Do we share the same fishing recruitment issues with the French?

Like many fishing regions, the French area of Morbihan in southern Brittany, home to major ports like Lorient suffers from a lack of new entrants into the industry. To get an accurate picture of the situation the local Fisheries department conducted a survey in order to know how best to tackle the problems. One thing to remember is that French fishermen have compulsory retirement at 55 - however, to achieve this their National Insurance contribution is significantly larger than the equivalent UK pension contribution.

Profession: fisherman. 

There are 1,100 in Morbihan to have chosen the profession of sailor-fisherman. But who are they? The Departmental Committee of Fisheries, which is struggling to recruit, asked the question. Overview of the results of a study that shakes many clichés. Old wolves are actually pretty young, mobile and good in their rubber boots.

An unpublished study on the profile of sailors.

We know that they sail on the waves. But who are these sailors? These sealions to take off sometimes long days. The Departmental Marine Fisheries Committee conducted a year-long study of 148 of the 1,100 fishermen in Morbihan. The work done is unpublished. "We wanted to know where they came from, what they did, how they apprehended their profession. In addition to the sociological aspect, it is better to know them in order to better represent them and also recruit them. We still have manpower needs, "says Jean Piel of the committee. Olivier Nezet, president of the Regional Fisheries Committee, continues: "10% of the fishermen of Morbihan are of foreign nationality. This figure reveals the issues of attractiveness. 

The sea as an inheritance. 

But then, what does a stereotyped fisherman look like? 98% of the fishermen-sailors of Morbihan are men, with an average age of 37 years. "We are bad examples in terms of parity," smiles Jean Piel. 78% of the sailors are Breton. And 60% have a pre-existing link with fishing. "Many of them have at least one member of their family in the profession." Fishing is the stuff of a passion. Of those we transmit. Far from the image of hard work that hangs over collective imagination? We must believe. Because 61% of them consider that their working conditions are good. "And yet, Brittany is a region where boats are rather old (on average 26 years)," observes the president of the Regional Fisheries Committee.

Mobile sailors. "The fishery has evolved, the approaches are not the same today. We do not stay all his life on the same boat, "explains Jean Piel. On average, a fisherman works throughout his career on six vessels and in two ports. 57% of them start on a trawler. "An excellent way to learn the trade". This is the particularity of the port of Lorient. "There are big crews that go deep sea fishing." The Scapêche (Société central des armements musquetaires à la pêche) alone represents 240 sailors out of 22 vessels (for a total of 600 fishermen at the port of Lorient). That is to say. "It's different in the south of the department with coastal activities where the owner of the boat leaves with two or three guys." Among Morbihan's profiles, two-thirds are deckhands. The remaining third occupies other activities such as second, cook or mechanic. "There are opportunities for career development. This is an area where continuing education is important. Their retirement at 55, they did not happen by chance

Good wages disadvantaged in retirement. It is the first benefit cited by fishermen. Salary. On average, it amounts to €2,600 net per month. The price of some disadvantages too. Case in point? The impact on family life. "They have staggered hours and sometimes leave several days. Their retirement at age 55, they do not have by chance, "admits Jean Piel, Committee. However, they are 91% to have chosen their profession in full knowledge of these facts. Passion for the job rules. And, knowingly, 89% want to stay a fisherman. "If some people want to leave, it is because of the system of pensions (which imposes a lower salary than the share of the time of the exercise), but they remain in some kind of maritime work (in the yachting, or elsewhere)". They are largely in the majority to consider this job to a young person, and among the young sailors (18-30 years old),


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Despite the poor fishing weather there are 11 EU and flagged vessels all with 30 miles of Newlyn.

Although the weather has blown all but a handful of local boats back to port there are 11 boats in the waters around Lands End, 2 Newlyn beam trawlers, 6 Breton stern trawlers...

a Belgian beam trawler showing his route over the last few weeks...

two Spanish Flag of Convenience vessels that have steamed up from La Corunna...

one of which was the Suffolk Chieftain, an ex-Lowestoft trawler now converted to longlining - she was once part of a large fleet of similar sidewinder trawlers that worked from the port all with the prefix Suffolk...

and a Dutch freezer trawler which stuck close to the 12 mile limit while assumedly looking for fish marks to shoot her trawl...

before commencing fishing about 20 miles NW of Padstow.

Mid-week market in gale-torn Newlyn.

Blown in by gales, the James RH and the Resurgam landed their fish directly to the fish market quay...

their trips included a few John Dory...

big blondes...

fresh bait for the crab fleet...

also landing were Dovers from the St Georges...

and the Algrie with plaice..

lemons...

and megrim...

squid...

red mullet...

a handful of octopus...

and turbot, all auctioned...

by Ryan and recorded traditional pen and paper...

together with a few dozen scallops...

and well spotted plaice...

the heavy beam trawls are spread across the deck after an uncomfortable ride back to port in the south easterly gale...

the home-made fishwasher still pumped with seawater...

another passer-by held up by the inclement weather...

along with the Crystal Sea II...

and some of the Rowse crab fleet...

Ocean Fish and Stevensons beam trawlers are now all under the same roof...

a packed port...

some new signage has given the new fish market building a finishing touch...

as a Quayside artic is guided into a parking spot.

Can you help raise the start up costs for Fal Fishery Cooperative Community Interest Company?!

Cornwall and the River Fal are home to one of the most traditional and environmentally friendly fisheries in the UK. Using sail power alone, a small fleet of sailing oyster boats are worked throughout the winter months fishing for native oysters. This intrepid group of fishermen are looking to raise £2,000 to help with start up costs for Fal Fishery Cooperative Community Interest Company that Aquaculture and Research grant applications don't cover.

The Fal Fishery has possibly the last indigenous native oyster stocks left in the British Isles, while other fisheries can import natives the Fal Oyster Fishery Bylaws prohibits importing or relaying in the River Fal. As a consequence, a Principle Scientific Officer wrote "I fear we may be at a density (1 per 20 square metres) of native oyster (O. edulis ) that would make successful reproduction incredibly difficult". 

The group's aim is to save the natives from exportation, to store them at an aquaculture site in the epicentre of the fishery, to study the juveniles growth and mature reproduction timings, to sell only the medium grade when they reach the Fal Oyster PDO standard, all the while we are doing this they are repopulating the natural fishery with a genetically resilient species. Working with University of Exeter (Penryn Campus), Bangor University and National Lobster Hatchery (Padstow) as well as the licenced Fal Oyster Gatherers and Fal Oyster Ltd.

You can help make this happen by supporting the group's work here.

Monday morning in Newlyn.

Sardine netter Lyonesse heads back to her berth after a long night's fishing in the bay...

the bulk of fish landed this morning came from the netter, Silver Dawn

plenty of quality fish on the market this morning with red mullet...

turbot...

more reds...

a box of octopus...

plenty of bait from the Sapphire II...

some large ray...

end of season scallops...

and an unusually good haul of John Dory from none other than...

the port's number 1 Dory man, young Roger Nowell on the Imogen III...

not to be outdone, all the bass boys weighed in with good shots of bass, all caught with lines by hand...

along with plenty of mackerel from the boats working over in St Ives Bay...

a few of the handline boats picked up the odd pollack...

while Mr Nowell had the darkest of dark blue lobsters...

and a few plaice...

while the beam trawlers filled the centre auction hall with monk, megrims, lemons, Dover sole and more plaice...

the port recycles the frames of filleted fish for crab bait...

mackerel, available in Penzance's one and only wet fish shop at the bottom of town...

looks like it will be an uncomfortable week at sea for the netters with strong easterly winds forecast, which doesn't bode well for any of the boats working away, "when the wind is in the East, the fishing is least" as an old saying goes in these parts...

time to stack the fish...

 for delivery back to the processing units scattered around the port...

the future may be orange fr some but at the moment the Le Men Du is anything but bright with her undercoat coat of paint...

more shellfish boats having a makeover.