Big tides in Newlyn over the weekend.

Traditionally, big spring tides are when the deeper drafted boats take the hard to scrub off below the waterline and/or give the hull a fresh coat of anti-fouling paint...

weed grows very quickly at this time of year and those boats that spend much of their time steaming to and fro the fishing grounds like these crabbers need to do so as efficiently as possible - heavy weed growth can reduce the speed of a boat by two or more knots and also increases fuel consumption......

this is what the hull below the waterline should look like...

which means the crabber Bon Accord can get out to sea more quickly...

the St Ives based Keriolet caught fire in the harbour last week...

and has been rowed round to Newlyn for fire damage assessment and repairs...

the previous Keriolet was based on a 32' Cygnus hull...

though skipper Traz's first Keriolet was a 60' ex Lorient trawler, which he trawler and netted with over 20 years before she was decommissioned in the 90s...

Tom's Harvest Reaper sits neatly against the quay ready for work...

the area known as 'the hard' is now showing severe signs of erosion as a combination of scouring from the severe storms in recent ears and the odd boat running aground at inopportune moments...

has led to a banking up of silt in some places...

and exposed rocks in others...

fresh in from sea to land for Monday's market, the flagship of the Stevenson fleet; the Cornishman waits for a lorry to arrive to get her boxes offloaded to the market coldstore.

Fabulous #FishyFriday in Newlyn.

Which fish is this?..

Newlyn is always good for ray on a #FishyFriday......

while some go for Dory...

the new kid on the block opted for quality brill...

others say you can't eat a bit of bass...

monk tails don't come bigger than this...

those famous red harbour boxes...

a titanic company...

the thoughtful face of a fish buyer...

time to bid...

good to see the Karen of Ladram at a better angle this morning...

most of the fleet are in port for a poor forecast and big tides...

while the quota for haddock is still very small...

there's plenty of megrim to go round... 

there's more than a day's work to be done aboard the giant scalloper Albion...

and so, it seems, is the case with the Kilkeel based unity...

as the crew begin the lengthy process of pulling off all the bridles...

which stretch almost the length of the Mary Williams pier...

those 34 dredges need to catch a lot of scallops every day...

a trio of orange sardine boats...

the Lizard lifeboat picked up a trimaran in trouble off the Lizard and then handed her over to the Penlee boat to escort her back to Newlyn...

and a safe berth outside one of the beamers for the night...

Bon Accord, Rowse's latest addition to the crabber fleet heads for a berth against the quay to dry out...

Asteria, once a crabber, now a netter...

daylight dawns on the Karen...

the Silver Dawn is back from her major refit in Den Helder...

sporting her rebuilt and raised net shelter aft which is now 100% watertight...

bicycles, de-rigeur transport for the live-aboard netter crews...

which are all currently tied up over one of the yer's biggest tides...

tons of fish aboard the lorry about to leave for the processor...

sun-up over the bay...

bathe the Penlee lifeboat house in morning light...

along with the Ocean Pride up on the slip...

seems to be taking forever to repair the fire damage to the Fishermen's Arms...

the Unity, bow on.

 

Fisheries Discards – Waste of a Resource or a Necessary Evil?

Fisheries Discards - Waste of a Resource or a Necessary Evil?

ABSTRACT:

Fisheries discards are often seen as an enormous waste of resources and an impediment to the rebuilding of fish stocks. However, many traditional fisheries management measures have effectively encouraged discarding in an effort to enforce catch quotas and protect undersize fish or undesirable species. 

Discarding is currently a particularly contentious issue in European fisheries, prompting the European Commission to review its approach to managing discards. Of key concern is the North Sea which accounts for some of the highest discard rates in the world. It is jointly managed under two different policies (TheEuropean Common Fisheries Policy and the Norwegian Marine Resources Act). In Norwegian waters discarding is banned, whereas in EU waters discarding is widespread.To assess the ecological and economic effectiveness of the Norwegian ban on discards we examined its effect on Northeast Arctic fish stocks. These are considered to be biologically isolated from those in the North Sea, allowing for a meaningful comparison.

By analysing normalised spawning stock biomass over a 20 year period we provide evidence that the Norwegian approach in the Northeast Arctic has been more successful than the joint approach in the North Sea for the sustainable management of cod ( Gadusmorhua), haddock ( Melanogrammus aeglefinus ), saithe ( Pollachius virens ) and herring( Clupea harengus). 

By considering the short term economic costs and the current status of the North Sea fish stocks, we then ask if the Norwegian discard policy should be transferred to the North Sea stocks in order to make management of this area more effective and harmonious. Based on the results of this study we conclude that combined with a system of real time area closures and gear modifications, a ban on the discarding of cod, haddock, saithe and herring in the North Sea would provide substantial benefits to the stocks with minimal short term costs to the fishing industry. The major obstacle preventing the implementation of a discard ban would be the difficulties faced in enforcing it. However, new monitoring technology such as on board CCTV may dramatically improve compliance.

Ben Diamond & Bryce D. Beukers-Stewart

Environment Department, University of York, United Kingdom

Correspondent: bdbs@york.ac.uk 

Download the paper here:

Misty Monday morning in Newlyn.

 

Time-lapse movie- very quiet as the sun rose in the harbour this morning...

just enough breeze to ruffle flags on the prom...

and keep the gulls feeding on the shore break...

before the sun burnt off the mist rolling out from Newlyn Combe...

solid looking new net drum...

the Unity's doors are ashore again...

stones that fell out of the cod end big enough to put the dents in the fish pounds...

interesting cloud formations overhead this morning...

bit like Goldilocks...

the long-promised fuel berth is nearly up and running...

with its environmental hazard gear in place...

including a barrier to contain any spilt fuel...

an overview of the new compounds.