The fishing industry is blessed with people for whom fish is a passion - from those who catch to those who consume and many more in between - one of the inbetweeners is food blogger and writer Mike Warner, perhaps best known in the fish world by his Twitter handle @EastCoastAvocet and food blog of the same name - Mike spent the last seven days aboard the Newlyn based hake netter, Ajax getting to see gill netting for hake under the auspices of skipper Alan 'the hake man' Dwan and his young, dedicated crew......
as trips go things couldn't have gone better if they were planned - fine almost flat-calm weather, blue skies, handy to Newlyn (well 6 hours off) and free from big Spanish or French trawlers...
and just the pleasantries of Padstow man Sid...
aboard his hake netter, Karen of Ladram...
who took this shot of the Ajax as they were hauling - duly noting that the fishing was anything but slack ;-)...so with plenty of fish to boot - the boat put ashore a landing mid-tide for Friday's market then headed straight back out to sea again to pick up the gear left to 'soak' in the water...
and there's nothing like having the gear earn money while you're steaming in and out to land!..
heavy fishing meant that the fishroom was full once again...
unused griefometer tabs, a sure sign the trip went OK...
young Mr Perry practises some of his dance-floor moves while landing...
as Mike catches the action in readiness for the story of the trip...
in the kind of weather you tend to dream about as winter gales wear on during those darker, shorter days...
there's ice on them boxes - these days all the boats have refrigerated fishrooms to help keep the prime fish they catch in perfect condition...
in the market fridge it looks like the mackerel handline boys had a good weekend...
as one of the port's senior practitioners of the dark art of punt fishing steams through the sparkling harbour waters to make a landing...
perhaps with a wistful glance, Mike films the Ajax leaving - safe in the knowledge that his next piece for the blog will demonstrate just what effort and teamwork their is in putting prime fish like hake on the piscatorial tables of UK and EU restaurants and homes...
the following morning on Monday's busy market, Mike completes the trips pictorial record with shots of the Ajax's fish being auctioned...