Dutch and French seiners seen fishing south west of Newlyn.

Three seine netters are currently fishing around 45 miles south west of Newlyn, the French boat Arpege...

and the Dutch boats Polar and...

Lub Senior. Historically, there have only been two Cornish boats using the same fishing gear, both worked form Newlyn in the 1980s...

Jim Nixon's very traditional wooden Scarlet Thread...

and Robert George's more modern Sputnik steel-hulled Dew-Genen-Ny...

neither of those vessels compare to the huge modern seiners that have become the norm in recent years, all capable of travelling and fishing in heavy weather and with much larger nets.  

AIS picks out the tracks of the diamond pattern of each seine net 'set'.

Seine netting requires relatively clean ground to fish as the combination sweeps cover a huge area during the hauling process as they herd fish towards the net as it is drawn closer to the boat. There are plenty of WWII wrecks and patches of hard and stone-laden grounds in the Western Approaches that restrict seiners from operating in many areas.

These boats are already coming under scrutiny from many French inshore fishing organisations fearful that they will adversely affect the fishing viability of day and short trip French boats working close inshore, many of whom are between 10-15m and heavily restricted by weather and tides as all inshore skippers know only too well.

Falfish sold to Morrisons.

 

The Bradford-based supermarket has bought the family-owned wholesaler of sustainably sourced seafood based in Cornwall, which has been a supplier of fresh fish and shellfish to Morrisons for over 16 years.

Approximately 50 per cent of Falfish’s circa £40 million turnover is with Morrisons and the firm also owns a 30ft trawler, the Jacqui A, which means that Morrisons will, we believe, become the first British supermarket ever to own a fishing boat.

A spokesperson said: "For customers, the acquisition will mean further improvements to the range, quality and availability of fresh fish and shellfish at our Market Street counters and represents another significant investment in fresh food and foodmaking when others are retreating from counters. Following the deal over 80 per cent of Morrisons fish and shellfish - both in our 497 stores and in our online business - will come from Morrisons wholly owned seafood operations."

Falfish operates from two sites in Redruth and Falmouth docks on the south Cornish coast and is owned by the founder Ian Greet and his son Mark who is the Managing Director.

The business has long-term relationships with the owners and skippers of over 70 partner boats in the South West who land their total catch direct to Falfish. Falfish’s buyers also buy direct from the three key South West fish markets in Newlyn, Plymouth and Brixham.

Andrew Thornber, Morrisons Manufacturing Director said: “Falfish is a great fit with Morrisons; not only is it a great British company supplying high quality fish and shellfish, but they also share our passion for sustainability and for local sourcing.

“Bringing Falfish into Morrisons further strengthens our position as Britain’s biggest foodmaker. Our manufacturing operations employ c. 9,000 people at 19 sites throughout Britain, providing around 25 per cent of everything that Morrisons sells. The acquisition of Falfish means that over 80 per cent of our fish and shellfish will now come from our own operations.”

Mark Greet, Falfish’s Managing Director, said: “Falfish has been a supplier to Morrisons since 2004 and over the years this has become a very strong partnership. For my father Ian and our family, as part of the Cornish community, this acquisition ensures the continuing ethos of Falfish in upholding our relationships and values, and strengthens this for our colleagues, for the South West fishing fleet, and for all of our customers and stakeholders. The acquisition is great news for Falfish’s Cornish operations and the wider community, bringing investment and access to many new opportunities.”

Falfish processes a range of 56 wild and farmed frozen and fresh seafood from British waters and the South West coastline. Its fish range includes turbot, sea bass, monkfish, Dover sole and hake and its shellfish range includes lobster, king scallops, crab, cuttlefish and whelks. Falfish’s customers include Morrisons, the UK restaurant trade and significant exports to Europe and the Far East.

Squire Patton Boggs advised Morrisons on the acquisition, with lawyers Hannah Kendrick and Louise Parker providing the counsel.

Ed. Morrison's of Penzance is now the only supermarket in Penwith to run a wet fish counter.

Industry Questions DEFRA Complicity With ENGOs

 

In an open letter to fisheries minister Victoria Prentis and her colleagues at DEFRA, South-West FP chief executive Jim Portus has questioned the value of a dialogue with the UK authorities, since they appear to be complicit in failing to act when presented with clear lawbreaking.

‘The Captain of the Greenpeace vessel Esperanza, dumped large boulders illegally on the seabed off Brighton. This follows earlier action on the Dogger Bank,’ Jim Portus wrote to the Minister.

‘This action was witnessed, but not prevented, by the fisheries protection assets under the control of the MMO,’ he said, adding that there has also been no action taken in response to previous similar stunts on the Dogger Bank.

‘The boulders are a hazard to the lawful operations of UK and EU fishing vessels. You have a duty to protect the fishing industry from such hostile activities. Your lack of action against Greenpeace is seen as dereliction. Greenpeace 1, fishing industry nil!’

He commented that there appears little point in the industry engaging with officials in any form of co-management when they see what looks to be evident support for eNGOs that take the law into their own hands.

‘We have a meeting with your officials and those from the devolved administrations on Monday 1st March. The point of that meeting is being questioned. It is our hope that we receive by then a powerful signal that you wish for the success of meaningful dialogue that leads to the establishment of sustainable fisheries management plans that are not only created as a genuine partnership but are also intended to enable the fishing industry to prosper,’

 Jim Portus said in the industry’s open letter to the Minister and DEFRA.

‘It is my hope that withdrawal from such dialogue can be averted. look forward to your response to Greenpeace.’

Sole searching.

Derricks raised, the Brixham beam trawler,  Julie of Ladram makes her way to the gaps...

to land a big trip of Dover sole...

 from the Bristol Channel...

with big tides most of the fleet are in and landed...

though the crabbing fleet stop for nothing...

one visiting scalloper Debbie V...

while on the Julie it's all eyes down the fishroom guiding up the boxes...

where even if skipper Shaun doesn't exactly look over the moon...

relief skipper Nathan Marshall seems happy enough despite the fact that, unlike his old skipper Billy Worth's new Ocean Fish flagship Enterprise... 

Nathan can only land four not eight boxes at a time, so his 167 boxes of Dover sole and 223 of other mixed fish while take a while to put ashore...

for Monday's market in Brixham (the trip made much lees than expected - on a normal market it would almost certainly have been the port record)...

not that Nathan's two boys seem over impressed either, they just want Dad home...

but not before the job is done...

some parts of the fleet are turning orange...

that's two lorries bound for Brixham...

the Ivan Ellen is back ready to relieve the relief boat...

Crystal Sea has her doors ashore...

busy enough down the quay...

yet again the flags in the harbour...

fly at half mast...

Monday sees a hazy start to the day...

with plenty of top quality inshore fish up for auction...

there's a good mix of white fish...

the odd cod...

but big trips of rays for the inshore trawlers who have the knowledge and ear to target them...

this time of year is when many species spawn on selected grounds, hence the boxes of big roes from fish like pollack and cod...

hake, however are a different kettle of fish, they spawn from around February all the way through to July......

at this time of year there are more profitable fish to target than cuttles...

name that ray...

pollack are plentiful at this time of year as they head for their favourite spawning ground...

while these little chaps...

get much attention form the Belgian and local beam trawlers that have quota for them in the Channel - and the Navy's fisheries protection boat has arrived on the scene to referee proceedings.....

the Immy stuck to targeting ray...

while Ocean Fish's new Enterprise made the long steam down to the deep waters SW of Newlyn to target the increasingly popular Cornish aka, megrim sole...

and a good few boxes of monk...

all the inshore boats had good shots of grund fosh...

while Brackan on the Spirited Lady decided to hunt for haddock...

and the New Venture landed a very impressive 12 boxes of Dovers...

now if only I had known...

there's a few mackerel around at the moment...

and the odd bass...

and an even more lonesome black bream...

lemons are always worth picking up...

our annual Canadian visitors, the turnstones, pick over the market scraps...

and everyone is happy in their work it seems, that's what happens when you work smart not hard.

Live shellfish exports to the EU - who knew what and when?

Seems someone somewhere didn't do their homework.

The EU shellfish issue has further exposed the total incompetence of those who campaigned for Brexit and, having ‘taken back control’, now find themselves in positions of power. In what must surely rank as one of the most humiliating letters ever received by a UK government minister, DEFRA Secretary George Eustice has had to be schooled in his own advice by EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides.

Former UKIP member Eustice had written to Ms Kyriakides on 8 February, claiming to have been “surprised that the Commission has changed its position” on the question of importing live, bivalve molluscs for depuration from waters classified as ‘Class B’ into the EU.

The minister argued that the trade should be allowed to continue, suggesting the EU had somehow sprung a ban on Britain’s shell fishermen.

“We can see no scientific or technical justification for this change and the news was conveyed to us rather casually and after the event. This is not in the collaborative and cooperative spirit in which we wish to work together going forward”, he complained.

EU Commissioner Stella Kyriakides wrote back (below) two days later, gently reminding the hapless Eustice that he himself has personally written and signed a letter to stakeholders on 10 December setting out the precise position, the one he was claiming to have been ‘surprised’ by, with crystal clarity. 

Eustice had clearly either not read or not understood his own advice to UK stakeholders.

Imagine, writing a letter of complaint, only to be shown your own letter from two months earlier as evidence that there was nothing to be complained of.

Pointing out the EU was only applying the same rules that had been in force when Britain was a member, Kyriakides’ response contained this ignominious paragraph:

“This was rightly pointed out in your letter of 10 December 2020 to UK businesses updating them on the Border Operating Model and specifically on Prohibitions and Restrictions applicable following the end of the transition period on 1 January 2021. In your letter, you correctly underlined that the export of live bivalve molluscs from Class B production areas for further depuration in the EU would not be allowed.”

There it was under his very own signature:

See the relevant section of the advice from Eustice to fishermen on 10 December below. Extract from George Eustice’s letter to stakeholders 10 December 2020 The EU Commissioner ended her letter:

“I hope that this clarifies the EU requirements that have applied for many years to the import of live bivalve molluscs from third countries into the EU, and which do now apply to such imports from Great Britain and the UK Crown Dependencies.”

Former Labour MEP Richard Corbett said:

“The hypocrisy and incompetence of Tory Brexit ministers is jaw dropping. They wanted Brexit, told us ‘Brexit means Brexit’, and now complain about the consequences of Brexit!

“Did they not think that the EU would continue to apply its rules – rules that Britain helped create as a member? Did they believe that walking out of the EU would mean that it would waive its rules in favour of a non-member?”

It seems that not only did MP George Eustice know last year that the UK shellfish industry would encounter export problems but the rest of UK govt knew this months ago and appears to have tried to hide the fact. Ten weeks ago Eustice circulating a researched briefing with warnings to Government colleagues on the impossibility of exporting (live shellfish untreated) after 1st January 2021.