Barra Brenn update.

Stern view of the Barra Brenn with the net in question on her net drum.

A fine of £13,500 was the result of the Narra Brenn's appearance in court this week. The main problem for the skipper was that the diameter of twine used in the codend was deemed to be too thick, thereby reducing the mesh size. This was a brand new codend from the factory and no doubt Art Bigouden will be taking the matter further.

As a highly respected trawl manufacturing company, Art Bigouden are not in the business of making gear that will land fishermen like the skipper of the Barra Brenn in court, so they will no doubt be looking very closely into how this resulted in what would appear to be a very unfortunate incident.

ENTRE_NOUS : Pêche en pays bigouden by hdzprod

This video chronicles a trip (maree) aboard the Entre Nous - a similar vessel to the Barra Brenn. The codend is that part of the net at the end of the trawl - where all the fish (and aboard this boat, langoustine as well) end up as the trawl is towed along the sea bed. The video clearly shows the cramped conditions in which the crew handle the gear, especially when mending the trawl netting (which happens all too often on a trawler) ona heaving deck and when the catch is gutted, washed and put down below in the fishroom.

There is surely a big difference between those who set out to deliberately flout the law and those who find themselves on the wrong side through circimstances beyond their control - every fisherman must feel that they already suffer from a good deal more regulation over and above those in other industries - monitored at sea by warship, plane and satellite, required to fill out the EU logbook on an almost hourly basis all while safely navigating a small vessel amongst today's heavily congested shipping lanes - and that's before they even think about actually catching any fish!