Proposed bass measures for 2020

TAC regulations are expected to be published in January 2020.

The new TAC regulations are expected to be published later in January 2020. In the meantime current regulations still apply.

This means that in January 2020:

• commercial bass fisheries limits remain as outlined in 2019 bass authorisation letters
• for recreational bass fisheries it is catch and release only

The 2019 bass guidance can be viewed here

What bass measures we expect to happen in 2020

Following the Agriculture and Fisheries Council of the 16-17 December 2019 the MMO expects the following rules will apply to bass fisheries.

Commercial bass fisheries

• All commercial bass fishing in ICES divisions 4b, 4c, 7d, 7e, 7f and 7h and in waters within 12 nautical miles from baselines under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom in ICES divisions 7a and 7g will require an authorisation to retain bass. 
• Commercial bass fishing will be prohibited during February to March 2020.

The MMO will be writing to all fishing vessel owners with a revised authorisation to catch and retain bass and will provide further guidance on our website once the 2020 TAC regulations are published. In the meantime, current authorisation letters from 2019 are valid.

Bass will continue not to be subject to the landings obligation. Any bass caught above the quantity a vessel is authorised to land and any undersized bass must be discarded.

There will be changes to the limits that can be landed by authorised vessels:

Change for trawl

• by-catch with an increased by-catch cap (the 1% per day will be increased to 5% per fishing trip). The cap will be increased from 400kg over two months to 520kg over two months.

Change for seines by-catch 

• increase from the monthly cap of 210 kg, (the 1% per day limit will be increased to 5% per fishing trip) to 520kg over two months.

Hook and line 

• increased from 5.5 tonnes to 5.7 tonnes per annum.

Fixed gillnetting 

• the limit of 1.4 tonnes will remain in 2020.

Recreational bass fisheries

• For recreational fisheries, including from shore, in ICES divisions 4b, 4c, 6a, 7a to 7k a limit of two fish per day from 1 March to 30 November 2020 may be landed.

Recreational fishers will be limited to catch and release only during January, February and December 2020.

Full detailed guidance will be published once the TAC regulation are published. 

For further information please contact: bass@marinemanagement.org.uk

TV and Film focus on Cornwall's fishing industry.

Fishing, fishermen and fishing communities have always provided a rich source of narrative for artists, writers and filmmakers. Over the years generations have enjoyed a visual feast of creative output devoted to the fishing industry and the characters within, from Ealing Studios' Johnny Frenchman, various Pathé News and Post Office information shorts, the 1980s drama Heather Anne starring Susan Penhaligan and then the documentary, The Skipper, which charted the life of legendary beam, trawl skipper Roger Nowell. More recently TV channels have brought more gritty realism to our screens with Trawler Wars and The Catch which featured the ups and downs of the netting fleet in Newlyn. 

Last night, Mevagissey was the first port of call for BBC2's opening programme of six that takes a close look at the wide variety of fishing communities that are one of the main reasons millions of tourists are drawn to the unique county every year...

Luke Pavey filming at Newlyn

filmed on various locations by Fred Windsor-Clive for FolkFilms the series, (one of six hour long programmes) opened the action aboard...

boats in the Mevagissey fleet like Dave Warwick's Valhalla...

and the growing number of young skippers in the port like Jack West aboard the Anne Louise...

carefully contrasted against wise old hands like Malcolm Saunders who've wrung more seawater from his sea-boot socks than most...

the port, bucking the trend in decline seen in many bigger ports now boasts nearly fifty working fishing vessels...

but ashore, times have changed in the port and as Malcolm said, "at one time I knew 75% of the people in the village, now it's the other way round" - tourism, tourists and second or holiday home owners have changed the dynamic of the village and forced up house prices hugely so many fishermen are forced to live 'up the hill' in affordable houses overlooking the harbour...

all of which was the subject for Mark Jenkin's superb and dark at times short film Bait, which having been showcased at several major film festivals in Europe and the USA and given high praise by the likes of TV and film critic Mark Kermode who cited it as "one of the defining films of the decade" is now up for not one but two BAFTA awards! 

Proof, if it was ever needed, over the importance of maintaining a vibrant fishing industry not only the future of fishing communities but also for the millions of tourists visiting Cornwall and for creative people to continue to draw on (or paint, film or photograph) for many years to come.

'Cornwall: This Fishing Life' starts on BBC2 tonight.

Filmed over the course of a year, Cornwall: This Fishing Life brings every aspect of the Cornish fishing industry to the big screen in your house starting tomorrow night on BBC2 at 8pm.

Cornwall: This Fishing LifeSeries 1 Episode 1 of 6

Whilst other fishing communities are feeling the pinch, Mevagissey on Cornwall’s south coast bucks the trend, with 74 working boats in the harbour.

Protected from the prevailing winds, with fish stocks that are beginning to return, and with boats being handed down from father to son, Meva is blessed.

Fishing is in the blood here - for more than 250 years the men of Meva have followed their fathers to sea, eager to honour the family traditions. Now the next generation of ambitious young skippers are ready to make a go of it.

Jack West fished with his dad growing up, and the family have decided the time is right to invest in Jack. Having spent thousands on the Anne Louise, the pressure is on to get out to sea and start earning some money.

The Galwady Mor is owned by one of Mevagissey’s most successful fishing families, the Blameys.

27-year-old Chris is the fourth generation to go to sea. This year he takes over the responsibility of skippering the Galwady from his father Peter. The passing down of a lifetime’s knowledge is priceless, but Chris knows he will face different challenges to his dad. Whilst fish stocks are returning to Meva, there is not the abundance there once was.

Mevagissey is a village built on fish - pilchards in particular. Once, everyone was after them. Now tourism is the main industry. The village is dominated by second homes and holiday lets, and the place is all but empty in winter.

One of the impacts has been on crew. With local housing pricing young men out, and a steady income – not something associated with fishing - needed to get a mortgage, there aren’t the young men lining up on the quay any more.

Dave Warwick on the Valhalla is one of the skippers looking for crew, and has to take the risk of skippering his boat solo until he can find some. He is limited to working the well-fished inshore waters until he can find men made of the right stuff.

Meanwhile, Malcolm Saunders is winding down after a long career at sea. Malcolm grew up when fish stocks were plentiful and he got his fill – and made a lot of money. But with the toll a lifetime away at sea took on his family, he is not sure he made the right decisions, and wonders whether the next generation of skippers will learn from his mistakes.

Next week the action moves to Newlyn and the small fleet of boats that set sail as the sun goes down to hunt for Cornish sardines.

First Monday morning fish auction at Newlyn for 2020.

Plenty of fish on the market this morning...

with MSC Certified hake...

and some big cod form the netter Stelissa...

along with ground fish from the beam trawler St Georges...

name the fish...

black and red inshore trawl fish...

and plenty of ray...

along with a few bass...

some of the boats wing their ray at sea...

good shot of tub gurnard from the netter...

with bait supplies hard to come by the beam trawl fleet are now obliging the crabbers with monk heads...

tools of the handline trade...

beautifully marked, now name that ray...

the St Georges  landed a full trip of flats including Dover sole... 

lemons and megrims...

while the netter Britannia V landed a good shot of big haddock to go with her hake...

plenty of handline mackerel came in over the weekend...

all that mucus on that shiny skin tells you that this fish is as fresh as it gets...

two types of shark to ID...

the odd John Dory are still about to be caught over the winter months...

along with plaice...

only a handful of boats in port tis morning, mainly those that landed at the weekend.

First 2020 weekend in Newlyn.

Good to see young Ben keeping an eye on the harbour over the first weekend of 2020...

there were also plenty of twitchers...

keeping an eye on a couple of unusual visitors...

RX50, the as-yet-to-be-named new boat for the Curtis family after they sold away the Elisabeth Veronique...

Interfish landing the Plymouth beamer Admiral Gordon...

Barry lifeboat, Inner Wheel

heading for the gaps...

followed by the new Curtis trawler...

the Algrie, one of the port's oldest vessels still working...

through the gaps 2020 style...

all the boats in the fleet will be taking this as a sign of good fishing...

at times, fishing seems all about searching for that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow...

though the Sara Shaun's days of doing so are over.

Fishing will be the barometer for round one of Brexit talks.

Looks like London will pay host to the next stage of Brexit negotiations post January 31st according to the Guardian newspaper:

Negotiations on the future relationship are expected to start in earnest in early March. EU member states are due to adopt their negotiating position on issues such as trade in goods, fisheries, security and level playing field demands on 25 February after the publication of a draft paper in the first week of the month.

On fisheries, the political declaration obliges the EU and the UK to make “best endeavours” to agree on future access to British waters by 1 July, but Brussels sources are sceptical as to whether such a deal can be struck in that time.

“Without an agreement on fish, there will not be a deal – the price for a trade deal is the level playing field demands and fishing rights,” said an EU source. “But in reality, we don’t have to agree it by the summer, just the end of the year.”

Gerard van Balsfoort, the chair of the European Fisheries Alliance, a lobby group representing the fishing fleets of the member states most affected by Brexit, said there needed to be certainty each year on the allocation.

“Of course, if the UK is outside the EU, it will have their own fisheries policy and they will be an independent coastal state, and everything will not remain the same,” he said.

“But the real issue with fisheries is where can you fish, and how much. And with these two things, it is easy: we have the quota sharing set in stone. And we want an agreement that reflects what we have now.

“You can ask whether that is realistic, but the UK points to Norway. With Norway, the quotas are set in stone. There is an allocation key from the early 1980s. And that hasn’t changed.”

An EU source said: “In reality, if we can’t agree on fish then we really are in trouble.”

Full story courtesy of the Guardian here:

Christmas day in Newlyn.

Christmas morning in Newlyn...

and while many families are opening presents and enjoying breakfast, spare a thought for all those seafarers far from home and away from their families. A big shout out to all those guys from the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Latvia and other nations that keep our fishing fleets at sea.