Not quite Sillitoe, Sunday night Monday morning

Visiting Plymouth registered ring netter, Rebecca Anne PH770 

one of the few fora'rd wheelhouse boats...

built especially for the fishery...

after a lengthy wai,t the timber baulks have arrived to complete the replacement of worm-eaten fenders in the harbour...

Monday morning's makret was a mix of beam trawl fish...

like these big plaice...

cuttles...

which leave there mark on  the delicate skins of red mullet...

as opposed to these pristine line caught examples...

big brill...

while the gandliners made the most of a quieter spell in the weather to pick away a few mackerel...

line caught bass from our resident bass-meister...

and a handful of pollack...

while the netter Britannia V landed a good shot of hake...

feellow netter Stelissa landed the ever-present cod...

a few tub gurnards...

the also omni-present haddock...

which attracted the attention of a certain young George Cleave...

Port Isaac based fisherman and fishmonger who put in a brief appearance on Saturday Kitchen at the weekend along with the world's only 2-Star Michelin fish restaurant chef, Nathan Outlaw...

just in and ready to land...

 the beam trawler Sapphire II...

a small fleet of forklifts make light work of shifting fish...

as the sun breaks through the cloud...

ex-landing craft, Seven Sins.

In Waters Deep.

In ocean wastes no poppies blow,

No crosses stand in ordered row,

Their young hearts sleep… beneath the wave…

The spirited, the good, the brave,

But stars a constant vigil keep,

For them who lie beneath the deep.

‘Tis true you cannot kneel in prayer

On certain spot and think. “He’s there.”

But you can to the ocean go…

See whitecaps marching row on row;

Know one for him will always ride…

In and out… with every tide.

And when your span of life is passed,

He’ll meet you at the “Captain’s Mast.”

And they who mourn on distant shore

For sailors who’ll come home no more,

Can dry their tears and pray for these

Who rest beneath the heaving seas…

For stars that shine and winds that blow

And whitecaps marching row on row.

And they can never lonely be

For when they lived… they chose the sea.

This was originally written by Eileen Mahoney aged 90 years young

Landing Obligation and the law of unintended consequences

For years, fishermen at sea have been talking about the consequences for sea birds from the very first days of the Fish Fight campaign to introduce a total ban on discards and the possible consequences of depriving seagoing bird populations of a food source. Since January of this year a total ban on discarding quota'd fish has been in place. The industry has come under some criticism for appearing not to conform with the legislation.

Under the title: Scavenger communities and fisheries waste: North Sea discards support 3 million seabirds, 2 million fewer than in 1990

The paper has modelled such consequences, an extract is given below - the full paper is available here:

Abstract

Every year fisheries discard >10 million tonnes of fish. This provides a bounty for scavengers, yet the ecological impact of discarding is understudied. Seabirds are the best‐studied discard scavengers and fisheries have shaped their movement ecology, demography and community structure. However, we know little about the number of scavenging seabirds that discards support, how this varies over time or might change as stocks and policy change. Here, we use a Bayesian bioenergetics model to estimate the number of scavenging birds potentially supported by discards in the North Sea (one of the highest discard‐producing regions) in 1990, around the peak of production, and again after discard declines in 2010. We estimate that North Sea discards declined by 48% from 509,840 tonnes in 1990 to 267,549 tonnes in 2010. This waste had the potential to support 5.66 (95% credible intervals: 3.33–9.74) million seabirds in the 1990s, declining by 39% to 3.45 (1.98–5.78) million birds by 2010. Our study reveals the potential for fishery discards to support very large scavenging seabird communities but also shows how this has declined over recent decades. Discard bans, like the European Union's Landing Obligation, may reduce inflated scavenger communities, but come against a backdrop of gradual declines potentially buffering deleterious impacts. More work is required to reduce uncertainty and to generate global estimates, but our study highlights the magnitude of scavenger communities potentially supported by discards and thus the importance of understanding the wider ecological consequences of dumping fisheries waste.

Seabirds are the best‐studied consumers of fisheries waste. At least 52% of species feed on discards to some degree, and fisheries waste is the dominant dietary item in some populations. Discarding has shaped many aspects of seabird ecology, including their movements demography , and community structure. However, there is still relatively little known about the number of seabirds that discards can support, how this has changed over time and what the likely consequences of changes in discard availability may be for seabird communities. A fuller understanding of the wider ecosystem‐level impact of fisheries requires that we address this knowledge gap.

The North Sea is one of the world's largest discard‐producing regions and also supports an internationally important seabird assemblage . This makes it an excellent system in which to estimate the number of scavengers that could be supported by discards. During peak production in the late 1980s and early 1990s, North Sea fisheries generated 500,000–900,000 tonnes of discards . These were estimated to support ~6 million seabirds in 1990 by Garthe et al in one of the only studies to attempt such a calculation. However, the model used to arrive at that figure did not account for the precision of its input variables; had that uncertainty been propagated, the final estimate could have been very imprecise, with 95% confidence intervals of 2.2 and 16.3 million birds. At the time, the largest source of variation in the model came from very poor estimates of discard production. More reliable discard data for the region have recently become available which show a steep decline in the overall quantity of fish discharged over the period 1978–2011. Moreover, catches have also shifted away from fish that are easy for seabirds to swallow (~80% roundfish) to less easily ingested fish (>50% flatfish), and the North Sea seabird community has also changed since the 1990s. A robust estimate—acknowledging the inevitable uncertainties and accounting for long‐term changes in discarding practices—of the size and composition of the discard scavenging seabird community in the North Sea is therefore overdue.

Here, we combine data on seabird abundance, diet and energetic expenditure, together with fisheries discard rates and fish energy content into bioenergetics models to estimate the number of seabirds that could be supported by discards in the North Sea around the time of peak production in the early 1990s (hereafter the 1990 model) and following discard declines in the late 2000s (hereafter the 2010 model) (Figure 1). We implement our model in a Bayesian framework, so that we can carry over input parameter uncertainty, and present our estimates split by species and by breeding and non‐breeding seasons. We also consider our work in the context of global fisheries so that a broader understanding of the size of scavenging communities might be achieved. Finally, we discuss the ecological implications of our results in light of potential changes in practise and policy around discarding—the least studied component of fisheries impacts.

RESULTS

3.1 North Sea discard production

We estimate that North Sea mixed demersal fisheries generated 509,840 (284,619–788,105) tonnes of discards in 1990 and this declined by 48% to 267,549 (138,627–436,251) tonnes in 2010. Roundfish, which are particularly important food for seabirds because they can be easily swallowed, declined by 52.9% (from 120,768 to 56,819 tonnes). When taking account of the energetic content of different discard types, this represented 1,884 (1,471–2,348) and 1,014 (767–1,305) billion kJ of biomass discarded from North Sea mixed demersal fisheries in 1990 and 2010, respectively.

3.2 Number of seabirds supported by North Sea discards

After accounting for assimilation efficiency and consumption rates in 1990, 720 (499–984) billion kJ were available to support an estimated 1.24 (0.68–2.65) million birds during breeding and 4.55 (2.65–7.82) million during the non‐breeding season (Figure 2A). In 2010, 385 (257–548) billion kJ of discards could be used, potentially supporting 656,255 (373,084–1,132,250) birds during breeding and 2.89 (1.62–4.96) million individuals during the non‐breeding season (Figure 2B). Combining the seasonal posteriors gave a total of 5.66 (3.33–9.74) million seabirds potentially supported in 1990 versus 3.45 (1.98–5.78) million individuals—or 39% fewer—able to consume fishery discards in the North Sea in 2010 (Figure 3A).

CONCLUSIONS
We estimate that North Sea discards can support ~3.45 million seabirds per annum, but this declined by 39% from close to the period of peak discard production in the 1990s, indicating a shift away from a scavenger‐dominated ecosystem. These findings are important in the context of global discard declines and bans, including the EU's Landing Obligation, as this gradual reduction may lessen any deleterious impacts of an abrupt drop in discards. Nevertheless, discards still have the potential to support large numbers of scavenging seabirds in the North Sea and the general lack of empirical data on the impacts of fishery discards at an ecosystem level makes it difficult to predict the real ecological consequences of the landing obligation. Further work is needed to monitor the response of seabird scavengers to changing fishery practices where discard bans are implemented and to quantify their numbers globally, particularly if we are serious about adopting an ecosystem‐level approach to fisheries management. Data on global discard rates are available (Zeller et al., 2018), but information on seabird community composition, their diet and how this varies over time are also required in order to construct robust bioenergetics models.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
RBS was supported by the Leiden Conservation Foundation, Bristol Zoological Society, Zoological Society of San Diego and the Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation at The Pew Charitable Trusts. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Pew Charitable Trusts. We thank Robin M. Cook for posterior probabilities for the landings and discards from the mixed demersal fisheries in the North Sea. The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.

#FishyFriday in Newlyn.

Prime tub gurnard - coming soon will be a video from Seafood Cornwall showing how to cook this fish baked in sea salt...

similar fish like this black bream can also be baked the same way...

blood-red gills, a sure sign of freshness...

that's one big conger...

the netter Silver Dawn put a good trip of hake ashore this morning...

with poor weather affecting inshore fishing these handline bass made around £11 a kilo

megrim soles, staple fishing for the beam trawl fleet...

the beamers almost always manage to land a few cod from wherever they fish...

handline mackerel were hard won by the inshore men...

these pristine red mullet will need careful cooking to bring out the best in them - keep your eyes on the The Shore's menu to see when Bruce does them proud...

a grey gurnard interloper amongst the reds...

cracking red bream, big white flakes of meaty flesh when steamed or poached...

heavy skies over the fleet...

as boxes and tubs from the night's fishing activities are loaded aboard the waiting transport...

it's going to be an uncomfortable day for the boys on the Girl Pamela...

as she heads for the gaps...

visiting Belgian scalloper...

Bon Accord goes under the needle gun to remove years of rust.

Through the gaps webcams: Raz de Seine webcam added.

One hundred and twenty seven miles south south east of Newlyn is the promontory, Pointe de Raz - the Breton equivalent of Lands End. This live webcam looks beyond the Jument lighthouse out over the Raz de Seine - notorious for its horrendously big seas and overfalls during storms. 

In the distance is the tiny Ile de Seine population 214 and barely 15m above sea level. The Raz de Seine is avoided by small boats in stormy weather - one French trawler steaming south is reputed to have rolled through 360˚ when hit by a huge sea on her way home - and survived to tell the tale!

Your safety first - Calling all skippers and boat owners!

Stay safe and never let any safety equipment go out of date again!

Simply add your vessel to the online Safetyfolder and join today!  Follow the step-by-step guide to see how to do it online.

By adding your vessel, the site will keep an eye on your equipment expiry dates for you, notifying you when things need replacing.

Below are the most up-to-date links needed to maintain vessel and crew safety and well-being.

Work in fishing convention (ILO 188)

The International Labour Organization’s work in fishing convention (ILO 188) came into force internationally on 16 November 2017. The UK government made legislation to implement ILO 188 in November 2018, and will ratify in January 2019.

ILO 188 entitles all fishermen to written terms and conditions of employment (a fisherman’s work agreement), decent accommodation and food, medical care, regulated working time, repatriation, social protection and health and safety on board. It also provides minimum standards relating to recruitment and placement and includes a mandatory requirement to have a certificate of medical fitness to work onboard a fishing vessel.

Who it applies to

ILO 188 applies to all fishermen working on fishing vessels of any size, with more prescriptive standards for vessels over 24m in length or operating on longer voyages, three days or more.

Model fisherman’s work agreements

The latest version of MCA’s model fishermen work agreements can be found here. We are continuing to work with industry to improve these agreements. If you have any comments please e-mail workinfishingconvention@mcga.gov.uk. You are not required to use these models, but each work agreement must contain certain minimum information - see MGN 583(F) ILO work in fishing convention, fishermans work agreements.”

ILO 188 statutory instruments

SI2018/1106 The Merchant Shipping (Work in Fishing Convention) Regulations

SI2018/1107 The Merchant Shipping (Work in Fishing Convention) (Survey and Certification) Regulations

SI2018/1108 The Merchant Shipping (Work in Fishing Convention) (Medical Certification) Regulations

SI2018/1109 The Merchant Shipping (Work in Fishing Convention) (Consequential Provisions) Regulations.

ILO 188 phase in periods

Different parts of legislation will be phased in as outlined.

Documents

1. MIN 575 ILO work in fishing convention medical certification grandfather rights
   • 2 November 2018
    
   • Guidance
2. MGN 583 ILO work in fishing convention, fishermans work agreements
   • 4 December 2018
    
   • Guidance
3. MGN 584 work in fishing convention repatriation
   • 19 November 2018
    
   • Guidance
4. MGN 585 ILO work in fishing convention payment of fishermen
   • 19 November 2018
    
   • Guidance
5. MGN 586 ILO work in fishing convention medical care
   • 19 November 2018
    
   • Guidance
6. MGN 588 ILO work in fishing convention health and safety PFDs
   • 27 November 2018
    
   • Guidance
7. MGN 589 ILO work in fishing convention complaints
   • 12 November 2018
    
   • Guidance
8. MGN 596 - Fishing safety: Helping to improve safety - Fishing Vessels
   • 21 November 2018
    
   • Guidance
9. MGN 605 (F) ILO Work in fishing convention phase in period
   • 12 March 2019
    
   • Guidance
10. MSN 1882 ILO work in fishing convention minimum age
    • 5 November 2018
     
    • Guidance
11. MSN 1883 ILO work in fishing convention medical examination and certification
    • 1 November 2018
     
    • Guidance
12. MSN 1884 ILO work in fishing convention working time
    • 2 November 2018
     
    • Guidance
13. MSN 1885 ILO work in fishing convention survey and inspection
    • 5 November 2018
     
    • Guidance
14. MSN 1886 MLC and ILO 188 medical standards
    • 2 November 2018
     
    • Guidance
15. MSN 1891 ILO work in fishing convention list of crew
    • 2 November 2018
     
    • Guidance

Lorient. Sailor-fisherman ... a job to win back

Plenty on offer at this year's fishermen's trade fair ITECHMER 2019 opening on Wednesday, October 16, 2019 in Lorient. 

Of the many presentations taking place over the three days is one on recruitment to the industry:

The Brexit will hover over the course Itechmer lounge, whose 13th edition opened this Wednesday in Lorient. The unmissable meeting of the fishing industry in France has a round table on the subject, Thursday at 10:30 am. But Itchmer is also the showcase of innovation in the fishing sector. From trawling to our plate, the sector is responsible and sustainable.

"salary is not everything"

Good practices, on board ship and on the ground, have been improving for years. All good for the resource. All good for the image of the sector to the consumer. Except that today, Brexit or not, "the endangered species, it is not the fish but the sailor-fisherman" , testifies a Lorient shipowner.

"In Brittany, we will lose 500 sailors in five years. A true hole of air " , regularly reminds Olivier Le Nézet, president of the Breton fisheries committee. 500 is 10% of the total number of fishermen in Brittany. The stakes are crucial.

Retirements are no longer compensated. "We do not train enough sailors , explains Jean Piel, of the fisheries committee of Morbihan. Only 63 young people had their baccalaureate in France last year. It's very weak. " And if the passion is not pegged to the body, many of them quickly abandon the trade.

How to attract young people to the fishing profession?

Yet you can make a good living fishing. € 2,500 per month for a trawler seaman, on average. Which 18-year-old earns as much? "If we report the salary to the number of hours spent at sea ... , counters Jean Piel. Above all, there is a societal evolution. The job remains difficult, many boats are old and much less comfortable than the new ones. Good wages are no longer no longer a sufficient argument. Young people prefer to earn less but have more time off."

Hence the idea that makes its way: increase the crew of one or two sailors, and rotate. The rest on the ground come back more often. Some trawlers practice it in Lorient. The Brittany Fisheries Committee is working hard on this. To convince shipowners ... and sailors. Because one more part to pay, it would be a little less on the part of each.


A programme of events alongside the ITECHMER tradeshow will be organised for the 2019 edition with conferences and debates concerning topical issues in the fishing sector. These conferences and round tables will be an opportunity to discuss topical issues and deal with problems in the fishing sector on a European and worldwide scale. Issues with multiple stakes will be discussed with stakeholders and decision-makers from the sector providing their insight on the themes discussed.

Discover the programme for ITECHMER 2019 and the names of the first speakers at the various workshops and round tables.

This programme has been prepared by the Itechmer organisation committee and a group of experts including representatives from the Association des Directeurs et Responsables des Halles A Marée de France, the Union du Mareyage Français, the Region of Brittany, the Comité Régional des Pêches Maritimes et des Élevages Marins de Bretagne, the producers’ organisation Les Pêcheurs de Bretagne, the industrial cluster Bretagne Pôle Naval, the Interprofession du Port de Lorient and the technical centre IDmer.

Numerous economic and institutional stakeholders in the sector have also played a part in drawing up the programme: Comité National des Pêches et des Élevages Marins, the Groupement des Industries de Construction et Activités Navales, the Cluster Maritime Français, France Agrimer, La Coopération Maritime, the Association Nationale des Organisations de Producteurs, the Institut Maritime de Prévention, the Crédit Maritime Grand Ouest, Bretagne Pôle Naval, Women in Seafood, Villes Atlantiques, Pêche et Développement.

Salon Itechmer , from October 16th to 18th, exhibition center of Lorient Bretagne Sud, 243 exhibitors, 7,500 visitors expected. 

• 16 OCT. 2019
• 17 OCT. 2019
• 18 OCT. 2019

MATIN

 DE 09H30 À 13H00

Meeting of CC-Sud – WG VIII and XI

 Meeting  salle Kergroise

MATIN

 DE 10H15 À 11H15

The privatization of the seas: what are the stakes for fishing?

 Conference  Espace Keroman

MATIN

 DE 10H30 À 11H30

Towards a new strategy in the construction of fishing boats

 Workshop  Salle Lorient Bretagne Sud

MATIN

 DE 11H30 À 12H30

Naval Propulsion in the Past, Present and Future

 Workshop  Espace Keroman

MATIN

 DE 11H30 À 13H00

What Renewal Plan for overseas fleets

 Workshop  Salle Région Bretagne

APRÈS-MIDI

 DE 13H30 À 14H30

Fisheries and aquaculture sectors in the Sultanate of Oman

 Conference  Salle Lorient Bretagne Sud

APRÈS-MIDI

 DE 14H30 À 17H00

Meeting of the CC-Sud – WG traditional fishing grounds

 Meeting  Salle Kergroise

APRÈS-MIDI

 DE 14H30 À 17H00

BTOB REGISTRATION

Business pro new methods of propulsion

 Meeting  Espace Keroman

APRÈS-MIDI

 DE 15H30 À 16H30

Meeting of PIG Pêche de Bretagne

 Meeting  salle Perrière

APRÈS-MIDI

 DE 14H00 À 15H30

What Future for Women in Fishing?

 Workshop  Salle Région Bretagne

APRÈS-MIDI

 DE 15H30 À 17H00

Innovate to Attract New Generations

 Workshop  Salle Lorient Bretagne Sud

• 16 OCT. 2019
• 17 OCT. 2019
• 18 OCT. 2019

MATIN

 DE 14H00 À 15H30

AGM of the Association of Directors and Managers of Fish Markets in France

 Meeting  Espace Keroman

MATIN

 DE 09H30 À 13H00

Meeting of the CC-Sud WG pelagic fisheries

 Meeting  Salle Kergroise

MATIN

 DE 10H30 À 12H00

Preventing Chemical Risks on Ships

 Conference  Salle Lorient Bretagne Sud

MATIN

 DE 10H30 À 12H30

What Happens after Brexit?

 Workshop  Salle Région Bretagne

APRÈS-MIDI

 DE 14H30 À 15H30

Consume Better, Consume Less; Good for the Planet and the Sector

 Workshop  Salle Lorient Bretagne Sud

APRÈS-MIDI

 DE 14H30 À 16H00

End of Discards at Sea: Implementation of the Landing Obligation

 Workshop  Salle Région Bretagne

APRÈS-MIDI

 DE 16H00 À 17H30

Reducing marine plastic waste, especially those in the fisheries sector

 Workshop  Salle Lorient Bretagne Sud

APRÈS-MIDI

 DE 16H30 À 18H00

Challenges for Breton Fishing by 2040

 Conference  Salle Région Bretagne

• 
  16 OCT. 2019
• 17 OCT. 2019
• 18 OCT. 2019

JOURNÉE

 DE 10H00 À 16H00

Blue Day Sustainable Fishing and Innovation

 Salle Région Bretagne

MATIN

 DE 10H30 À 12H30

Steering Committee of project CONNECT (Creation of a software for the optimization of friction of trawl nets)

 Meeting  Salle Perrière

MATIN

 DE 09H30 À 17H30

Board of CNPMEM

 Salle Kergroise

MATIN

 DE 11H00 À 12H00

Optimising the conservation of fish shelf

 Workshop  Salle Lorient Bretagne Sud

MATIN

 DE 11H00 À 12H00

A digital revolution in fishing. Part 2 : in downstream industry

 Workshop  Salle Région Bretagne

MATIN

 DE 10H00 À 11H00

A digital revolution in fishing. Part 1: for observation and communication at sea

 Workshop  Salle Région Bretagne

APRÈS-MIDI

 DE 14H00 À 16H00

Une pêche sélective : l’apport du numérique et de nouvelles technologies Sélectivité, survie, nouvelles technologies

 Workshop  Salle Région Bretagneion Bretagne

APRÈS-MIDI

 DE 14H00 À 16H00

Health and Safety in Fish Workshops

 Meeting  Salle Perrière

APRÈS-MIDI

 DE 14H30 À 15H30

Financing of Fishing and Shipbuilding Industries (workshop)