Monday morning's market in Newlyn.

Monday morning's market was average in size, unlike these big squid...

Tom even picked away a few cuttles from south of Mounts Bay, unusual at the best if times...

while the netter Stelissa called in with a good shot of MSC Certified Cornish hake - which is the dish of the day this Wednesday during #SeafoodWeek...

any kind of bream make good eating - baked in sea salt is a great way to cook them - and black bream like these would be no exception...

sand soles come in all skin shades and patterns...

as do plaice of course which was yesterday's dish of the day...

although conger are seldom targeted these days - during the winter all the Newlyn longliners would fish for them at times though they probably make as much money today as they did years ago - shame - they make the best fish cakes ever!..

 they look good and, when they are cooked right, taste even better, sweet red mullet...

hake that is MSC Certified is the best sustainable white fish to put on your plate in the UK!...

and then there's bass of course, the King of fish as that piscatorial God Floyd called them...

or maybe ray tickles your taste buds, meaty, delicious and a bonus for thos who find it difficult to deal with bones - they don't have any to worry about!..

then there's mackerel - the king of oily fish, unless you are a herring man of course...

and there were plenty on the market this morning - mackerel that is...

turbot tails, there's two sides to every story...

a solid haul of late season John Dory from the Dory king himself...

to go with a few boxes of whiting he managed to haul aboard...

eyes down for the bidding process...

even Tom dipped into a few JDs...

number one mink tails courtesy of the beam trawler Resurgam...

Amanda of Ladram heads in...

 to take ice...

mackerel to go, and its dark outside until 7am these days

the Shetland based multi-purpose vessel Constructor was built in Norway...

A day to remember - Shipwrecked Mariners Society awards 2019 at Fishmongers Hall, London.

For over twenty years, after Nick Howell creator of the Pilchard Works Museum in Newlyn came back singing its praises, Through the Gaps has been longing for an invite to Fishmonger's Hall, the stunning building that is home to the Fishmongers Company Livery...

sited on the banks of the Thames next to London Bridge...

inside is a stunning collection of original fishmongering artwork...

dating back hundreds of years...

including, in the Court Drawing Room, one of the best known portraits of Queen Elizabeth II by Pietro Annigoni...

adjacent is the stunning Court Dining Room, bathed in a subtle warm light from all that gold leaf...

on the landing of the main stairs stands Sir William Walworth with dagger bared...

the Fishmongers Company is also home to the oldest boat race in the world, since 1715 the Doggets Coat and Badge Race, has been fought annually by river apprentices over a four mile and 7 furlong course on the Thames ...

and of course, until recently, Billingsgate Fish Market was just a few yards down river...

everywhere you look over 700 hundred years of history is on show, so for all those up in London for the annual Shipwrecked Mariners Society awards at their AGM became even more special...

for people like skipper Jay Holden, of the beam trawler, Emilia Jayne who was awarded the The Lady Swaythling Trophy, for facilitating the rescue of his crewmate who fell overboard in severe gale force 9 winds and 20ft seas off the coast of Salcombe, Devon, in March this year - and a special mention must be made of the fact that without that crew member wearing a PFD he wouldn't be still fishing - a point made by the pilot of the rescue helicopter at the time - in 21 years service it was the first time he had ever pulled a fisherman from the sea - alive...

next up, the Edward and Maisie Lewis Award, for an ‘outstanding rescue’, was presented to the crew of helicopter Rescue 01 based at Mount Pleasant Airfield in the Falkland Islands. The crew carried out two consecutive, complex and demanding rescues of critically ill patients in demanding and dangerous conditions that pushed their mental and physical endurance, as well as that of their helicopter, to the limit...

Lord Lewin Awards for outstanding service to the charity were also presented to two Honorary Agents for their remarkable commitment and long-term service. Superintendent ‘Sal’ Van Beem was honoured for her dedicated casework and exceptional commitment to the maritime community in Hull...

Through the Gaps, slightly humbled in the wake of such deserving company, was lucky enough to have that shot of mackerel being landed in Newlyn adjudged overall winner of the 2019 Photography Competition. 

The main honours were presented at the Society’s 168th annual Skill and Gallantry Awards by President, Sir George Zambellas GCB, DSC, DL, FRAeS, during the charity’s AGM.

Chief Executive of the Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society, Captain Justin Osmond RN, commented: “The Skill and Gallantry Awards is a fantastic opportunity for the maritime community to celebrate the brave, unsung heroes of the industry. This not only includes individuals who have displayed bravery and skill by helping those out at sea but is also an important opportunity to recognise the remarkable work of the charity’s Honorary Agents, who are vital to the success of the Society.

“We are honoured to celebrate these individuals that give so much of their time to supporting the maritime community, as without their dedication we would not be able to help as many people as we do. The awards are our way of saying thank you to everyone and to show our appreciation for everything they do.”

after meeting and exchanging contact details with an amazing bunch of people it was time to enjoy more art and culture at the National Gallery...

in a stormy, thunder and lightning shrouded Trafalgar Square...

before taking shelter from the increasingly heavy downpour in London's most central pub and the aptly named considering the day's nautical theme, Admiralty Inn where Through the Gaps promptly stumbled on more of our fishing industry heritage espying a painting of one of Marr's freezer trawlers steaming in a gale...

she along with the rest of the fleet were a common sight in the late 1970s when they and the entire Scottish pelagic fleet would descend on the waters of Cornwall to fish for mackerel...

However, the tribute to Northella was not for her fishing exploits but her role in the 1982 Falklands conflict. The then, HMS Northella was one of the five Hull trawlers taken up from trade to form the 11th MCM Squadron commanded by MCDOA member Martyn Holloway. These vessels were converted into minesweepers and manned by personnel from refitting Ton class MCMVs before being sent to the South Atlantic for the Falklands conflict in 1982. 

 They performed various hazardous tasks besides sweeping 10 of the 21 mines laid off Port Stanley by the Argentinians, the others having broken adrift and floated away or failed to deploy from their sinkers properly - see 'The Forgotten Few of the Falklands'...

HMS Northella's bell currently hangs in The Admiralty, a Fullers pub in London's Trafalgar Square. Veterans of the 11th MCM Squadron recently presented the pub with a framed painting of HMS Northella, created by marine artist Adrian Thompson, with a descriptive brass plaque...

standing under the bell was another 'belle' who insisted on posing while the other bell shot was being composed!..

staff at the Admiralty couldn't have been more helpful and happy to talk more about the tribute - great atmosphere at 6pm and hearty quality London pub food to boot, what's not to like for a seafarer 300 hundred miles from home...

then it was off to the tube and rather than heading out ~Through the Gaps it was mind the gap!..

and neck strain from checking out the top of Europe's tallest building, the Shard.

Health & safety - Brixham Trawler race is no more.

It’s described by the organisers as the end of an era. The high point of the year for the English port of Brixham – the annual trawler race – will no longer be taking place.

The 2019 Trawler Race was the last one in a tradition that goes back more than fifty years and which has proved an enduringly popular event, with visitors coming from all over the South-West of England, as well as a regular number of dedicated visitors to the port over that June weekend coming from many parts of Europe.

A charity event dedicated to raising funds for local charities and activities, the Trawler Race this year raised £24,000.

‘This will, sadly, remain an unbroken record as there will be no future Trawler Races,’ the organisers state.

It has always been a lively June weekend for Brixham, with crowds gathering on the quaysides as the fleet leaves the harbour for its laps around Torbay. As the fleet returns, lining up at the quays as the barbecues on the decks and the sound systems are broken out, the party gets going and this has traditionally continued well into the night.

The Trawler Race’s organisers have stated that increasing Health and Safety legislation requirements are the reason for the event’s demise.

‘It is no longer possible to legally run the race. It has been impossible to comply with newly imposed constraints and regulations,’ the committee announced.

‘The committee would like to take this opportunity to thank the organisers, skippers, crews and owners of the vessels who have generously given their time and attention over generations to make race days such notable events for some fifty-five years. We would also like to thank the tens of thousands of people and organisations who have supported the race.’

Margiris - one of the largest fishing vessels in the world making waves off the Isle of Wight

The freezer trawler Margiris hauling her net.

With the emotionally charged slogan 'take back control' designed to appeal to nationalist sensibilities fishing suddenly became a key feature of the Governemnt's Brexit campaign. With that campaign slogan now very much embedded in day-to-day Brexit debate and very much on people's lips the media today is awash with local, regional and national news coverage of the Dutch owned, Lithuanian registered trawler Margiris fishing just off the beaches of Brighton on the south coast. At 142 metres she is one of the world's largest trawlers, and can carry 6200 tonnes of fish. Her net is 600m long, the mouth her giant trawl is approx 100m x 200m. She is one of many vessels that operate in UK and EU waters https://lifeplatform.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Fishy-Business-in-the-EU.pdf

At first sight, the vessel's actions serve to justify the arguments for leaving the EU - a foreign (Dutch) super-trawler fishing right alongside the 12 mile UK fishing limit in the English Channel...

Exclusive Economic Zone of the UK and neighbouring EU states.

where, as the coast of France is significantly less than the 200 mile limit (EEZ) and therefore defaults to the median line (as in the chart above).

Just a small sample of Twitter comments reveal how easy it is for the population at large to become enraged at such an apparent blatant pillaging of 'our' waters. However the UK leaves the EU it is primarily laws enacted through the United Nations (UNCLOS) and other conventions that would govern access to UK waters for EU and other vessels, not those of the EU. Fish subject to quotas as a part of the CFP (like the mackerel she is fishing for) are set overall by ICES, not the EU. The UK and other member states divvy up quota between them nationally based on track records going back decades - and then each member state administers quota via Fish Producer Organisations and Defra/MMO. To further complicate matters much of the mackerel quota is now owned by non-UK businesses - infamously the Dutch freezer trawler company owned Cornelius Vrolijk owns and fishes for 23% of the UK mackerel quota - quota that the UK government of the day decided (unlike almost every other EU member state) to allow the UK fishing industry to sell to whomever it wished - so much so that around 50% of UK quota's fish is now in 'foreign' hands.  As it stands that means that 'we' won't be able to 'take back control of 'our' fish.  This recent post includes a summary of those legislative process by by Charles Hattersley neatly sums up the complexity of the situation that we will found ourselves in after leaving the EU..

The story doesn't end there:

In the last few weeks the Margiris  has traveled from the Arctic Circle down to the west coast of Africa and back up to the southern English coast...

where her and another Parlevliet company ship the Annie Hillina have been mid-water trawling this week - primarily for mackerel...

the scale of their fishing operations can be seen from this close-up of their AIS tracks in the area.

Watch a special report from ITN news' Rupert Evelyn which has exclusive footage of the super-trawler fishing a few miles outisde the UK 12 mile limit. Although MMO inspectors are said to have reported no infringements it is hard to imagine that these vessels do not from time to time see fish like bass in their huge trawls. There's an online story from ITN News covering the fishing operations here:

The UK pioneered the development of of stern freezer trawlers in the 1960s/70s to replace the old distant water 'sidewinders' that worked from Hull and Grimsby. In the late 1970s most of those vessels were deployed to south western waters off Cornwall to fish for mackerel in the winter...

Freezer trawler fishing among a fleet of mackerel handline boats.

Even then, some of these boats were the subject of some controversy when they fished among the fleet of tiny handliners (average length 10 meters)

The boats fished by night and either froze their catches aboard during the day or transhipped them to Russian and Eastern Block factory ships in Mounts Bay and Falmouth bay during the day.

Kirkella - the UK's largest freezer trawler launched last year - and is run by UK Fishing - which sounds like a UK company until you come to find out that it was created and owned by Netherlands' Parlevliet and Van der Plas and Iceland's Samherji after they bought out J Marr Fishing and the Boyd Line, both previously Hull deep-sea fishing companies.  

The Kirkella is currently fishing for cod, haddock, ling and Atlantic halibut some 2000 miles north of Brighton off the south coast of Svalbard and is capable of carrying 700 tons of fish fillets. 

She is there as a result of complex fishing agreements between the main stakeholders Russia, Norway and third parties like the Faroe Islands and EU...

The Kirkella, along with many other vessels has been fishing just outside the 12 mile limit off Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean.