Saturday sees a sunnyish start to the season for scallops and sails

Sailing day for the netters like the Ajax making her way to the Low Lee buoy...

there's a drastic change of colour for the Ocean Pride...

looking very smart though...

in the morning sun...

time for the port's oldest inhabitant to get...

some summer love...

as the bigger yachts pour into the marina berths heralding the start of the serious sailing season...

joining the local fleet are the seasonal scallopers... 

many from the next port up the line...

Falmouth...

there's a new batch of boxes waiting to go aboard the big netter Stelissa.

Swanage by the sea

Sails and casting from the beach, classic seaside fun in Swanage...

when it's not sunny enough for the deckchairs to come out to play.

Work in progress

A few days in Swanage mean the chance to work on the Cornish sardines painting.

Cork Fisherman Calls For Seal Cull - YoughalOnline.com

Fisherman Barry Clohessy from Youghal, Co Cork, Ireland is outraged with the Department of Marine for ignoring the seal damage to his livelihood. Seals are a protected species in this country but the damage they are doing to nets and the living of the local fishermen is shocking.

Since 2007 Salmon fishing has been banned in these parts because stocks were down. Now the seals that used to feed on the salmon in the nets are now moving inshore and attacking the monkfish caught in the nets.

"The seals are ruining inshore fishing," says Barry "they are feeding on monkfish, pollack and any kind of whitefish because of the ban on salmon fishing. The seals used to feed on the salmon in the nets but it wasn't so bad then, as there were other fish in the sea, so to speak."

With a lot of the fish being eaten by seals these days, most fishermen are left with no choice but to fish for lobsters, which has lead to the drop in prices where at one time they were getting €17 a kilo now they are only getting €10!" Barry adds "I reckon they should be a cull on the seals, like they do in other countries, in my mind that is the only solution. If I were a farmer and a dog attacked my herd I would have a right to shoot the dog but we are not allowed to touch the seals as they are protected. How is a man to feed his family?"

Out of the 51 monkfish that Barry caught that day, only 7 were whole while the remaining had only their heads left because of the seals that ravaged their bodies.

Video: Michael Hussey

Tuesday's market full of fine fish #eatmorefish

Ene-to-end with fish this morning...

great shot of ray from the Shiralee, nice one Plugger :-)...

just a few of the 1000kg of turbot from the Stelissa...

all putting smiles on the faces of the buyers, Ryan in charge of selling...

it's Dory time...

ring-a-ding ling...

and best bass from the Cynthia...

cracking start to the day as the boats queue for ice...

not such a common site, Spanish longline picked up by a beamer...

aftermath of the Pirates on the Prom...

looks like the Cider took a hamering!

Today's @piratesonprom means 14,154 gold coins to the boys who go down to the sea in lifeboats AAAAARRRGGGHHHH!!

Never mind the weather as long as we're together - click the image to see some of the 14000+ #piratesonprom who braved the heavy skies - including Johnny Depp at least once.

Ooooohh Aaaargh - not quite 14,231 @PiratesonProm - there were 77 short!!!!!

Let us not forget that at the end of the day the real winners are the RNLI - every scurvy pirate who made it to the prom gave a gold £1 coin in entrance money so after today's world record attempt the Penlee lifeboat's chest is £14000 to the good - well done to all the pirates who braved the slightly inclement weather - see you next time!

It's a shellfish kind of day in Newlyn

Good to see the Intuition back in action feeding the nation with the best brown crab...

 

while the Emma lands to the waiting lorry...

 its all in the timing getting those bongos to swing into the lorry...

it's scalloping time of the year...

this is what the deck of a modern scalloper looks like rigged ready for action.

Picture puzzle

Who looks out of this wheelhouse window and on which boat?

Keeping track of the netter Ajax

For a change the netter Ajax is fishing within range of the AIS tracking systems. Looks like she has just been steaming back westwards to pick up the next tier of nets.

Mike Collier explains why the Nelwyn Fishermen's Mission is being closed

Mike Collier talks to BBC Radio Cornwall's Donna Birrell.

Pirates on the Promenade hauls into view over the horizon!

Come and enjoy a cream tea in the sunshine on what used to be Keel Alley...

still no sign of the new ice works being commissioned...

looks like a few hours more work needed on this inshore trawler's net...

10 kilos of big bright bony tub gurnard - a fabulous fish to eat...

there's a sting in the tail of this ray for sure...

tidy boots...

plenty of mackerel being caught this week...

and some of the boats like the netter Govenek of Ladram  have put ashore good shots of turbot...

just three full beam trawl trips on the eastern end of the market...

with a good selection of inshore fish from around the coast, many of the boats make good use of these insulated  tubs to hold the fish in iced water while they are at sea - the boats are too small to have any kind of fish room to store the catch during the time they are at sea...

plenty of deck space with the smallest of Rowse's crabbers, the Harriet Eve...

more visiting trawlers in berth...

including the two big steel stern trawlers form North Devon, the Our Olivia Belle...

with her on-board  advertising...

showing off the business end of the boat and the heavy footrope she works on her trawls...

Spirtited Lady, the latest stern trawler to join the south west fleet is looking good in the morning sun...

while the Cloudy is a boat with an interesting name...

there's even a pair of Imogen's in the port, numbers II and III...

seems that the popularity of inshore trawling is growing...

there's some heavy construction kit in the lorry park...

was probably a good night for sure...

anyone stuck for pirate gear...

has to look no further than Penzance's very own scurvy-ridden ship selling pirate attire in the form of the ex-gill netter, Ar Baeergan - the boat earned her name form her fishing days when she was christened the Bag o' Rags by other fishermen in Newlyn her original name being in Breton from her home port of Guilvinec - her original name was La Barcolle which is the Venetian boat song or song of the Gondoliers...

what every good pirate should have stashed behind the passenger seat of his trusty transport...

as always the pirates support those most worthy of nautical charities...

who will both be in attendance over the weekend as Penzance makes a bid to become the pirate capital of the world with the greatest number of pirates ever to be press-ganged on to the prom!