During the 1960s and 70s, many 50-60' boats from Scotland and a few from France were bought and converted from drifters or trawlers to longline for white fish, ray, skate, conger, pollack, coley and if lucky, turbot - chief among the summertime landings were ling - big ling...
on a good day the side deck astern of the hauler would be full of fish, in the pic above, Bonny Mary skipper Bill Tonkin leans over the rail keeping an eye on the fish coming up on the line through the clear waters of the southwestern approaches while Porthleven crewman Kipper attempts to keep up with the gutting regime...
on the market, ling are easily identified by their long body and dorsal fin and the barbel under the chin. A big fish could reach almost six foot in length and weigh a couple of stone (12kg).
An easy fish to fillet with very few fine bones the fish has big flaky flesh reminiscent of cod - and, on occasion, was passed off as such by cheeky chip shops - the price on the market for ling seems as if it never changed, instead f £3 a stone it is now around £3 a kilo! Any recipe that calls for white fish makes ling an ideal choice - it is firm enough to make an excellent addition to any big fish pie!