Brixham beam trawler, Margaret of Ladram smashes Brixham port record

Waterdance’s beam trawler Margaret of Ladram smashed Brixham fish market’s record this week, landing the biggest grossing trip the port has ever seen.
After landing in Brixham, skipper Adam Cowan-Dickie turned Margaret of Ladram around and was back at sea when the confirmation of the £126,000 grossing came through.

This trip was also his first back at sea after travelling to Japan to watch his son Luke play for England in the rugby world cup.

Waterdance’s beam trawler Margaret of Ladram in Newlyn.

After landing in Brixham, skipper Adam Cowan-Dickie turned Margaret of Ladram around and was back at sea when the confirmation of the £126,000 grossing came through.

This trip was also his first back at sea after travelling to Japan to watch his son Luke play for England in the rugby world cup.


‘I’ve been managing my sole quota and days at sea for the last eleven months to be able to land this trip,’ he said.

‘I found this patch of good fishing just before the World Cup started, but we weren’t able to fish it because of bad weather. I obviously couldn’t miss the chance to see my son play in the World Cup, so I was keeping my fingers crossed for two and a half weeks while I was away watching Luke, hoping that nobody else would find it.’

Fortunately, when he was back on board Margaret of Ladram after the trip to Japan, the fish were still there and hadn’t been touched.

‘What people don’t realise is that this catch was caught sustainably. I have my sole quota, which is what can be sustainably caught, given to me in January every year and it’s down to me to manage this quota as I see fit through the year,’ he explained.

‘With fifteen years of careful management, the sole population off Brixham has been increasing year on year. These quotas are set by a scientific study of the fish population which is reviewed every year based on sole monitoring to allow only a sustainable catch to be caught.’

Last of the hunters or the next scientists?

Ignored

For years fishermen have decried the world of fisheries research because all too often their experience of scientific research has been frustrated by the perceived gulf between those that research and those that actually go down to the sea every day to fish. Huge research vessels using totally outdated trawls  fishing for species in areas known (by the fishermen) to be devoid of said species or at times when said species are less likely to be caught - compare your haddock catch by day and by night on the same grounds!

Ed Hinds just published thesis tackles tis issue and sets out a vision for how fishermen may play a significant role in fisheries research in the future - there a handful of UK fisheries research vessels and 5,400 fishing vessels - every one capable of [laying a role in research given the resources.

Abstract

The concept of fishers’ knowledge is one that has largely been marginalised in mainstream fisheries management, often characterised by soft ecological narratives and social insights when the bias of fisheries managers is for hard quantitative data of a biological nature.

This thesis makes an original contribution firstly, by situating the debate on the contested concept of fishers’ knowledge within the political context of traditional fisheries science, which has been undergoing a paradigm crisis and demands for reform.

Secondly, I draw a broad conceptual difference between a reformist account of fishers’ knowledge and a more radical discourse which positions fishers’ knowledge as an alternative to scientific enquiry. It is argued that a radical approach would be misguided, because fishers’ knowledge is not as
effective as scientific data for assessing fish stocks. Instead, a case is made to continue to use fishers’ knowledge to explain remaining uncertainties in scientific stock assessment, and to explore important
aspects of a fishery that other research approaches cannot. Specifically, it should become one of the central information pillars for conducting ecosystem-based fisheries management. Additionally, I advance fishers’ strategies as a developing concept that if understood, could for the first time allow managers to comprehend not just ‘how’ fishing effort occurs, but ‘why’.

Through a detailed analysis of a rich case study on the west coast of Ireland, these arguments are fleshed out to show how and why the concept of fishers’ knowledge may be relevant for resolving serious problems in fisheries politics and policy. More broadly the thesis covers new ground in areas of study relating to local and experiential knowledge, ecosystem-based management and the political dimensions of environmental sustainability and natural resource management. It would be an interesting point of reference for professionals researching these topics.


Paper: Last of the hunters or the next scientists? 
Ed Hind from the School of Political Science and Sociology at the National University of Ireland, Galway.

Penultimate November #FishyFriday in Newlyn.

Shark evil-eye...

check out those bream baked whole (but gutted) recipes from our top chefs...

only in Newlyn - Cornish MSC Certified hake...

big trips of hake from the orange duo, Silver Dawn and the Stelissa...

pristine ray wings...

while the netter Annie May landed some cracking monk tails...

a smattering of herring were on the market again from the inshore boats...

crab paws Mousehole Fish bound...

an uncomfortable day for the handline fleet so these fish were hard won...

these cracking whiting were still sporting all their scales...

a big turbot like this will likely as much end up on the tables of a big restaurant...

monk livers - a favourite of Bruce Rennie, chef at The Shore restaurant in Penzance...

another fish restaurant favourite, red mullet...

lovely lemons...

and of course a few John Dory which make such good eating...

as do brill...

trawlers, beam trawlers and netters all catch haddock...

another good landing of ray...

hake don't come much bigger than 6-7 kilo hake...

there's a traffic jam outside the market this morning...

as the forklifts wait patiently for another load of boxed fish to be loaded...

heading back to a pontoon berth, Tom on the Harvest Reaper decided that there's was too much ground sea for him to fish well today.

Newlyn, home of the finest inshore fish in the west!

Monday night on the market: After a 14 hour day - nearly two hours to steam to Lands End, fish for ten hours then a two hour steam home the Wiffer is happy to be sticking tallies on a good haul of pollack...

over 14 tons of black gold, as cuttles are known up in Brixham, leave their mark on the market floor......

and the boxes used to store them aboard the boat, young Nicky Cripps has the task of box washing for the night...

in the process of creating the first in a series of planned podcasts for his new Passion For Seafood blog, Mike Warner tries to put into words the stunning quality of the pollack landed from the day boats...

like these Couch's bream...

brilliant blonde ray wings...

 and this superb Mediterranean octopus...

just a small selection of the fish up for auction this morning...

and what a morning too...

an intense range of pink and purple hues...

 filled the sky and harbour waters...

more than enough to put a big smile on the face of David Hichens skipper of the James RH Stevenson...

and Syrus working the whipping drum of the winch...

to land their haul of 250 boxes in just four days at sea...

and, despite everything, it's all smiles from Dale...

as he helps the guys land well over 300 boxes of cuttles...

he even gets a smile from Roger...

as he and Ian, wearing yet another hat, push and pull the fish onto the market.

Monday morning in Newlyn.

 

Dark enough at 6:30am...

though the boats are always flood their decks with plenty of light...

inside the market there are more than the average range of fish on offer this morning starting with ray carcasses and dogfish for bait...

a good shot of ray from the Shiralee...

cuttlefish and stars...

these little guys share the same name as the title of a film starring Michael Caine in action at the battle of Rorke's Drift...

bass a-plenty from trawlers and handliners this morning ...

along with some late season John Dory...

always good to see the boss man putting his back into it...

the very best in line caught bass...

both auctioneers in action...

with a fridge full of mackerel...

the odd herring...

and grey mullet...

thew St Georges landed a few big turbot...

along with...

  several tons of cuttles...

which keeps young Mr Washer busy washing...

after working through the night after landing the Twilight young Paul reaches for a mug of tea, with a day's work ahead re-building the port side beam trawl...

Mousehole Fish have bass today!..

while the best squid went to Fish for Thought...

and the plaice to Trelawney...

light in the sky at last...

as work on the port side beam trawl gets underway...

it's a better start to the week...

and the harbour offices are almost glowing...

as the moon gives way to the sun...

Coddiwompole,  a new Art Gallery is about to open opposite the fish market...

not the best weekend to celebrate...

timber!..

please don't borrow any more of our shed...

more light in the sky...

as the sun breaks cover...

the Twilight at dawn...

having gone to such great lengths and expense to create the wonderful wavy roof on the Jubilee Poolside Cafe they then go and add a huge steel air extraction system on the roof...

by the pool...

the windows are in at last!