#FishyFriday celebrates the start of Seafood Week - and today it's mackerel!

The cuttlefish season seems to have kicked off this week with this morning's market averaging around 4 tons of black gold per boat for those that ventured to the spawning grounds south of Devon...

while in home waters, Tom on the Harvest Reaper picked away an excellent shot of late season John Dory for his trip...

not a creature you often see on the market, but a common enough sight on the decks of trawlers at hauling time in these parts...

bass...

a-plenty this morning...

and to celebrate Seafood Week, that most humble but often looked down on by some, the hugely delicious fish that is mackerel, top Irish chef, Richard Corrigan rates this fish, "the most delicious fish in the world'...

and very fitting as this week a photo of mackerel being landed in Newlyn won the 2019 Shipwrecked Mariners Society photo competition!..

better still, head for The Shore, one of the finest fish restaurants in Cornwall and sample some of chef Bruce Rennie's amazing Asian fusion fish dishes that includes a mighty morsel of mackerel heated up with a dash of Wasabi for good measure - mouthwatering stuff from Bruce!..

next up, three beam trawlers landed to this morning's market with monkfish (without their livers) from the Sapphire III...

plaice...

and Dover sole from the Lisa Jacqueline...

more than enough to keep the buyers busy this morning...

especially with these luscious lemons up for auction...

as ever, ink from the cuttles cascades across the market floor...

a short video on how to bake these tub gurnard will appear on the Seafood Cornwall site in the near future - a simple dish and well worth the small amount of effort needed to entertaining your dinner guests...

Sapphire III, all set for the next trip.

Fishing industry - Defra Brexit latest.

Defra have followed up their national tour of major fishimng areas with a response document reporting back on a wide range of Brexit questions that were asked of them.



Defra's latest Marine and Fisheries update below.


As part of the UK Government’s commitment to leave the environment in a better state than we inherited it, an independent review of Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) - which represent the upper end of environmental protection - was publicly announced on gov.uk on the 8 June.

The review, led by ex-fisheries Minister Richard Benyon MP, has been asked to recommend whether and how HPMAs could be introduced within English inshore and offshore waters and Northern Irish offshore waters and, if supported by the evidence, recommend potential locations for pilot sites.

A four-week call for evidence launches today inviting communities, industry and stakeholders for their comments on introducing tougher measures to help stop the impacts of human activity from damaging the marine environment. Views are also sought on which areas could benefit most from these extra protections.

The call for evidence will remain open from 3 October until the 31 October and can be found on gov.uk.

We appreciate the pressures many of you are under in preparation for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, if you are concerned that you don’t have time to respond to this Call for Evidence, would encourage you to get in touch with the review Secretariat at HPMAreview@defra.gov.uk to discuss.

Agreement signed with Norway

On Monday 30 September the UK and Norwegian governments signed an agreement to ensure UK fishermen can continue to access and catch fish in Norwegian waters after the UK leaves the EU on 31 October.

Currently the UK fleet fishes in Norwegian waters under an agreement between the EU and Norway. When the UK leaves the EU and becomes an independent coastal state this current agreement will cease. The new agreement ensures that the existing arrangements between the two countries will remain in place until the end of 2019. Read more at GOV.UK.

Single Issuing Authority

A new licensing authority has been set up jointly by England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Fisheries Authorities (UKFAs) to ensure UK fishermen have the correct licences to fish legally in Norwegian, Faroese and EU seas after Brexit, in line with any negotiated agreements.

The Single Issuing Authority (SIA) will also issue licences to non-UK vessels to fish in UK waters, if access agreements are negotiated, and provided the vessels can demonstrate compliance with UK requirements. Read more at: GOV.UK

Step-by-step guide to exporting fish and fishery products after Brexit

After Brexit you will need to follow new steps and processes to export wild-caught marine fishery products. We have developed 2 new, easy-to-follow process maps to walk you through the changes you need to make to continue trading with the EU. They are:
Exporting marine-caught seafood products
Direct landings into EU ports from a UK-registered vessel
For more information on exporting fish, visit: gov.uk/brexit-export-fish

Risk-based approach for EHC inspections

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has issued technical guidance to local government Certifying Officers for a new risk-based approach for Export Health Certificate (EHC) inspections for fish. This will help reduce the amount of time involved per EHC application for fish exports.

Food labelling in a No-deal

Several food and drink labelling changes are required as the UK leaves the EU. 

These include:

For exports to the EU27 the address of the responsible Food Business Operator (FBO) appearing on the label must be based in the EU27. Alternatively, the address of the importer in the EU27 may be given.
Country of origin. It will no longer be correct to describe UK produced goods as being of EU origin.

The EU and other non-EU countries may require changes to be in place from EU exit for access to their markets. In these instances, the UK can only recommend that labels are replaced or over-stickered as required to ensure they are fully accurate. This would include ensuring correct country of origin labelling and FBO addresses.

Dual labelling is allowed in some situations, such as the FBO name and address. Over labelling is also permissible providing you don’t obstruct other information that has to be displayed on the label. However, it will be for the EU to decide if dual and over labelling is acceptable on products exported to the EU.

The European Commission recently published a notice to stakeholders, the ‘Withdrawal of the United Kingdom and EU Food Law and EU rules on Quality Schemes’, which outlines their position in relation to many aspects of food law.

Deadline extended: Grant scheme for business readiness activities

Due to the high interest in the fund, the closing date for the grant scheme for trade organisations to run business readiness activities has been extended to Monday 7 October 2019 for submitting bids to the fund. The size of the fund has also been raised to £15m.

As before, if you are interested to learn the outcome of a bid on which you have commented through the application process, you can email businessreadinessfundenquiries@beis.gov.uk for an indication as to whether it has been successful or unsuccessful.

Please note that the team are unable to disclose details on why applications have been accepted or rejected, nor can they share any information on applications which have not yet been assessed. Successful bids will still be subject to formal acceptance of grant letters by applicants.

Kind regards,
Joanna Higgins

Stakeholder Engagement and Briefing Hub
Marine and Fisheries
FishEUexit@defra.gov.uk

Fresh #FishyFriday in Newlyn.

With a week of wicked weather the last #FishyFriday market in September saw a big shot of MSC Certified Cornish hake from the netter Stelissa...

a handful of mackerel...

even less haddock...

and a few boxes of mixed fish...

not what you need when you are showing off the diversity of fish landed to newlyn which very often has 40 or even 50+ species of fish auctioned in a single day...

though that doesn't seem to have deterred CFPO chair Paul Trebilcock and the MWC Marine team from making a 04:30 start to the day...

young Edwin stocking up on ice...

the crabber Nimrod now back in port...

PJ's face tells a story - the forecast for the weekend is severe gales on top of a 2oft tide - time to prepare the flood defences again...

it all looks so tranquil from this angle...

but there's a reason boats of this size are sheltering in port...

let's hope the scaffolded cover over the Fishermen's Arms and Pat's house holds up!...

further out in the bay things look a little more uncomfortable by the Low Lee buoy...

with a heavy sea running in the lee of the land...

over in Penzance wet dock the Scilly supply ship Gry Maritha is takes on stores from the Coop delivery truck...

while in the dry dock,  the now not needed replacement Mali Rose completes her latest work.

Brexit: Fishermen's spirits start to warm up

Another Brexit view from across the Channel:


Faced with the imminent threat of Brexit and a possible denial of access to British waters, the tension climbs between French and British fishermen, and could win the French between them.

"We really need to alert the state services on what is happening at sea," worries Sophie Leroy, head of Arming Cherbourg, a company that employs twenty sailors and thirty or so people on three boats.

At a round table at the close of the fishery in Granville (Manche), she described "since mid-August a huge tension between British and French" and "a strengthening of almost daily controls of the British authorities."

"Last Saturday, 21 miles off the coast of England", during a check described as endless, "we ended up with 15 boats (English) around ours and they said: + we will do the same as what the French last year we did "during the scallop war," said Ms. Leroy.

If the sailors are not coming to blows, she evokes a "war of nerves" on social networks: "I had a picture of one of my boats published on Facebook with a target on it."

But the English are not the only source of anxiety for Ms. Leroy. Like other armaments, it fears that the closure of the English waters, in case of Brexit hard without agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union, pushes the French fishermen-fishermen to dispute the fishery resource between them.

This spectre of internal struggles, for example between Breton and Norman fishermen, haunted the assizes as soon as they opened on Thursday early in the afternoon.

When he came, the Minister of Agriculture Didier Guillaume constantly called for "solidarity" between EU countries likely to be affected, but also between French fishermen.

"A Brexit without agreement, it is a considerable stake for us", recalled Philippe de Lambert des Granges, in charge of the file at the direction of Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture (DPMA). "It's 20% at the level of the metropolitan activity in value, and it's 25% in volumes."

- Other European countries concerned -

Figures that explain the nervousness of French fishermen, especially as they hide huge disparities.

British waters thus represent 70% of the catches made by the company raised by Mrs Leroy with her husband.

"From Boulogne to Brittany, we will all be impacted, so we will all be on our teeth, so inevitably there will be conflicts between fishermen, between inshore fishing, between gillnetters, between offshore trawlers that will come more to the coast "she said.

"The difficulty is to quantify these fishing reports in British waters," said Hubert Carré, director general of the national fisheries committee. "The decision of postponement belongs to each head of enterprise", which can also choose a temporary stop of its fleet, compensated by European aids.

But many shipowners are reluctant to use this device for fear of losing markets.

"We are a number of players in the Pays de la Loire region that we are worried about potential conflicts of postponements of fishing in the Atlantic, and more precisely in the Bay of Biscay," said a representative of the regional council, questioning participants in the round table on conflicts between French fishermen or between them and their Spanish neighbors.

For France would not be the only one to suffer from the end of access to English waters.

Eight EU Member States are concerned, said Philippe de Lambert des Granges. "Our Belgian colleagues are addicted to 45% in volume and 50% in value."

"We do not exist at the community level if we are isolated," he said, calling for "absolutely keep" the "cohesion at the level of the eight Member States impacted", and recalling "the determination (of the State in the case of Brexit without agreement, to maintain or restore access to British waters as soon as possible ".

Parliament resumes - Gove answers St Ives MP Derek Thomas' question on fishing.

Transcript of the exchange between Gove and Derek Thomas.

Derek Thomas: “Secretary of State…referred in his statement to measures to ensure that fish caught today along the coast of Cornwall would be sold the following day in the EU.. This is a welcome statement and will reassure fishermen in Newlyn…but already it’s uncertainty that’s causing a problem and lack of investment thats not taking place, also concerns over ownership of quota. Can Secretary of State say anything at all to reassure fishermen that we can get on with this and where their future lies?”

Gove's response “…it is the case that we anticipate that we will be able to negotiate as an independent coastal state in the event of a No Deal exit in December 2019 at the Fisheries Council but its also the case that if we do leave with out a deal on October the 31st that the current level of access to particular stocks should be maintained in a continuity agreement.”

In his earlier statement that Thomas was referring to Gove said "traders will require Export Health Certificates for food and Catch Certificates for fish, hundreds of vets have now been trained to issue these certificates and certified personnel to support them all he said was that they had trained to issue these certificates and the French have taken steps to ensure the smooth flow of critical produce, they have specifically created a new BIP at Boulogne-sur-Mere to ensure fish and shellfish products caught in the UK today can be sold in the EU tomorrow."

Autumnal equinoxe brings a wintry storm.

Patrons of Porthleven's latest fun fish eatery, the Mussel Shoal (where my oldest grandson de-bearded mussels for his first summer job) get a great view out across the harbour to the...
 

gaps, which with the biggest tides of the year herald the end of the season for Porthleven boats as harbour staff with the aid of a crane lift in the huge timber baulks that protect the boats that will shelter over the winter

plenty of work to do on the gear of the James RH...

'tiz blowing a hooley so much so even the Crystal Sea is forced back to port...

waiting on the quay, David Stevens Snr...

waits to take the bow line...

from the crew as she moors on the quay...

heavy lifting gear needed for heavy gear...

the Breton fleet seldom stop for poor weather but in the case of the Guilvenec registered Hent ar Mor 1 was told to enter Newlyn after having her EPIRB washed over the side.  Listen again to Newlyn harbourmaster Rob Parson talking about the changes to fishing patterns precipitated by the changing weather.

Every little helps.

A pupil at the Pierre-Loti maritime high school, Léo Tréhen-Le Tinier worked on a project to make the boats cleaner. His invention, the "Recoverer" could well be among the innovations presented to the European Parliament.

Léo Tréhen-Le Tinier, soon 17 years old, has already realized the plans for his future 'recoverer'. It remains to work on a prototype.

Léo Tréhen-Le Tinier is on the second CGEM (marine management course) at the maritime high school of Paimpol. Already a CAP sailor in hand, obtained last year, and the quiet assurance of a young man who knows what he wants: "To become a fisherman-owner". Not a predestined vocation, no one in his family is a sailor, "but as I have a port next to me, I thought, I will try, and I liked it," says Briochin.


Try and even invent. 

His invention called "The Reclaimer" was born on the occasion of a school trip, last March. "At the Iroise Marine Nature Park in Conquet, we participated in a workshop and we were asked to create a boat that pollutes less," says Léo. There were pollution control boats, my group preferred to work on a boat that does not pollute. "Every year, our students are asked to think about a boat of the future," said Lionel Le Person, his teacher of fishing and sustainable development. To project oneself in the twenty years that come since they are the future sailors of tomorrow.

Do not throw anything overboard

Leo started from a simple idea: do not throw anything overboard that pollutes the sea. In particular, this plastic waste, small pieces of nets shredded after fishing or left on the deck after a ramendage and cleared at sea. once the job is done. "All that goes overboard, so I thought about putting some sort of drilled caissons on the ports, on the outside of the hull." Collectors, therefore, that let the water pass but not the pieces of plastic that remain in the box. "In addition, there is no need to make stability calculations to install them, on rails to be able to put them on and take them off," notes the young inventor who also planned an inclined position "to allow water to evacuate or small fish in case of heavy weather on the boat".

A sustainable development prize

A simple and effective idea retained by his teacher of fishing and sustainable development, Lionel Le Person, who with high school Loti strongly supports the project. Which is timely because the Regional Fisheries Committee has just launched the Erasmousse program, modeled on Erasmus. In this context, students from the four Brittany maritime high schools will discuss sustainable development projects and present them to the European Fisheries Agency in Vigo (Spain) in January. The best will receive a prize which will then be presented to the European Parliament. At Pierre-Loti, "working groups were launched this week, with Leo's project in mind," says Prof. Fifteen students will work there, including second Nautical Maintenance to create a model.

For his part, Leo is already thinking of a prototype and even to file a patent for his green idea. "Green, not more responsible, the high school student. And compared to pollution control boats that are very expensive, it's worth it. And no one had thought of it before.


Full story courtesy of Le Télégramme