Learning the ropes

Would be good to see more classic yachts around the place - understanding which rope does what in the rigging of sailboats is where the saying, 'knowing the ropes' comes from...

Ghanain boys on the Stelissa landing a 350 box trip of hake in 32˚C, anyone would think it was cold...

slightly cheaper fisheries patrol boat to run than the St Piran heads in...

while the St Georges is still undergoing a major overhaul...

the crabbers Chris Tacha and Bon Accord between trips

relief skipper Scotty says git it to me...

and shows his young crewman how to splice two ends together - again...

Ocean Fish's star ship Enterprise heads for the gaps.

 

As the fine weather continues Monday morning sees most of the fleet at sea

with the morning market supplied with a shot of hake from the Silver Dawn...

and a myriad of local inshore boats with the full range of top quality fish like these big turbot..

 from the Annie May...

the aptly named spurdog...

inshore trawlers piled in with plenty of red bream...

red mullet...

red gurmard...

and this solitary greater weaver still sporting its painful poisinous dorsal spines...

ray seems to be holding up well this late in the summer...

while a few of the top bass men kept one merchant well stocked with that king of fish, nor prizes what they will be serving at the Fish Kitchen later tonight..

visiting Irish beam trawler Tilly landed a cracking trip of Dovers...

whole monk...

and witches along with the megrims...

young Mr Nowell was top dog on the John Dory stakes...

while the Still Waters presented his quality haul of white fish...

haddock seems to be not so much a thing this year...

and mackerel are still proving difficult to find let alone catch - though when they do put an appearance in the size run has been good for the restaurant trade...

just two of the cracking bass landed...

it's still early days with the sardine boats...

the odd black bream swam over the footrope and down to the cod on the Millenia

along with plenty of brill...

the vivier lorry...

took tons of cab from the Nichola of Ladram...

head down, sounds on, net mending blues...

as the Ocean Pride made a quick landing for tomorrow's market.

 

Shout out to skippers! Please complete the Defra Celtic Sea survey.

By way of derogation from baseline measures within UK waters of the Celtic Sea Protection Zone area (7f, 7g, the part of 7h North of latitude 49° 30' North and the part of 7j North of latitude 49° 30' North and East of longitude 11° West

 

Take the survey here:

The government’s objectives in the Celtic Sea mixed fishery are to improve selectivity in the fishery as a whole, help enable depleted stocks such as cod and whiting to recover, and to enable the continuation of a sustainable fishery. 

Following talks with with industry, the UK developed a package of technical measures for otter trawl and bottom seine vessels in UK waters. These measures are expected to be introduced on 5 September 2021 (MMO 2020 New Fisheries Technical Measures). The changes to the technical measures in the Celtic Sea planned for September do not affect Nephrops-directed fisheries. This consultation is about a possible further set of technical measures that does affect vessels targeting Nephrops.

This consultation focusses on possible changes to technical measures relevant to vessels targeting Nephrops, also known as Norway lobster or langoustine, in UK waters in the Celtic Sea. We would like to invite your views and responses in relation to the proposed changes and we will consider these in detail in deciding whether to implement changes to existing measures and if so, what the changes should be. We anticipate that amendments to these measures will be implemented later this year.

We are working closely with Welsh Government on this, as the technical measures are relevant to both the English and Welsh zones of British Fishery limits in the Celtic Sea. We will share the responses to this consultation with them, as well as keeping Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive informed.

Take the survey here:

The following technical measures, applied to Nephrops-directed fisheries in the Celtic Sea area in UK waters, are under review*:

 

Vessels operating with bottom trawls or seines with catches comprising more than 5% of Nephrops shall use one of the following gear options: 

• 300 mm square mesh panel with a cod-end of at least 80 mm mesh size; vessels below 12 meters in length over all may use a 200 mm square mesh panel; Seltra panel; 
•  Sorting grid with a 35 mm bar spacing as referred to in Annex VI Part B to Regulation (EU) 2019/1241;
•  100 mm cod-end with a 100 mm square mesh panel;
• Dual cod-end with the uppermost cod-end constructed with T90 mesh of at least 90 mm and fitted with a separation panel with a maximum mesh size of 300 mm.” 

  *These measures are currently applied through legislation (retained EU regulation 2019/2239) but as of 5 September 2021 will be applied through vessel licence conditions; this follows from other changes to retained EU law to allow selectivity improvements in the Celtic Sea otter trawl and bottom seine fisheries to be applied in UK waters.

This consultation will run for 4 weeks from 16 July to 13 August 2021.

South Marine Plan three-yearly report published

 

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is pleased to announce that the first Three-Year Report on the South Marine Plan was published by Defra on 14 July 2021.

The South Marine Plan was adopted in July 2018. The publication of the Report marks the conclusion of over 12 months of work in gathering data, analysing the findings and reporting on the effectiveness, and effects, of the plan policies, including the wider changes in context. The report also considers the progress made towards achieving the Plan objectives and the High Level Marine Objectives (HLMOs) as set out in the Marine Policy Statement.

The Report identified that whilst the policy landscape has changed since 2018, the Plan remains relevant and broadly aligned with national and local priorities. Positive progress has also been made towards embedding the Plan within the decision-making process. Similarly, the Report shows positive findings regarding the implementation of the Plan, with signs that many of the specific plan policies are having their intended effect.

The MMO and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are currently considering the future of marine plans. The outcome does not have a bearing on the conclusion of the Report. In the future, it may be relevant to consider the conclusions again, in line with a future scope of marine plan preparation.

The Rt Hon George Eustice MP Secretary of State Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs agreed with the MMOs recommendation that the South Plan is to be retained and not amended at this time.

Click here for the first Three-Year Report for the South Marine Plan.

If you have any comments or questions please get in touch with a member of the team.

Flat calm #FishyFriday in Newlyn.

It's a mirror-like morning in Newlyn...

with many of the beam trawl fleet in between trips...

local crabbers rely on fish like the lesser spotted dogfish which the beam trawlers catch plenty of during the course of a week at sea...

those red spots are a giveaway to identifying a popular flatfish, the plaice...

coming near top for the miserable look are ling...

while these monk would head up the toothy grin look if they hadn't been beheaded at sea...

a brace of plaice...

a brace of brill...

and a box of John Dory which are still proving somewhat elusive for the like of young Mr Nowell...

landings of ray continue to bolster the trips of the inshore boats...

along with a smattering of red mullet...

and even a box of stray cuttles...

while the big beam trawler Sapphire II picked up a few boxes of langoustine indicating that she was working way west of the Scillys...

name this fish...

there's good living to be made longlining for conger - if only there was a decent market for them these days...

it seems recently that the big beam trawlers are making big landings of small megrim and lemon soles at this time of year

which fish is this?..

a solid mornings work with lines produced a good haul of decent bass for the punt Nikki Lou...

while the Bacon's brought back a good haul of pollack...

the bigger of these two blues was probably hiding in small rocky crevices about the time man first walked on the moon, such is the longevity of shellfish like lobsters...

mackerel are still proving difficult to locate in the bay...

visiting Irish beam trawler Tilly berthed alongside the largest boat n the Newlyn fleet...

Jeremy's tugboat sporting her new winch...

looks like orange is no longer the preferred colour for some of the fleet... 

so all hands are guessing if the zinc-coated St Georges will be following suit...

the Bridgewater registered Irene has been trading from nearby Penzance since 1907.