I name this ship Emma Louise!

Slideshow and soundtrack of the blessing and naming ceremony.

Listen to the blessing and naming ceremony.

Bubbles shower the assembled guests during the naming ceremony!

Let party begin! Bubbles shower the guests as Emma, wife and partner in Rowse Fishing does the honours and christens the family's new crabber, Emma Louise.


How good to see a new build celebrated within the local community. After Newlyn Mission skipper Keith Dixon did the honours and blessed the ship he followed tradition and handed over a Mission Bible to skipper Mario to keep aboard the boat before Emma Rowse did the honours and christened - literally - the boat and the assembled guests.


After a few words of thanks to the designers at Macduff, Tom's of Polruan and all those involved in her build from fleet owner Mark those present were treated to a few glasses of bubbly before moving on to the buffet reception in the historic Trafalgar Room at the Union Hotel suitably entertained by local Celtic songsmiths Rig-a-Jig.

A gallery of pictures can be seen here:

Saturday around the Bay

Chilly but dry........

and signs that the summer is underway with the first of the season's sailboats in berth.......

the AA goes through her gear.......

some words of wisdom on the subject of lifejackets from the MCA.......

after being out of action for nearly a year the Wherry Town skate ramp is being demolished......

evidence of several successive quiet days on the beach.......

bound in to Penzance wet dock.......

the beam trawler Admiral Gordon heads in through the dock gate........

watch the paintwork - the ever-cheerful Bruv has a fender at hand.......

with a few hours to go before the naming ceremony, Cyril from Squirrel Signs, ends all that speculation about the name of the new Rowse crabber........

things aren't quite ship-shape aboard the........

new crabber, Emma Louise.......

plenty of paint to hand.......

across the road the Dock Inn caters for all tastes.........

Penzance's premier gallery's latest show is on for Easter.

Discards - a developing story

Discussion started by Yan Giron in LinkedIn

"I was on night work in last Feb 2012 and missed this position statement. Then came this famous discussion at the EP about discards. Again the French professionals' official view is to avoid by-catches and funny, today in Boulogne Sur Mer, it was astonishing how other European professionals support this type of measures, instead of a total ban discard. Then somebody showed me this document. Funny how it may be closed to our professionals' view regarding their reject of a total and overall ban discard. And that is what we received for that: a furious campaign from FishFight http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/mar/20/campaigners-eu-fish-discards-victory"

CFP Reform Discussion: Guess who said "The proposed discard ban is not a measure against discards, but an incentive to discard on land" ? That, if I am right, means "I don't support a discard ban" The discard ban is on the agenda because it is easy to relate to, even without too much knowledge about the substance. In that sense the “ban” is a good public driver for better management. If I may put the concept in a few boxes. First what do we want to obtain: “MSY-sustainability”, in a TAC/Quota management that entails setting targets – not to be exceeded but to count all catches against the quota, as WWF says: “ Fishermen must be held accountable for what they catch.” This is also the point of focus in the joint declaration: http://www.fvm.dk/Admin/Public/DWSDownload.aspx?File=%2fFiles%2fFiler%2fEnglish%2fFisheries%2fPaving_the_way_for_a_New_Common_Fisheries_Policy__revised_15__october_2009.pdf If fishermen must count all catches they will minimise discards whether done at sea or on the pier. Second a discard ban may be an add-on to full catch accountability – this will be an ethical consideration, it may put some additional pressure on “best utilization”, and it should be prudently phased in.

Thirdly you may notice that accounting fully for your outtake of our natural capital requires that the user (or fisher) documents his outtake, hence the requirement for CCTV etc (now being trialed on 70 vessels in DK, Germany, Netherlands and UK). Once all catches are accounted for quotas can be increased with the amount of calculated discards now being deducted before TAC-setting. In a phasing in model you would allow vessels with full documentation a quota without discard deduction. Vessel segments without CCTV would have to endure a “taxing” for the calculated discard. If these segments employ better practices and establish better data for science to reduce the discard estimate they benefit – eventually with full documentation the deduction is zero. A concrete target to strive for. Other efficient modalities can be considered.

Using incentivizing result based management will ensure the driver for better utilization of our stocks with the fishermen. They can and will do much better than to-day and the main challenge they must relate to is the choke species problem in certain mixed fisheries.

If I should relat to the TFC discussion: The reason the Commission wants TFC is to manage capacity - and the argument for managing capacity is that we don not manage total catches.

More on this a www.fvm.dk/yieldoffish 

NPHC meeting agenda for April 4th 2012

Minutes from the last Newlyn Harbour Commissioner's meeting and next week's agenda.

FF FF

Plenty of good monk tails with the Filadelfia......

just follow the trail leading to the black gold.......

what about  a mullet or two?........

topping off the Ajax's hake with ice.......

a good shot of 70 odd boxes put ashore last night, she's due back in again for Monday's market......

last touch ashore for L'Ogien........

as she heads for the gaps.......

at the start of another trip........

planty of anti-fouling jobs to be done in the port at this time of year......

and inside the hull too.......

cold and clear start to the day.......

so the St Piran won't be bound just yet.......

those morkis make good pot bait......

the Spring is sprung........

looks like Waghorn's is about to be reincarnated......

don't believe a word.......

break through.

A taste of Spain, bake some hake the Rick Stein way!

With the netters like the Ajax landing there's plenty of top quality fish coming ashore this weekend - our local chefs are really keen to promote the consumption of Newlyn hake so here's the perfect accompaniment to a summery evening - a flavour-filled hake dish provided courtesy of Rick Stein from his recently published 'Spain' cook book.

"There is a homely wholesomeness about Galician food, and this is the sort of dish you could imagine also coming from some region of the British Isles, like west Wales, if only we loved hake like the Spanish do. Interestingly, when Debbie and I cooked this for our recipe testing in a blistered and cracked terracotta cazuela and gave it to our deli to sell, it was all gone in about 20 minutes. What I love about this is the thickness and whiteness of a good piece of white fish and the aroma of the garlic and tomato coming from the potato fondue below. Like many of these sorts of dishes, I believe in completely cooking the vegetables first on top of the stove, and then baking the fish on top in the oven. If you don’t do this it can end up a bit watery, but this way its flavour is much more rich and concentrated."

Galician hake - Merluza a la Gallega - Rick Stein's 'Spain' - BBC books.

Galician hake on a braise of potatoes, garlic, tomato and onion. 

When a quarter of a mile is too close

The AIS track for the Moonlight Venture after she left Falmouth and passed south of Start Point near to where the Amber J was fishing.

At 213m in length, coming within 400m of another much smaller vessel is close enough.

Photo courtesy of Tyrone Entwistle.

Information courtesy of VesselTracker news:

Near miss being investigated by MAIB

 The "Amber J" was in a near-miss incident with the Hongkong flagged tanker "Moonlight Venture" on Mar 24, 2012 at 8.10 p.m. The five crew on board the "Amber J - BM224" were in the collision danger zone when the tanker allegedly ignored all emergency calls from concerned the skipper and forced the fishing vessel to change course. The tanker came to within a quarter of a mile of the beam trawler. The skipper was very concerned but the tanker just ploughed on. An investigation has now been launched into the incident which happened 24 miles south west of Start Point. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch in Southampton has been informed of the incident by coastguards in Brixham. The "Moonlight Venture" with 35,711 tonnes of crude oil on board, was en route from New Orleans to Rotterdam via Falmouth where it anchored on March 25. The ship allegedly ignored calls on the sea communication and distress Channel 16.

Rick Stein opens Senara, the new training restaurant at Penwith College

On duty front of house, Professional Cookery student, Wes Mitchell is ready and waiting for the arrival of Truro and Penwith College's senior management team and governors.......

meanwhile, back in the heat of the training kitchen, Cornwall's best known chef, Rick Stein recalls his days at a local catering college and shares a few trade secrets with trainee Sinea Williams as she puts the finishing touches of her contribution of the lunchtime buffet organised for the opening ceremony........

turning up the heat, the rest of the team get prepared for the rush........ 

while second year Professional Cookery student Luke Bond, mindful of the fact that he is talking to a potential boss, talks knowledgeably while making goujons of brill covered in Panko breadcrumbs.........

the restaurant is now open to members of the public from Tuesday to Friday term time only and available for special events by appointment. At £6 for two, or £8.0 for three courses the menu is fantastic value:

Here's a sample menu:

Spring vegetable minestrone with pesto & crostini 

Cornish Sardines stuffed with peperonata agro dolce wrapped in 

Parma Ham with mixed leaves 

Insalada caprese (mozzarella, plum tomatoes, basil oil) 

Beer battered hake & fat chips with mushy peas 

Wild mushroom risotto with sage & parmesan 

Beef Bourguignon with gratin Dauphinoise 

Quiche with green bean salsa & mixed leaves 

Chocolate brownie with berries & coulis 

A selection of Cornish cheeses with chutney & oatcakes 

Cinnamon sugar doughnuts with chocolate sauce 

For morre information or the current menu, contact the booking line on 01726 335215 or email senara@penwith.ac.uk

Cefas Endeavour's Beam Trawl Survey 2012

Plenty of brittle stars with the beam trawl fitted with a blinder - who would have thought of fitting such a devious device?!!

Cefas Endeavour's South West Quarter 1 Beam Trawl Survey 2012 is underway.


They have 9 scientists on the survey; Sven, Ian, Rob, Joana, Leah, Paul, Dave , James and Jo.  James will be doing some plankton work into the late evening and helping in the fish room during the day. Cefas Endeavour is currently working in the Western English Channel. The survey is using two 4m beams, one with a blinder in (a small 20 mm net, which sits inside the cod end) and the other rigged commercially.

VesselTracker AIS - huge update!

A major upgrade to the VesselTracker web site and software suite including their mobile apps has just been launched tonight. This screen shot shows the extent of the new T-AIS receiving power giving the postion of ships hundreds of miles from the coast! - also now comes with AIS satellite data available as a global option for customers needing to track their ships around the world.......

Move over to Google Earth view and shipping in the South West can be seen as far as and even beyond the Continental Shelf!........

closer to home, the netter Ajax can be spotted north west of the Scillies amongst a big fleet of French trawlers. The new service includes a free account with a simple registration process.

Newlyn Needler - Issue 2 discovered

Pre the Big Issue and back in the day when the Min of Ag and Fish (MAFF) first began to exert control over the waves, a certain satirical magazine appeared on the top shelf of Barron's newsagents. Conceived, written, illustrated, printed and distributed by a select team of well-known Newlyn wannabe hacks, the 'Newlyn Needler' told of fishing life in Newlyn as it was or as it might have been. 

Difficult, if not impossible at times to separate fact from fiction, the magazine took an irreverent look at the characters who plied their livelihoods in and from the port. Sadly, a few of those characters that may be represented or alluded to in some of the more tame yarns are now sat in the big wheelhouse in the sky, or in Brennan's case a gazillion miles away, way beyond the stratosphere - a copy of the Newlyn Needler has come to light and is now available in digital format is therefore dedicated to their memory.

Apologies made in advance for the numerous 'in' jokes contained herein - as they used to say, you had to be there. As a footnote to the Bessy story (as described in the book, The Swordfish and the Star by Gavin Williamson); a handful of officers from HMS Bulldog, who was carrying out a hydro-graphic survey in Mounts Bay at the time, were in the Swordfish that very lunchtime and witnessed the spectacle of Bessie attempting to drink the aforementioned yard of ale while suspended from the ceiling - unknown to Bessy, the ale was spiked with a huge helping of salt - one of the officers turned to another and said, "I say skips, if it's like this on a Monday lunchtime - what's it like in here on a Friday night??!" The knight in shining armour who came to Bessie's rescue just before his crotch turned into a scene from Towering Inferno was none other than Medallion Man himself - who can now be found running Plymouth Fish Market Plymouth & Sutton Harbour - good move Peter!

Issue One will go on-line a soon as someone finds a copy!

Big Dutchman on Twitter

This was tweeted by the big Dutch boat, Orion from his Twitter account:

"First pull (haul) a 400kg plaice € 1.40 = € 560 a .600 ltr diesel € 0.70 = € 420. net € 140. Nowthe bank, crew and other costs are paid. ????"

King Koffman does cuttlefish bolognese

When the creator of BBC1's Saturday Kitchen presented the concept to host chef James Martin five years ago there's no doubt that when Martin compiled his wish list of chefs to have on the show, top of that list would have been Pierre Koffman - five years later and a dream comes true - here's a chef with no pretentions - at the Berkley Hotel's restaurant, La Tante Claire his signature dish was pig's trotter - and on Saturday's show the three-starred Michelin chef (one of only a handful in the UK) set about demonstrating a simple dish using the humble cuttlefish......... 

 the thickest part of three cuttles were separated, cleaned, squeezed together and frozen.......

 the rest, including tentacles were finely chopped........

 and sautéed in shallots and butter before adding the Bolognese sauce .......

meanwhile, the frozen cuttlefish were sliced on a meat slicer - there's a good chance that you could replicate this at home with a peeler.......

the sliced cuttlefish was then plunged in boiling water for 20 seconds and served as the 'pasta'

with the sauce on top plus garnish - for full details of the recipe and a chance to watch it for the next few days, head on over to the Saturday Kitchen web site........

meanwhile, the end of the cuttlefish season is nigh on Newlyn fish market.