Newlyn landings and average prices from May 18th to May 21st, 2026.

Preparing to load the grader with Dover sole

• May 18, 2026 (Monday):

  • Total Weight: $44,061.50\text{kg}$

  • Total Value: $\pounds 262,490.66$

  • Average Price: $\pounds 5.96\text{/kg}$

• May 19, 2026 (Tuesday):

  • Total Weight: $27,496.76\text{kg}$

  • Total Value: $\pounds 168,183.95$

  • Average Price: $\pounds 6.12\text{/kg}$

• May 20, 2026 (Wednesday):

  • Total Weight: $16,637.00\text{kg}$

  • Total Value: $\pounds 96,028.70$

  • Average Price: $\pounds 5.77\text{/kg}$

• May 21, 2026 (Thursday):

  • Total Weight: $7,272.28\text{kg}$

  • Total Value: $\pounds 43,890.41$

  • Average Price: $\pounds 6.04\text{/kg}$

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2. Key Features of Each Day's Landings

• May 18th (Monday) – High Volume & Octopus Dominance: This was the highest volume and value day of the week. Landings were heavily dominated by Mediterranean Octopus (Pot Caught), which contributed $40,217.74\text{kg}$ ($91.28\%$ of the day’s total weight) and $\pounds 224,785.07$ ($85.64\%$ of total value). Turbot stood out as the day's primary premium catch, bringing in $\pounds 13,907.96$ at an impressive average price of $\pounds 17.01\text{/kg}$. A total of $38$ distinct species types were landed.

• May 19th (Tuesday) – Peak Peak Diversity & Highest Average Price: While total weight declined, species diversity peaked with $54$ distinct types brought to market. Pot-caught octopus remained the top species ($14,009.84\text{kg}$), but high-value whitefish saw excellent volume; John Dory brought in $\pounds 16,613.60$ ($1,509.40\text{kg}$ at $\pounds 11.01\text{/kg}$) and Monkfish contributed $\pounds 13,550.55$. Dover Sole commanded the highest premium at $\pounds 26.07\text{/kg}$, yielding $\pounds 11,293.78$. This mix resulted in the highest overall daily average price of the week ($\pounds 6.12\text{/kg}$).

• May 20th (Wednesday) – Surge in Dover Sole & Low-Value Fillers: Landings dropped to $16,637.00\text{kg}$. Pot-caught octopus fell significantly to $5,477.80\text{kg}$. However, Dover Sole saw a massive spike in landing volume to $956.36\text{kg}$, generating $\pounds 21,979.49$ to become the second-highest financial contributor. Conversely, a large influx of Lesser Spotted Dogfish ($1,330.00\text{kg}$) sold for a negligible average price of just $\pounds 0.40\text{/kg}$, pulling the overall daily average price down to its lowest point of the week ($\pounds 5.77\text{/kg}$).

• May 21st (Thursday) – Quiet Mid-Week End: This was the quietest day of the series, showing only $19$ distinct species types and a low total volume of $7,272.28\text{kg}$. Pot-caught octopus once again made up the vast majority of the weight ($76.36\%$) and value ($69.74\%$). Hake was the main supporting species, adding $744.00\text{kg}$ valued at $\pounds 5,834.89$ ($\pounds 7.84\text{/kg}$).

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3. Weekly Summary

• Total Market Scale: Over the 4-day period, a grand total of $95,467.54\text{kg}$ of seafood was landed, generating $\pounds 570,593.72$ in total revenue.

• Price Stability: The overall weekly average price settled smoothly at $\pounds 5.98\text{/kg}$, with minimal daily fluctuations (ranging from $\pounds 5.77\text{/kg}$ to $\pounds 6.12\text{/kg}$).

• The Octopus Engine: The entire week's performance was anchored by a single fishery: Mediterranean Octopus (Pot Caught). It accounted for $65,258.76\text{kg}$ ($68.36\%$) of the total weekly weight and $\pounds 364,123.80$ ($63.81\%$) of total revenue.

A tale of two Cornishmen

Seeing this boat landing at the fish market we're reminded that there's an old saying in these parts, A Cornishman born and bred, strong in the arm and I forget the rest...

as Prince Charles on deck guides another five boxes of prime fish from taken the channel by the flagship of the fleet...

under the careful gaze of another Cornishman, father of the fleet, skipper Jimmy Barnes, seen here comfortably ensconced in his happy place...

peering out of the starboard wheelhouse window another old timer from Newlyn appears in the harbour...

headed for the iceworks...

meanwhile, the boxes of Dover sole are draggedinto the fish marrket...

graded, weighed and iced ready for the morning; auction...

in a previous life, the lengthened scalloper, was previously fished from Newlyn...

as the Girl Pat III,  by the Thomas family...

no doubt such times were discussed by young Jimmy and Mr Nudd earlier in the day!

Could Offshore wind plans could push boats out?

Fishers are competing with offshore wind farms and marine protected areas, says a report

Fishing communities in south-west England fear their way of life is being pushed aside as a new report warns growing pressure on the UK's seas could force boats out of the water for good.

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee said large parts of the coastline were being swallowed up by plans for offshore wind farms and marine protected areas, external.

It warned fishing risked being crowded out unless the government urgently set out clear rules for who got to use the sea.

The government said it had announced a fishing and coastal growth fund worth £30m a year for 12 years, and it was looking at a framework balancing competing demands between fishing, energy infrastructure, and conservation.

The report said the government had missed "important voices" such as Cornish fishing communities and England's largest fish market in Brixham while shaping its coastal growth fund.

It added people in the fishing industry felt successive governments had not "adequately recognised or supported their sector".

"In Brixham, fishers and local representatives told us they wanted more involvement in policy development," the report said.

Fisherman Dave Stevens on board the Crystal Sea

Chris Ranford, chief executive of the Cornish Fish Producers Organisation, said the industry faced losing vast areas of water with no back-up plan in place.

He said: "We've done an analysis of this and there's a prediction of potentially losing up to 50% of the current fishing grounds and absolutely no plan in place to deal with that.

"The space to go and fish and produce food - and support all the jobs, 8,000 jobs - across the seafood supply chain in Cornwall are really under threat.

"So having something credible like a sea-use framework [to provide direction on suitable activities in certain areas], I wouldn't say it's a good thing, it's an essential thing."

Fisherman Dave Stevens, speaking on board his boat the Crystal Sea, said fishing voices were too often ignored.

He said: "It needs to be a better network for fishermen to feed into the system because really we're at a complete disadvantage.

"So many other sea users are actually statutory consultees. I mean leisure, the navy, shipping, all come before fishing."

He said decades of warning had gone unheard and the impact was personal, "so it's quite upsetting that you can have your livelihood just took away from you and you've got no say in that".

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it had "engaged widely as well as visiting the South West" and it was "carefully considering the benefits of a sea-use framework", balancing competing demands like fishing, energy infrastructure, and conservation.

Full story courtesy of Lucie Fisher for the BBC

Never mind, "didn't see them coming" - when, or will they go?!

Never mind, "didn't see them coming" -  when, or will they go and if they do what will be left behind?!

For the last few months, in ports all along the southwest, hundreds of new, and old, pots have been appearing on the quays - not because of an increase in shellfish like crab and lobster crawling into pots across the seabed, quite the opposite - the octopus 'bloom' as it is referred to, has seen a huge drop in shellfish catches as fishermen everywhere have seen their pots inundated with Mediterranean octopus

are now deploying them on patches of ground that once were guaranteed to provide a living from crab, spider crab, velvet crab, lobster, and crawfish...

since the start of the season some eight weeks ago, this boat has landed eight lobsters in total, and when hauling his 80 pots is finding nothing else in them...

other than the new kid on the block, Mediterranean octopus. 

Although the first signs of them arriving on our shores were there some five years ago it was only last year when, in an unprecedented alliance between Plymouth City Council, Devon County Council, and DEFRA launched a major scientific study to investigate a rare bloom of common octopus (*Octopus vulgaris*) in the waters of South West England. First reported by local fishermen whose traditional crab and lobster catches were abruptly replaced by the predators, this rapid, locally-led response aims to uncover the causes and ecological consequences of the surge, which scientists link to climate-driven warming seas. Led by Dr. Bryce Stewart of the Marine Biological Association alongside scientists from Plymouth University and Plymouth Marine Laboratory, the project integrates advanced monitoring techniques—such as baited remote underwater videos and time-lapse cameras—with the real-time, quayside insights of local fishers to track octopus behavior and ultimately build early warning systems for future climate-related marine disruptions.

"The MMO is looking to develop a proactive, long-term strategy for monitoring, gathering evidence on, and managing future octopus fisheries sustainably. Given the nature of octopus population dynamics, there is uncertainty around whether they will remain abundant in the future to support a viable fishery. With this in mind, the MMO is hoping to develop an Octopus Management Plan that considers various possible scenarios, outlining different approaches that can be taken using international best practice and the input of stakeholders to inform the MMO’s direction"

On the back of the serious scientific studies being carried out, filmmaker and diver David Palfrey has put together a short film telling the story from the perspective of how fishing, and other industries are dealing with this phenonemen.

Below, is a non-technical summary of the MBA's scientific report, 

Common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) blooms off the Southwest of the UK: History, trends, causes and consequences

which was published in January 2026..

Saturday scenes in Newlyn

Hopefully, these sardine boats will be back in action in around eight weeks time when the season begins, which normally happens around the middle of July...

there's some serious up-cycling going on making use of the old wooden fenders, see Johnny for prices!...

at this time of year, the yachts on passage tend to be of the bigger kind with the more experienced sailors aboard, though for the skipper of one...

failed to pay close atention to the amount of water under his boat after leaving his pontoon berh...

and he had to suffer the ignominy of being held fast on the mud for a couple of hours until the ebbing tide reached low water and began to flood again...

not so the Penzance Sea Cadet crew who were out enjoying the safe confines of the harbour...

practicing their oar skills, which at least gave the stranded yachtsmen something to watch while they remained stationary!

 

Weekly Overview: Fish Landings at Newlyn

It was a productive week in Newlyn, with total landings across the four recorded days reaching 125.9 tonnes, generating a total auction value of £790,956.

The week started strongly and peaked on Tuesday, which saw the highest volume and value of the period. A significant driver of the high tonnage throughout the week was a consistent and substantial supply of Mediterranean Octopus (Pot Caught), alongside healthy landings of MSC Hake and Monkfish.

Daily Auction Summaries

Monday, 11th May: The week opened with 31.2 tonnes landed. The auction saw a total turnover of £201,315. The primary species by weight was Mediterranean Octopus, setting a trend for the rest of the week.

Tuesday, 12th May: This was the busiest day of the week, with landings climbing to 46.3 tonnes. The market value peaked at £279,870. Increased activity across various prime species contributed to this midweek high.

Wednesday, 13th May: A quieter day following the Tuesday peak, with 23.9 tonnes crossing the floor. Total value for the day was £145,740. Despite the lower volume, prices for key species remained steady.

Thursday, 14th May: The recorded period concluded with 24.6 tonnes landed, valued at £164,031. Improved values for prime whitefish helped bolster the day's total relative to its weight.

Top prices this week for:

Species	Top Price (£/kg)
Dover Sole	£30.26
Turbot	£28.99
Red Mullet	£21.98
Lemon Sole	£19.01
John Dory	£17.56
Monkfish	£15.38
Megrim	£7.58
Octopus	£6.05