Take advantage of a free health check for fishermen in your port this coming week!

Calling all fishermen (and ex-fishermen) - why not take advantage of a free health check, literally down the quay? Yesterday saw the Healthy Cornwall team run the first of a series of fishermen's health checks in the harbour office - right next to the fish market!

Fishermen in Cornwall are being encouraged to know the important numbers relating to their health with help from a Healthy Cornwall check-up service from Cornwall Council.

The Men’s Health Forum campaign to “know your numbers” focusses on specific numbers all men should be aware of that relate to their overall health and wellbeing.

Cornwall Council public health consultant Ruth Goldstein said: “It can be especially difficult for fishermen to keep track of their health as they often work long hours and are dependent on tide times so may not be able to access normal health services.

“They are also more likely to keep any health worries to themselves and find it difficult to find the time to visit the doctor on top of all the other pressures on their time.”

The outreach sessions will take place at different ports, with a range of support services on offer, from physiotherapy to NHS health checks, MacMillan skin cancer advice and advice from the Fishermen’s Mission.

Dates for the diary are:

• Friday 14 June – Fisherman’s Shack, Newlyn
• Monday 17 June – Wheelhouse, Mevagissey
• Tuesday 18June – Memorial Hall, Padstow
• Wednesday 19 June – Fisherman’s Mission, Newquay
• Friday 21 June – Fisherman’s Shack, Newlyn

All sessions will take place from 7am until 2pm.

There's many more similar services available across the country - for more info head to the Seafarer's UK website who are the main charity funding the initiative.

Once the blood test (for cholesterol and other heart conditions) has been taken height, weight and blood pressure are also recorded.

The Fishermen's shack in Newlyn is just one of the bases for ever-improving support now in place for the welfare of the industry.

Another service that is currently available for fishermen is the Seafit programme. This service provides support to fishermen and their families in Newlyn, motivating and supporting them to lead a healthier lifestyle.

The Healthy Lifestyle Advice service is available to all fishermen and their families in Newlyn. A drop-in takes place every Tuesday from 7am-12.30pm at the Fisherman’s Shack. There’s no need to book, just turn up. There’s also a drop-in at Harbourside Physiotherapy every Monday from 2pm-6pm.

Catch recording for under 10m fishing vessels starts this summer

A report on the consultation, which closed in April, was published on 6 June 2019 and includes a summary of the comments received and how fishing authorities are responding to them.

Michael Coyle, head of compliance and control for the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), said: “We would like to thank everyone who responded to this consultation as well as more than 100 fishers who have been helping us to test the prototype of the catch recording service that we have been developing. We have listened to the concerns of individuals and industry and made three significant changes to the way that we will be introducing this licence change.”

One of these changes is the decision to carry out a phased introduction of the new service, beginning in July. By introducing catch recording to sections of the under 10m fishing fleet gradually, the project team will continue to learn from the experiences of owners and skippers throughout the summer and make improvements where necessary.

The second important change is removal of the requirement for a landing declaration. Submission of a landing declaration, within 48 hours of fish leaving a vessel had been set out in the original proposal for all quota and non-quota catches. Following several responses to the consultation, raising concerns about double reporting, this requirement has now been removed; the catch record is the only document needed.

The third change, to the catch recording service, removes the need for a separate paper transport document to be carried. As long as the estimated catch record has been submitted this digital record will suffice.

The MMO and Welsh Government are intent on supporting the viability and growth of the fishing industry. This project is an important part of this strategy as it will provide a better understanding of catch by the under 10 metre fishing fleet registered in England and Wales. Better data gathering will provide better scientific evidence and lead to better decision making.

Other benefits of introducing catch recording for under 10 metre vessels include: a greater understanding of the activities of under 10 metre fishing vessels, which will allow for better fisheries’ management; better records will also allow the origins of fish to be traced, which should lead to improved sales and marketing opportunities for the industry; and improvements in enforcing catch limits and quotas.

The new catch recording service will see the owners and operators of under 10 metre vessels, who catch and land species subject to quotas, catch limits or effort restrictions, recording their catch via a mobile device (a smartphone or tablet) prior to the fish leaving the vessel. This service would be available online (via a URL, from any device) and also as an app, which can be downloaded for both android and Apple devices.

Those who catch only non-quota species would have 24 hours to record their catch via either a mobile device, a personal computer or laptop.

This summer Welsh Government will be running a number of training events for owners and skippers and the MMO will be organising face-to-face sessions to demonstrate the new system. Further details will be released in the coming weeks.

The full summary of responses to the consultation can be found here.

Prioritising changes in fisheries management after Brexit

Here's a great chance to contribute to helping the industry make the best possible case when lobbying the Government and in discussion with Defra and the MMO - get your thoughts, comments and ideas across by completing this short online questionnaire.


About the questionnaire

This questionnaire will contribute to better understanding which stocks/species the UK could prioritise in fisheries negotiations as an independent coastal state after the UK leaves the EU. We will be examining the distribution of UK fisheries and how that correlates with stocks, the issue of choke species and how much demand there is among UK fishermen for catching different species. Any individuals such as fishermen, fisheries managers and other members of fisherman’s organisations are encouraged to fill out this questionnaire, to help gather important and relevant insight. Summary results from the survey will be provided to relevant fisheries authorities (e.g. Defra, Marine Scotland) across the UK.

Result of this study

A summary report will be sent to Defra, Marine Scotland, Marine and Fisheries Wales and DAERA (Northern Ireland) and shared on the Fishing News Facebook page. It will also be available to other interested people on request. The results of the study will be used to provide recommendations for the future management of the fishing industry in the UK and inform debate around management after Brexit.

Confidentiality

The survey does not ask any personal identification questions and your responses will be treated in confidence. All analysed data will be identified by a code. Details will be kept on a secure computer and can only be accessed through google drive by the immediate research team used in data analysis. The University of York always ensures strict confidentiality.

Taking part

This is a voluntary questionnaire and no person is obliged to answer the questions. You may withdraw from the questionnaire at any time, this will not be used if not sent back to us. Please attempt to complete all applicable questions, this shouldn’t take longer than 10 minutes.

Take the Questionnaire

If you have any questions or concerns about the research, or the questionnaire, you are welcome to contact either myself or my supervisor directly and we will respond.

My details: Jordan Cohen, jdc553@york.ac.uk

Project supervisor: Dr Bryce Stewart, bryce.beukers-stewart@york.ac.uk

Designed and funded by the University of York – May 2019

It's flaming #FishyFriday in not so flaming June!

Friday's market loaded with two big trips of hake...

and turbot...

from the big netters Ajax and Joy of Ladram...

name this fish...

brown crab paws and whole crab, shades of her dark materials, or was it his?..

must be summer, the blues are back in town...

pristine line caught pollack from Mr Smith...

several of the inshore trawlers had excellent trips for the time of year including the Ocean Harvest...

and Still Waters...

a handful of these colourful bream were picked up in the cod end too...

rarest fish on the market these days are these elusive little stripey fish...

plenty of summer-fayre fish with the beam trawler AA...

spot the difference, no two plaice are the same...

there's two sides to every turbot...

Mr Cripps moving at speed...

the big stern trawler Sanamedio landed yesterday...

but, despite catching tons of monk, megrim, hake and other prime fish, all that the market in Newlyn sees of the Spanish Flag-of-convenience vessel's trip of fish are a nothing more than a token landing of low-value species conger, pollack and haddock...

apparently haddock mate for life, not to be parted...

the classic wooden yacht Lina, a long way from her Swedish home...

not so far from home are the visiting Plymouth scalloper Kingfisher BM515...

and the Plymouth trawler Boy Ethan...

the business end of the Sanamedio showing the stern ramp up which the trawl is heaved every haul...

Rowse's crabber Nimrod with young Ben at the helm...

and Harriet Eve heading out to sea...

as yet, no sign of the sun this month...

not that the current summer swarm of barrel jellyfish seem too bothered...

as they swim around the harbour...

caught on camera  in the harbour...

local wild swimmer, Katy Maggs...

though mother nature does not always look after her own, these big jellyfish often get trapped by the outgoing tide...

'tiz a moody Mont day today...

with enough breeze to keep the flower boxes and flags on the prom well aired...

though, apart from the Battery Rockers, these are likely to be the only swimmers seen on the prom today.

Bara An Arvoriz launched in Guilvenec this week.

Event, this Tuesday at noon Rosmeur, with the launch of Bara An Arvoriz, seventeenth boat in the series. Commissioned by Bigouden Armament and built by Gléhen shipyard, it was welcomed by about thirty spectators.

"Well now, we'll see if it floats," laughs an employee of the Gléhen shipyard while the new Bara has just been christened with champagne. On this Tuesday morning, they are a small thirty spectators to have won the platform of the Port to attend the event. Seventeenth boat commissioned by Bigouden Armament at Gléhen shipyard Douarnenez, Bara An Arvoriz [seafood bread, Ed] is about to be launched under a gray sky. And to replace, at the same time, Bara' Mann, who leaves the fleet after thirty-one years of good and loyal service.

Boats from the Bara fleet are no strangers to Newlyn, here the Bara An Aod makes her way to the gaps in heavy weather.

Important Fishing Recruitment policy brief published today.

The policy brief for our first meeting on Fishing Recruitment is now publicly available. Take a look at the ideas put forward by industry experts, academics, Parliamentarians and skippers to make fishing a more attractive career choice

Mid-week market in Newlyn.

Visiting Brixham stern trawler Angelina comes round...

as the local inshore potter Girl Pamela heads to the fish market to collect bait for the day...

just some of the discarded fish that boats new have to land since the introduction of the Landing Obligation...

strong markings on this cuckoo ray...

this is a black bream...

this is a black bream alongside a Couch's bream, boats seldom catch more than one type of bream at a time...

the unmistakable spots of the plaice...

whole monk...

which fish is this?..

the prawn Trawler Vision II caught plenty of them west of the Scillys...

just landed, net fish from the Amanda of Ladram...

plenty of haddock with the big Scottish prawn trawler...

bass don't come much bigger than this beauty...

well iced megrim sole...

Dover sole generally have much darker skin than their sand sole cousins, and grow much bigger...

one is a blonde ray...

and the other one with spots is a spotted ray, but which is which?..

whole monk, head on...

bidding wars, fish buyer Godfrey 'The Landlord' Adams in auction action...

for a round fish gurnards have surprisingly fat bellies - which allows them to traverse the ocean floor scavenging for food...

a brace of monk...

big, fat, juicy John Dory from west of the Scillys...

with the netters having just sailed there wasn't much hake on the market this morning...

but first back on the tide is the Amanda of Ladram...

putting her hake ashore for tomorrow morning's market...

how to secure a shore rope that has a permanent eye spliced in it to a ring...

inshore boats in action...

let's hope so...

ex-MFV Challenge now live-aboard...

a line of Cornish sardine boats wait for the season to start, not many weeks to go now...

there's a constant stream gear across the quays...

to keep the boats on working order and fishing...

within minutes of the fish auction at Newlyn ending tons of fish are on their way to the processor for distribution...

let's hope Lidl follows Morrisons in putting locally sourced fish in their stores...

to go on our summer BBQs - when the sun arrives in flaming June...

the local fishing industry and maritime heritage of Cornwall provide the art world with a never ending source of subjects for creative minds...

laying astern of a navigation mark that she was built to service and maintain, the Trinity House vessel, Galatea at anchor...

looks like there is substantial and wave inspired construction work underway in the bounds of the Jubilee Pool.