It was 1979 and about 60 members of Mebyn Kernow, a Cornish nationalist movement, carrying slogans and the flag of St Piran (Cornwall's National flag) pictured near the Buckie registered Gallic May as they call for a 50-mile limit and six-mile fishing zone for vessels under 20m in length. This was a protest against Scottish trawlers landing mackerel. Research on the state of mackerel stocks had begin in earnest just a few years previously with the publication of this Mackerel Research in the South West paper from Lowestoft. Ultimately, mackerel fishing was subjected to the introduction of the 200-mile 'mackerel box', which still exists today and prevents
The 'box' was instigated by one of Cornwall's much loved (and missed, as he died aged just 42 in car accident) Liberal MP, David Penhaligan - this Parliamentary exchange recorded in Hansard exemplifies his work championing the Cornish cause in the days when it was just becoming apparent what the impact of the huge Scottish and East coast fleets were having in conjunction with Eastern factory ships on the mackerel fishery - but there was much more to the debate than just that! He talks of the huge value of the fishery being taken and exploited by others. The debate is well worth reading as many of the issues - like large vessels fishing inside the 6-12 mile limit are key to the debate - are still very much uppermost in the minds of inshore fishermen to this day!
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| In his address, Penhaligan mentions the seabed littered with dead mackerel, something I can vouch for as these pics taken aboard the Milford Haven boat Girl Freda are testament. |
The purse seiner Gallic May was built at Dieppe in 1975 for Gallic Shipping of London. Their arrival with the industrial fleets at Penzance in January 1976 started and ultimately then ended the Cornish winter mackerel season. They were amongst the first pursers to have refrigerated sea water tanks to keep the fish fresh and frequently landed 250 tonnes of mackerel. Gallic May was skippered by Forbes Cameron of Ayr and an Ayrshire crew. There were frequent problems with her Caterpillar main engine.
On a lighter note, back in the early 80s when prawning in the Clyde I remember arriving in Ayr one weekend. It was early Sunday morning and dozens of people were passing our boat (the Fern INS122) headed along the quayside to a boat astern of us. It turned out that this was the Gallic May and we were witnessing the start of an infamous Forbes Cameron Sunday 'booze crusie' to Lamlash! Little did I know that years later I would also sail with 'the big man' aboard the Dumnonia PZ310 to Rockall chasing haddock and squid!
