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Friday 11 October 2019

In Newlyn it's #FishyFriday and the final day of Seafood Week.

Seafish's Fish is the Dish website tells us that there are 120 varieties of seafood -  Newlyn, the UK's most diverse port for landings often has over 50 species landed ready for auction.


But today is #FishyFriday so what better way to end Seafood Week's Fish and Chips day than with a bumper trip...


of MSC Certified Cornish hake...


from the netter Stelissa and a reminder to every fish and chip up and down the land to give hake a go as a totally suitable alternative to cod - many fish and chip Cornish fish and chips shops have already been converted...


the pristine white flesh of a flatfish, but which species?..


if you can't run to the expense of the bass, the king f fish then big tub gurnards make an cracking alternative if you want to re-create that classic dish, whole fish baked buried in sea salt...


these scallops from the beam trawler Trevessa IV arrived too late for Monday's fish dish of the day...


a bit late in the year but there's another Mediterranean octopus on the market, more signs that rising sea temperatures are having a direct effect on the spread of species more normally associated with the warmer more southerly waters...


not so the case for over Soles which remain one of the top species of fish targeted by the local beam trawl fleet...


as are monk...


and plaice...


their might be plenty of hair nets in this shot but CFPO's Andy Wheeler gives staff and students the low down on how one Newlyn fisherman refuses to use nets to catch his bass but instead relies solely on lines, lures, poles and a great deal of knowledge built up over years of inshore fishing from his punt...


and that can only mean one man of course...



 that man Cod and his trusty apprentice fisherman Jamie aboard the Butts...


yesterday's lull in the weather allowed a few of the mackerel boats to pitch in with landings...


which also meant that the visiting University of Exeter students from the Penryn campus were able to witness the fish auction in full flow...


there's two sides to every flatfish, most species have white undersides and some sort of skin pattern on top that helps camouflage them for protection against larger predators...


St Just Rugby Club enjoys financial support from a number of local businesses including one of the country's leading animation houses, Spider Eye...


if you have never tried scad, a fish in the same family as mackerel, herring and sardines give them a go using any of the recipes typically used for oily fish...


no Newlyn fish auction would be complete without haddock - and several local merchants, like Fresh Cornish Fish smoke them too!

Thursday 10 October 2019

Bringing in the catch - Cornish sardines fresh from Mounts Bay


At first light Golden Harvest heads in through the gaps...



not long after dawn breaks over the crabber Emma Louise up on the slip...



with 21 tons of sardines on board...



ready to land in front of the fish market...



skipper Dan looks back at his boat loaded to the tops of her iced seawater tanks with sardines...


then keeps local fish merchant Julan Smart in the picture with his landing news...



astern of her, the Amanda of Ladram lands a trip of hake..



 and whitefish...


under the watchful of local MMO staff who check the contents and count the boxes as they are landed...



the Little Pearl's brail is full and ready to begin landing her sardine catch...



looks like Cap'n Cod and crew Jamie are busy aboard the Butts...




as the Lyonesse completes her haul...



and boards the net...



then begins the short steam to Newlyn...



passing the Mount on the way...


before taking a landing berth against the quay......



with over 11 tons of sardines in her insulated tubs 500kg bins...



which is just about her maximum load...



meanwhile Dan keeps the MMO staff on their toes as he ferries three full bins to the refrigerated transport waiting for his catch...



as another brail of fish from the Little Pearl...


are swung over the waiting bins...



Dan's crew have made a start on their catch...



as one of the three boats that landed tis morning... 



each brail carries around 300kg...



the net on the brail is fitted with a cod end clip such as that which would be used on a traditional trawl net which needs to be pulled undone...



to release the fish into the waiting bin...



the boats left Newlyn yesterday evening but did not find any marks fish on which to shoot until just before dawn...



at low water, down on the deck of the Lyonesse skipper Will uses the hydraulic arm...



 to lift each bin to the quayside...



where they are guided into position...



and topped off with the maximum...


 amount of fish before heading off to the processor.




Wednesday 9 October 2019

Seafood Week - and today it is 'hail the hake' day!



At 6am it's a dark enough start to the mornings in October but that doesn't stop the business of fishing which goes on 24/7 in a port like Newlyn...



Of course hake isn't the only fish...



 the netter Britannia V landed on the market this morning... 


amongst the rest of the fish landed were a dozen or so monk cheeks...


and a pair of decent sized cod.



At the start of every hake trip each of the Newlyn hake netters has to take on board four or five tons of flake ice...


it's the same ice is used to ice the harbour boxes when the fish is presented for auction...


in order to meet the standards required by the MSC to maintain the quality of Cornish Certified hake...


so that the fleet of 15 certified boats, of which the Britannia V is one, can begin the chain of custody that is required in order to let buyers know that the hake caught meets the stringent requirements necessary, from the kind and size of nets employed, the pingers set with the nest to ensure that by-catches of dolphins and porpoises are a thing of the past to how the fish are gutted, iced and boxed at sea... 



once the fish have been sold they are stacked...



and whisked away to the processors for packing in super-insulated polystyrene boxes for distribution to fish merchants and fishmongers the length and breadth of the UK...



like this 6 kilo plus beauty safe in the hands of the Chelsea Fishmonger, young Rex Goldmsith!