Mild March Monday morning at Newlyn fish market.

Good to see George Cleave on the market this morning, such a purveyor of quality fish...

couldn't resist the temptation to pick up fish landed from the fleet's inshore trawlers that braved the huge equinoctial tides over the weekend...

comfortable conger...

name this fish...

big red tub gurnard, best baked whole...

there's a few John Dory on some of the grounds it seems, summer must be around the corner...

meanwhile plaice...

and lemons are now the main target for some of the inshore boats...

along with JDs...

while boats like the New Venture...

and Millennia have been doing well picking away at the lemons and Dovers...

on the north coats, St Ives handliners have been taking advantage of the abundant mackerel shoals...

though the vast majority are medium is size...

plenty of boxes of one species...

the beam trawler  St Georges put in a good shot of megrim sole...

today, as the big tides drop below 18 feet the rest of the netters should take ice and head for the hake grounds again...

plenty of early morning sun shines on the solar panels of the newly refurbished market in Newlyn...

St Georges relaxing after her trip...

not only is the Fishermen's Arms enclosed in a scaffolding shroud so is Pat Plumbridg'e house next door - she was a previous landlady of the pub back in the 60s and 70s...

another piece of history rusts out on a harbour pier...

Alice Louise, inshore trawler registered in Falmouth.

The price of fish.

Scottish trawler, Boy Andrew filmed leaving Scrabster harbour tonight...

sailing into shipping forecast area Fairisle - Northwesterly severe gale force 9 decreasing gale force 8 imminent...

Scrabster is one of the northernmost ports in the UK. A previous Boy Andrew featured in the TV documentary, Last of the Hunters.

PFD survey of fishermen in the UK.

Dear participant,

Have you fished commercially or professionally in the last year? Then please take this survey on your personality and habits of commercial fishermen wearing personal flotation devices (PFDs) while working at sea.
This study is conducted by Jennifer Pickett and Joeri Hofmans of Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. This survey will take approximately 15 minutes.

The goal of this questionnaire is to better understand a bit about you and the reasons why commercial/professional fishermen do or do not wear a PFD while on deck. The survey is anonymous and participation is voluntary and you may stop at any time without giving any reasons. I appreciate your honest answers! Stay safe and good fishing.


https://vubpsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_a3nMYjZwFH8ELg9

Fish, fishing and Brexit - FRC Food Brexit Briefing.

UK fishers were vocal in their support for leaving the EU, believing that the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) has been the cause of the difficulties that have beset their industry over the last 40 years — difficulties that many still suffer. But this Brexit Briefing, from fisheries analyst Dr Miriam Greenwood, argues that it was UK (rather than EU) decision-making, allied to stock collapse due to overfishing, that drove the decline of Britain’s once mighty fishing fleet. And leaving the EU, of itself, will not solve the sector’s problems.

The report examines the development of UK fisheries policy before and under the Common Fisheries Policy. It shows how the allocation of quotas by the UK government has persistently disadvantaged the small and arguably more sustainable small-scale fishers that dominate the British fleet; and how quota was quietly privatised to allow it to be bought and sold by non-fishers. Over the years, under this regime, the sector ceased to be primarily a source of food for the domestic supply chain and became geared to exports, while much domestic consumption depends on imports.

The Briefing concludes that it is essential that any new UK fisheries policy must stick to the evidence-based sustainability approach developed by the CFP. And whatever happens with Brexit, the UK should conduct a comprehensive review of quota allocation. This should be based on fair distribution across all sectors of the fleet, and should reward the most sustainable forms of fishing.

"Reegan was the first fisherman I’ve taken out of the water who was conscious and alive, but he was also the first fisherman I took out of the water wearing a lifejacket"

‘I’ve been doing search and rescue for nearly 20 years and Reegan was the first fisherman I’ve taken out of the water who was conscious and alive, but he was also the first fisherman I took out of the water wearing a lifejacket.’

These are the powerful words of Coastguard Winchman ‘Spike’ Hughes who lifted Reegan Green out of the water when he was washed overboard in treacherous conditions nearly two weeks ago.

HM Coastguard Newquay helicopter crew, Capt Sharky Finn, Capt Jörg "Yogi" Brunner, Winch Operator Phil Warrington and Winchman Mark ‘Spike’ Hughes met fisherman Reegan Green for the first time after his dramatic rescue off the Salcombe coast.

Spike went on to say: ‘The sea state was pretty big that night – about 20ft with 70 knot winds, so it was quite a horrific night. It’s the type of night you don’t want to be going outside in. I saw Reegan looking at me from the water - I could see the whites of his eyes and he could see the whites of mine and that was a good moment. By then I was only a matter of feet away and within about two minutes the rescue was complete. It’s really, really good to see him here today, having an outcome such as this is absolutely fantastic.’

You can read more about Reegan's dramatic rescue here:

Fisherman wearing a lifejacket rescued alive from very rough seas after falling overboard.

A fisherman who went overboard off the coast of Salcombe earlier this morning has been rescued by the HM Coastguard Newquay helicopter after being in very rough seas for an hour.

HM Coastguard was coordinating the large scale search and rescue mission for the missing fisherman who went overboard 25nm south east of Salcombe.

The fishing vessel made a Mayday broadcast minutes before 4.45am today and the HM search and rescue helicopter based at Newquay quickly made their way sent to the scene, alongside Salcombe and Torbay RNLI All Weather Lifeboats.

A French Navy aircraft who has been training in the area at the time and a number of fishing vessels responded to a Mayday Relay broadcast issued by HM Coastguard and also joined the search.

The fisherman was located by his own crewmates at 5.45am and the Newquay Coastguard helicopter was alerted to his position and winched him from the water. He had been in the water for an hour in 3-4m seas and 9 degrees sea temperature and was suffering from the cold.

The Newquay Coastguard helicopter flew him directly to Plymouth Hospital.

HM Coastguard Duty Controller Dai Jones said: ‘We could not have hoped for a better outcome. Our own Coastguard helicopter, A French Navy helicopter, along with a number of fishing vessels and the RNLI, had been searching for an hour this morning in very rough seas and challenging weather conditions. Thankfully, the fisherman was wearing a lifejacket, which no doubt aided his survival and enabled his crewmates to find him quickly.

‘By taking this simple safety precaution means that when he fell into the water his survival time increased significantly, despite the cold water and the horrendous weather conditions.

‘This could have been a very different outcome today had he not been wearing his lifejacket and we commend his actions, which have assisted in saving his life. We wish him a speedy recovery.’

Speaking after today’s dramatic rescue, Captain Jörg Brunner from HM Coastguard Newquay helicopter said: ‘This is an incredible rescue story. We got the call to help just 5 minutes after the fisherman had fallen overboard. Despite horrendous weather conditions on scene with winds in excess of 60 knots, we were preparing ourselves for an extensive search and rescue operation. The fishing crew had done all the right things and even from a distance we quickly spotted the smoke marker and the life ring they had released.

‘The fisherman was spotted by his crew about 40m on the starboard side of his fishing vessel, some 400m away from smoke marker position.

‘We flew towards that position and saw the casualty immediately as he was wearing a reflective life jacket.

‘We lowered our winchman into the water in very rough conditions and conducted a double winch recovery which only took about 2 minutes.

‘Once on board we flew straight to Derriford Hospital and handed him over to A&E department, where we have now heard that he’s doing well and in good spirits.’

Bottle Top Factory - exciting new workspace project in the heart of Newlyn!

Overlooking Newlyn and Mounts Bay and largely hidden behind houses is the Bottle Top Factory which, up until 2012, produced millions of bottle-tops a year for dozens of companies including Chanel and Fabergé.

Below is a short video giving some insight into the fascinating background to the bottle-top works and those who worked there and an idea of what the proposed project will bring to the disused site.

The Bottle Top Factory Studios, Newlyn. from bottletopfactorystudios.co.uk on Vimeo.

'Tiz a fine #FishyFriday in Newlyn

Frost-free, flat calm Friday in Newlyn...

as auctioneer Ian gets the first sale underway...

and amongst the hundreds of boxes of hake...

whole monk... 

pollack...

and ling

were those fish with the thumbprint...

all good for sharpshooter Luke getting some final stills for the forthcoming BBC2 TV series on the the fishing industry in Cornwall to be screened later this year...

also starring Ian 'Ollie' Oliver...

assorted fish merchants...

like Godfrey Adams from Trelawney Fish slapping down fish tallies on the hake he has just bought...

along with the netted fish there were plenty of Dover soles with the beam trawlers that landed...

like the AA... 

while the Imogen III took advantage of the last few days to secure a few cod...

turbot...

and the odd JD...

while the mackerel landed...

by the St Ives boys were manly small, small meds and mediums...

there were so much fish on the market the west door of the fridge was blocked off by boxes...

other inshore boats like the Ocean Harvest...

landed JDs...

brill...

red mullet and sand soles...

and even a few dabs...

name these three pelagic fish...

looks like the cuttle season is all but over for another year...

young Roger Nowell would like to have picked these beauties up JDs courtesy of the Still Waters...

all of which were recorded...

by Gary collecting data for Cefas...

specimen conger...

superb lemons...

and two pristine examples of local fish chefs like Ben Tunnicliffe, Nathan Outlaw and Bruce Rennie's favourites...

grist to the mill for Luke...

landed late but still alive, cracking grey mullet...

which caught the eye of this morning's mystery buyer...

and what a morning.