Newlyn's first #FishyFriday of July!

Seems orange has become an evermore popular colour for the fleet over the last ten years...

while in the fish auction this morning there is plenty of grey mullet...

red mullet...

spotted plaice...

translucent monk...

and plenty of pollack...

and megrim soles...

to be whisked away by the porters...

with just the one beam trawler landed there were only a handful of big tub gurnards...

just enough to keep the buyers happy...

paying top prices for Dover sole...

mixed red and grey gurnard...

and small whiting, name the fish thrown in with them...

a typical day haul for an inshore trawler like the Millennia at this time of year looks like this...

with fine weather forecast the inshore fleet are keen to take ice and get away for another crack at the fish...

 in ideal conditions, a mirror-like surface in the harbour...

broken by some mysterious ripples...

from this year's visiting crop of grey mullet...

feeding in the harbour...

Delta Dawn, the happiest crabber in town...

it's not surprising Sparkling Sea or Silvery Sea are often chosen for the names of fishing boats as evocative of early morning starts...

it won't be long before the temporary home for the Penlee Lifeboat crew is taken down... 

when there new home is finally commissioned...

a full house of visiting yachts this morning...

St Michael's Mount rises out of a silvery sea...

away in the distance the Lizard, ahead is the Trinity House flagship, Galatea at anchor...

what a morning for those on this yacht, they must have had a quiet night at anchor off Penzance.

Midweek market in Newlyn.

Making an early morning landing of crab and lobster, the Delta Dawn...

name this member of the shark family, its local name is 'pisser' because they smell of...

squid are not much in evidence yet this year...

but this Jon Dory...

and this plaice are superb specimen fish that would make any angler's eyes water with envy...

the Ygraine put ashore another good trip of turbot...

and anyone looking to get one of the best fish to BBQ over the coming days of fine weather will be pleased to know supplies are increasing daily...

just one of the big crabbers gets through this amount of bait in the course of a three day trip...

yet more John Dory...

auction over, some of the buyers and porters take a quick break in the morning sunshine...

while a few opportunistic gulls try to steal breakfast from under their noses...

the Mission ship still sails high over the old Mission building....

there's a meeting on July 11th at 7pm in St Peter's Church by Newlyn Meadery for anyone interested in creating a Newlyn Fishing Heritage Centre in the port...

good to see plenty of wood used in the construction of the new Penlee Lifeboat Centre...

the old St Ives lugger Ripple looking spruce...

if you work a punt singlehanded and fell overboard, just how would you get back on board?..

complementary colours reflected in the harbour...

heading back into port the inshore trawler Venture...

coastal tours courtesy of the Cormorant.

Update: Catch recording for under 10m fishing vessels starts this summer.

Changes to the planned introduction of catch recording for all English and Welsh under 10 metre fishing boats have been made following a public consultation.

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

We would like to thank everyone who took part in 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 changes to the way that we will be introducing this licence change.

Trawlers and fishing boats in Newlyn Harbour, Cornwall, England.

One of these changes is the decision to carry out a phased introduction of the new service, beginning later this summer. 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 that raised 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.

This project is an important part of our strategy to support the viability and growth of our fishing industry, 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 also provide better scientific evidence and lead to better decision making.

Small fishing boats in Cornwall

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 will be available online (via a link, 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 the 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.

Full summary of responses to the consultation

Channel 5s Trawlermen: Celebs all at Sea

On their way down the quay.

Shane Lynch, Anthony Worrall Thompson and Ben Cohen varied wildly in their ability to gut fish and lift heavy machinery in the North Sea.

Serious looks from Shane Lynch, Anthony Worrall Thompson and Ben Cohen

The latest 'real life' series, "Trawlermen: Celebs at Sea", the chef and the boyband singer, along with Rugby World Cup winner Ben Cohen, joined the crew of a commercial fishing boat in the North Sea in the middle of winter, and were put to work.

As Kasia Delgado from the Inews wrote in her review of the first episode shown last night on Channel 5, "The celebrity aspect added some light relief from the grim reality of the job, but in the end I wanted more from skipper Alan and his real crew, because their daily lives are compelling enough on their own, as shown in previous celeb-free documentary series about the lives of deep sea fisherman: Channel 4’s The Catch, and BBC1’s Trawlermen. Then again, if it took the involvement of a guy from Boyzone for Channel 5 to make this series, then it was worth it!"

Given the industry's current dilemma with regard to traditional recruitment from the local area, many in the industry would probably rather this, and programmes in the future, made rather less of the dangers of the job (surely a given) and focussed on more positive aspects of fishing as a way of life like the camaraderie, team work, the multitude of skills required, the sense of job satisfaction in ethically providing a sustainable food supply and the sheer enjoyment of being at sea witnessing not just the hardship but the sheer wonder of nature for the length of a trip!

The boat in the series is the Genesis seen here in her home port, though eagle eyed Cornish fishing boat aficionados will no doubt have spotted...

very own Crystal Sea SS118 appear in the background of the opening sequence!

Let's hope Katia gets her wish and we hear more from skipper Alan Watt and his crew on what they love about the way of life and why they go to sea to catch fish - despite the conditions!

1st July Monday morning market in Newlyn

Rowse crabber Chris Tacha joins the Harriet Eve in picking up fresh bait, at this time of year crab fishing boats often sail hours before sunrise, but, when you're able to spend two nights at sea sailing at 6am is more acceptable...

hake were just some of the fish landed by three netters over the weekend...

name this long fish, favourite of the Newlyn longlining fleet back in the 60s and 70s......

buyers bidding their way through long stacks of mainly hake from the Ajax and Stelissa..

as well as several dozen boxes of...

spurdogs...

landed by the Amanda of Ladram...

while the beam trawler Twilight III landed a huge trip of quality plaice...

in addition to a big trip of megrim, Dover, lemon soles and monk tails from the St Georges...

the inshore trawlers like the Ocean Harvest...

all managed a few boxes of quality fish...

including John Dory...

together, these boats contribute trips with a wide range of species often less than 24 hours old when they are put ashore...

like these grey and red gurnard...

and pristine brill...

for the first time in what seems like months, some boats from the the local handline fleet have seen the return of mackerel in quantities worth landing...

in addition to monk and turbot, tangle nets also provide the netting fleet with crab claws...

once caught in big quantities by the Newlyn longlining fleet and often referred to locally as blackjacks, coley or coalfish named after the colour of their skin...

local trawlers and beam trawlers often pick up coal in their nets - mainly as the result of cargoes lost to submarine attacks in WW2 - a bonus for any of the crew if they happen to have an open fire at home...

looks like the Crystal Sea will be storing her trawl gear sometime soon...

Ocean Pride is half way through her annual paint-up...

virtually every berth in the harbour is taken this morning - boosted y the number of visiting yachts...

with the cat Lyonesse on the slip and clear water in the harbour.

Fishing in heavy weather.

The language might be French but, the sea conditions in which the boat, skipper and crew work have no respect for any national interests - fishermen from all over the world face the same reality in order to put fish on our tables.

Monthly UK Sea Fisheries Statistics - Reported Landings: April 2019

Monthly UK Sea Fisheries Statistics - Reported Landings: April 2019

Key points

 The total quantity of reported landings by the UK fleet in 2019 (January to

April) was 235 thousand tonnes live weight. This is 9 per cent lower than in

the same period in 2018. The fish were sold for £315 million.

 Landings into the UK by UK vessels were down by 13 per cent when

compared with 2018, however the actual value increased by 2 per cent.

This increase in value is partly due to higher prices obtained for species

such as mackerel (up 34 per cent) and cod (up 23 per cent).

 Landings abroad by UK vessels have decreased when compared with

2018 (down 5 per cent). However, as with landings into home ports, the

actual value has increased (up 16 per cent) with significantly higher prices

being obtained for shellfish. Average cod prices fell by 52 per cent.

 Although in 2019 there were similar landings of bream into the UK by UK

vessels for both the ‘over 10 metre’ and ‘10 metre and under’ vessels, the

average prices varied significantly at £2.59 per kilo and £4.60 per kilo

respectively.

 By far the largest amount and value landed in 2019 by the UK fleet was for

mackerel (67 thousand tonnes, £77 million)

 In April 2019, Durban in South Africa received the largest amount of UK

fleet landings with 10 thousand tonnes of demersal and pelagic species.

Peterhead was the highest placed home port in terms of UK fleet landings

(5 thousand tonnes, £6.8 million). In England, landings in Newlyn were 670

tonnes (£2.3 million) and in Shoreham were 650 tonnes (£1.6 million)