulting on future permanent tariffs during this period. The new regime would affect only imports into the UK.

The announcement lists 21 seafood products that will incur duty. These new tariffs mirror the tariffs that currently apply to seafood product imported into the EU, and range from 7.5% to 15% for unprocessed fish and are set at 24% for prepared or preserved tuna.

A large proportion of the seafood commodities that are imported into the UK are not listed in the government announcement and therefore will not incur a duty on import. These products include salmon, whitefish (other than monkfish), pelagic fish and bivalve molluscs. Among the zero-tariffed seafood commodities are those currently covered by the European Union autonomous tariff quotas.

The government announcement can be accessed through this link.

The tariffs in the UK government announcement are:

Commodity Code	Seafood Product	Tariff Rate	Additional Information
03038910	Frozen freshwater fish, not elsewhere specified	8%	Excluding fish fillets and other fish meat of heading 0304
03038990	Frozen fish, not elsewhere specified	15%	Excluding fish fillets and other fish meat of heading 0304
03048910	Frozen fillets of freshwater fish, not elsewhere specified	9%
03048990	Frozen fish fillets, not elsewhere specified	9%
03049965	Frozen meat (whether or not minced) of Monkfish (Lophius spp)	7.5%	Excluding fillets
03061792	Frozen shrimps of the genus “Penaeus”	12%	Even smoked or whether in the shell of not - including shrimps in shell cooked by steaming or by boiling in water
03061799	Frozen shrimps and prawns (excluding “Pandalidae” “Crangon” deepwater rose shrimps “Parapenaeus longirostris” and “Penaeus”)	12%	Even smoked whether in the shell or not - including shrimps and prawns in the shell cooked by steaming or by boiling in water
03061990	Frozen crustaceans fit for human consumption (excluding rock lobster and other sea crawfish, lobsters, shrimps, prawns, crabs, freshwater crayfish and Norway lobsters “Nephrops norvegicus”)	12%	Even smoked, whether in the shell or not, including crustaceans in the shell cooked by steaming or by boiling in water
16041421	Prepared or preserved skipjack whole or in pieces in vegetable oil	24%	Excluding minced
16041426	Fillets known as “Loins” of skipjack prepared or preserved whole or in pieces	24%	Excluding such products in vegetable oil or minced
16041428	Prepared or preserved skipjack whole or in pieces	24%	Excluding minced fillets known as “loins” and such products in vegetable oil
16041431	Prepared or preserved yellowfin tuna “Thunnus albacares” whole or in pieces in vegetable oil	24%	Excluding minced
16041438	Prepared or preserved yellowfin tuna “Thunnus albacares” whole or in pieces	24%	Excluding minced fillets known as “loins” and such products in vegetable oil
16041441	Prepared or preserved tuna whole or in pieces in vegetable oil (excluding minced skipjack and yellowfin tuna “Thunnus albacares”)	24%
16041448	Prepared or preserved tuna whole or in pieces (excluding minced fillets known as “loins” and such products in vegetable oil skipjack and yellowfin tuna “Thunnus albacares”)	24%
03019190,  03021180, 03031490,  03044290, 03048290, 03054300	Various trout products	*	*See the original guidance and links therein for tariff information

*See the original guidance and links therein for tariff information

Although there are only 21 seafood products on the new tariff list, the implications of these changes are potentially significant. Whereas previously the UK did not pay any duty on seafood products imported from the EU, in a no-deal situation UK importers will pay duty on the listed products if they are importing these products directly from the EU. These listed products already attract a tariff if they are imported directly from outside the EU and this will continue. Seafood products that are not on the list will continue to be imported with a tariff of zero. A summary can be found in the table below:

Description	‘Current’ full tariff	‘No deal’ full tariff
Listed products imported from the EU	Zero	UK tariff
Unlisted products imported from the EU	Zero	Zero (no change)
Listed products imported from outside the EU	EU tariff	UK tariff (as this is equal to the EU tariff, there is no change)
Unlisted products imported from outside the EU	EU tariff	Zero

Preferential tariffs

The government announcement also contains information on preferential tariffs on imports from a number of countries, including Chile, the Faroe Islands, and countries that benefit from the General System of Preferences (GSP) scheme as follows:

• All seafood from Chile will be zero tariffed except for the seven tariff lines listed that cover prepared and prepared tuna.
• The arrangement for the Faroe Islands allows an additional five product lines of frozen fish and shrimps to be tariff free.
• All seafood from the Eastern and Southern Africa States (Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe) will be zero tariffed. (Fishery products from Zimbabwe is not currently authorised for import.)
• Imported seafood from countries currently benefiting from the GSP scheme will continue to benefit from the same low or zero tariffs after a no-deal exit from the EU.
• Preferential tariffs are listed for seafood from Israel, Palestine and Switzerland.
• Quotas

The UK government has released a draft list of tariff quotas for imported products, including seafood. Where a tariff quota applies, it will be possible to import limited amounts of particular types of seafood at a lower rate of duty. The quotas are listed in the Tariff Quota Rate Reference Document, available here.

This Tariff Quota Rate Reference Document has been published in advance of a Statutory Instrument establishing the tariff rate quotas and establishing a regime for managing them. Management will be mostly on a first-come first-served allocation system. However, until the statutory instrument is available, there is no further detail on their application or their management.

Seafood product quotas covered by the Autonomous Tariff Quotas (ATQs) are listed under Part B, Section 2, of the Reference Document. As these products will be zero tariffed if the UK trade tariff comes into force, irrespective of the volume imported, there are no tariff quota volumes associated with them.

Consultation on the introduction of catch recording for licensed fishing vessels under 10 metres in length

Seeking views on the potential business impacts linked to the introduction of catch recording for all English and Welsh licensed fishing boats under 10 metres in length.

Why We Are Consulting


We want to know your views on how the introduction of catch recording requirements for under 10 metre vessels registered in England or Wales could potentially affect you and your business.

The change in the licence condition will apply to all English and Welsh licensed fishing vessels under 10 metres in length. Scottish licensed vessels already have a licence condition that mandates recording for the under 10 metre fleet and Northern Ireland will be seeking consultation responses at a later date.

The consultation is open to everyone. It will be of particular interest to owners and operators of licensed fishing boats under 10 metres in length licensed in England and Wales.


Please read the consultation below:
Download Catch recording consultation

As the weather breaks on Monday morning.

Dark skies and heavy clouds hang over Newlyn this morning as a handful of remaining boats prepare for sea after a week of prolonged gales that have kept the entire fleet tied up against the quays...

as Joy of Ladram makes her way through the gaps for another trip hake hunting...

though away to the south-east the sun is making a brave attempt to bring some light to the sky...

wet trails on the market floor after a handful of boxes of fish were sold this morning...

the market won't expect to see any significant landings until the end of the week when the first boats begin to land...

the best part of a fleet of pots waits on the quay to be worked on adding back strops and swivels.