Monday morning auction on Newlyn fish market.

 

Newlyn netters riding high at high water on a big spring tide...

looks like work in progress on the Stelissa...

as the crew of the Algrie overhaul her beam trawls on deck...

pulling sold fish off the market...

skipper Billy Worth and his preference for landing directly to the fish market at high water...

while Jeremy and crew on the inshore crabber Nazarene prepare boxes of bait for what will be a scuffly day on the pots...

that's a specimen JD from the New Venture...

plenty of plaice from the beam trawl boats...

along with a handful of big monk tails...

and specimen plaice...

soles are the staple catch of beam trawlerers, both Dover...

and megrim, most of which are exported to Spain...

Covid-19 cover-up...

young Roger cannot leave those JDs alone...

nice trip from the inshore trawler Milennia...

some of the handliners from St Ives saw a few more mackerel on their hooks over the weekend...

while the Newlyn buccas in Mounts Bay went jigging for squid...

or pollack...

a good shot of Dovers from the Men Dhu...

looks like Tom on the Harvest Reaper picked up a couple of good boxes of JDs from under Roger's nose - Tom's well-known artist mum, Daphne has an exhibition of her work at the Cornwall Contemporary Gallery in Penzance from this week through to November 14th...

a brace of big butts from the Cornishman...

a ghostly looking eel...

just the one bass from Tom...

but plenty of ray wings...

good to see big monk heads being landed rather than put back to feed the crabs.

CFPO Youth Board gives fresh perspective on future of fishing

CFPO Youth Board gives fresh perspective on future of fishing 

A pioneering group of young fishermen from Cornwall engage Fisheries Minister Victoria Prentis and senior Defra officials in an open conversation as they begin to help chart a new course for future fisheries policy and management.

Recently, members of the Cornish Fish Producers’ Organisation (CFPO) Youth Board were joined on Zoom by Fisheries Minister, Victoria Prentis MP and Defra officials - marking a pivotal moment for young voices in the fishing industry. The Youth Board puts young fishermen in Cornwall at the heart of decision-making - providing honest, forward-facing feedback as they develop programmes to encourage young entrants into the fishing industry, and shape future policies that will directly affect their own careers. For the first time since the formation of the Board in September 2019, members shared their concerns, ideas and future aspirations with policy decision-makers at the highest levels.

Fisheries Minister Victoria Prentis shared her support for the Youth Board:

“It was wonderful to hear the views of a new generation of fishermen. Leaving the EU gives us an opportunity to design a new domestic fishing policy that protects our marine environment while allowing our fishing industry to thrive. It is by listening to the Youth Board and other young fishermen across the UK that we will realise this ambition for a prosperous future.”

The one-hour meeting began with the Minister’s opening remarks, followed by the Youth Board as they outlined their top three priorities when looking ahead at their future in fishing. Their priorities focused on career progression, (which included suggestions for a help-to-buy scheme for acquiring vessels and a community-owned approach to improve management for future quota allocations), the importance of flexible regulations and the need for genuine co-management, which puts fishermen at the heart of fisheries management and policy development.

Joel Dunn, a Skipper and owner of an U10 vessel in Cornwall who has for aspirations owning a new vessel but is struggling to access quota, said: 

“We need to knock down the barrier for young fishermen going beyond the U10-metre fleet. It’s pretty impossible for myself and other fishermen to break into owning quota and going over 10m and this stops the natural progression in the industry. People can’t fill my shoes because I’m not going anywhere.”

The Board went on to question the Minister about opportunities for flexibility in regulations and co-management. Will Treener, a Skipper from Newlyn, asked: 

“If the distribution or abundance of a species changes, will the UK be flexible in their management approach to enable fishermen to take advantage of new fishing opportunities, if the science allows for it?”. 

Following Will’s question, another fisherman from Newlyn, Tom Lambourn, highlighted the industry’s eagerness to engage in fisheries science processes: 

“As young fishermen we’re very willing to count fish, and if you open an existing fishery or a new fishery, we can all work together to manage that. Let us provide the data you need to ensure the fishery is managed in a sustainable way.”

After listening to the Board’s questions, Minister Prentis said future policies will be rooted in ‘ground-up management’ and that “fishermen have a really important role to play in the new way we make policy with fisheries management plans…you have a louder voice if you work together.”

The conversation moved on to a further 40-minute in-depth discussion with senior policy officials. Defra signalled there would be a number of innovative ideas put forward in consultations and were keen to maintain an open dialogue between the group and themselves to ensure their feedback was captured.

Paul Trebilcock, CEO of the CFPO, welcomed the opportunity to keep the channels of communication open with the Youth Board:

“Fishing policy is rapidly evolving as we come through the Brexit process it is fundamental that policy changes are rooted in the needs of the industry going forward and are aligned with the needs of the next generation of sustainable fishermen.”

James Roberts, a young Skipper from Newlyn, commented on the value of the Youth Board: 

“Even though we’re in the early stages of putting our ideas together I really feel like we’re achieving so much. I think this is because we're able to look ahead and not at our past.

The webinar closed with an invitation from Paul Trebilcock to young fishermen throughout the South West to join the Youth Board – saying that it wasn’t exclusive to CFPO members.

Tom Lambourn explained the Youth Board’s vision for the future 

“The Youth Board is in its preliminary stages but the view is to have it as another platform to be heard. As the Youth Board is sitting in front of you now, it’s clear that it’s working. It shouldn’t be closed to Cornwall, the idea that it goes much further than that and we can all be heard together.”

Fine #FishyFriday in Newlyn.

It's a fine start to #FishyFriday...

with Tristan's MSC certified hake landed from the Silver Dawn looking good on the market this morning...

along with a tidy collection of spurdogs landed under the auspices of a project run in conjunction with the Shark Trust and the Cornwall Good Seafood Guide...

the inshore trawler Millenia has a reputation for putting good shots of ray ashore and this morning was no exception...

pristine pollack always look good on ice...

as do these plaice...

top quality squid...

and a dinner-plate sized turbot will no doubt be gracing the plates of some lucky diners this evening...

soles like these Dovers...

and megrim are the mainstay of quality fish landed in Newlyn by both beam trawlers and trawlers alike...

in the process the beam trawl fleet land plenty of these small gurnard which these days help keep the local crabbing fleet well supplied with bait...

the larger sized fish are just as sought after as other prime fish like John Dory...

name that tail...

the beam trawler Resurgam has been put up on the hard to allow access below the waterline at low water...

while the rest of the Stevenson fleet enjoy the warmth of the rising sun this morning...

looking west, the light is much cooler looking towards that part of the town known as Trewarveneth in Cornish (farm/Manor) - the first street on the right as you ascend the short rise from the Canners Slip is Trewarveneth Street

and one of Stevenson's old wooden trawlers was so named and has a wall plaque at the foot of the street...

most of the netting fleet are in port as the spring tides make their presence felt...

the auction over fish are transferred to the waiting transport...

there's a Dutchman on the quay from the Luyt Group who have recently completed to major refits on the netters Silver Dawn and Stelissa...

evidence of more major refit work can be found further down thew quay as Rowse's engineers continue their work stripping the ex-trawler Aztec BA244 and preparing her for a new career potting...

the largest of the Rowse fleet, the Emma Louise prepared to deploy more pots at sea...

Ocean Fish's mini-scalloper le Men Dhu has changed over to fishing with 3m beams...

which necessitates plenty of spare everything being kept to hand...

having just returned from her refit in Holland, the netter Stelissa now needs to board all her fishing gear in order to undergo the mandatory stability or 'roll-test' as it is known - the boat is made to roll heavily and the length of time each roll takes to right is averaged and from that the surveyor makes a judgment as to the boat's stability - this is necessary as she has just had major work carried out on her transom stern and net pound which is now completely watertight...

"fire in the sky"...

more of a subtle rose-pink than deep purple...

the harbour is never short of colour studies.