Facts and figures on the common fisheries policy 2018 edition.

The European Union has agreed that, by 2020 at the latest, all fish stocks should be exploited at sustainable levels. In practice this means taking the highest possible amount of catches from the sea without affecting the long-term productivity of the stocks. This is known as the maximum sustainable yield (MSY). 

In the North-East Atlantic and adjacent waters (North Sea, Baltic Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat, West of Scotland Sea, Irish Sea and Celtic Sea), EU fisheries ministers set overall catch limits based on scientific advice. These total allowable catches (TACs) are then divided into national quotas, which set limits on the amount of fish that can be caught.

Brexit - Breton fishermen expect the worst.

Elected and members of representative bodies of Breton fisheries were present, Saturday, in Quimper, Breizhmer conference 06/10/2018.

The Brexit deadline is approaching and the fishermen are still in the fog. This Saturday, in Quimper, the meeting of the fishing and aquaculture sector in Brittany was an opportunity to discuss the major risks expected next year for Breton fleets deprived of access to British waters.

"A hard Brexit is looming. How to anticipate it, what consequences? ". The first paper debated this Saturday at the BreizhMer conference by the fishing and aquaculture sector in Brittany wanted to know more about the negotiations between the European Union and the United Kingdom. On the other hand, the consequences of the recovery of their exclusive economic maritime zone by the British, which could be catastrophic for the Breton fishing industry, were illustrated. It is no coincidence that 92% of fishermen across the Channel voted for Brexit (according to academic Mark Wise, quoted on Sunday by France Inter). They consider that the interests of British fishermen were originally sold to facilitate entry into the European Union.


"A vital issue"

It is Jacques Pichon, director of the fishing company La Houle de Saint-Guénolé (120 employees), which was the most concrete. "50% of the activity of our eleven offshore trawlers is in British waters. In Saint-Guénolé, we are the last fishing company present, we make live the activities of landing, wholesale, engineering workshops. The stakes are therefore vital. If there is a failure of negotiations, the first thing we will do to save our business will be to postpone it to other fishing areas. Then there will be the problem of allocation of fishing rights. There will be boat lay-ups, a drop in the supply by auction, job losses "(*).

Uncertainty

The worst, a "hard" Brexit, is not yet certain. Philippe de Lambert des Granges, Brexit project director at the Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, emphasized that we were heading towards a "negotiated Brexit" before the deadline of 30 March 2019.

This would mean that a "withdrawal agreement" from the UK would be worked on for a transitional period of two years until 2021, when a treaty of relationship between the two entities would be signed. Currently, this "negotiated Brexit" is still bogged down on the issue of Northern Ireland.

Breton trawlers often make use of UK ports like Newlyn..

Shellfish growers too

"At the Breton level, there were 170 boats that at least fished a kilo of fish in British waters," said Philippe de Lambert des Granges. At the national level, they are 520. Of the seven European Union countries concerned by British waters, this activity represents nearly one billion turnover. A closure of these waters would therefore have a very important economic impact with less input (26,000 tonnes at stake estimated at the French level), less trading, trading and ultimately employment ". And not only for the fishing industry. "We have a lot of exchanges with Northern Ireland and Scotland, mainly on oysters," said Philippe Le Gal, chairman of the regional committee for shellfish farming in southern Brittany.

Loser in all cases

The challenge is to limit the damage for the Breton sectors. "Even with a negotiated Brexit, there will be a renegotiation of European quotas, says Jacques Pichon. This will involve new losses for French fishermen, while there is already a shortage of some stocks. This loss of quota will also affect the inshore fishery.

The coming years are therefore very dangerous for the Breton fishermen. No wonder the Breton, Ambroise Guellec, former secretary of state for the sea under Jacques Chirac from 1986 to 1988, one of the honoured witnesses invited, wondered about the real political consideration in France of the dangers of Brexit for fishing.

(*) It is estimated that 120 Breton boats, which frequent the waters of the south of England and around Wales, will be impacted by the Brexit (90 deep-sea and about thirty coastal). That's about 50,000 tonnes of fish, which is one-third of the tonnage at auction.


Translated from the full story courtesy of Le Télégramme https://www.letelegramme.fr/finistere/quimper/brexit-les-pecheurs-bretons-s-attendent-au-pire-07-10-2018-12099711.php#9cfZe1kwoth2JCra.99

Singing the Fishing

Fishing, as it was in the days before logbooks, licenses and the Landing Obligation - the best kind of programme making from by the BBC capturing life in Britain through music and the spoken word.

Taken from the album Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger & Charles Parker 'Singing The Fishing’ 1966 on Argo Records. Written by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger. First transmitted on August 16th 1960 for the BBC Home Service, this compelling recording of radio-ballads (the third of eight recorded between 1958-1964) proved so popular that the BBC were inundated with letters of praise and requests for repeat airings. 

Six parts of the series became available on LP via Argo Records between 1965-1970, until the brilliant Topic Records released all eight parts on CD direct from the original masters between 1999 & 2008. The radio-ballads were described by Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger as 'the work of a team of singers (inc A.L. Lloyd, Ian Campbell, Isla Cameron, John Faulkner & Joe Heaney), songwriters (MacColl & Seeger), technicians (Charles Parker), instrumentalists (including Dave Swarbrick & Alf Edwards) and others who were consciously attempting to apply the techniques of folk creation to one part of the mass media...radio’. 

This part is in essence a trilogy, and tells of the three generations in the lifetime of British fishermen in the early 1900's, sail, steam and diesel. The BBC eventually got rid of radio-ballads and their unit dedicated to it shortly after these recordings were made, even going as far as to sack Charles Parker (producer of these recordings) in 1972, however over 5000 hours of recordings made by Parker are now available on the internet. MacColl & Seeger's history speaks for itself and their contribution to British folk is only strengthened by this excellent collection. 

These recordings have been put up for the enjoyment and education of others unable to hear them at the time. Any requests for them to be taken down from youtube will result in their immediate removal. All rights to the owners.

Newlyn Harbour Development announces new plans and a new website during public consultations

Last night over 50 people in two groups attended the first public consultation presentations given by Lucy Parsons, project manager for the Newlyn Pier and Harbour Commissioners in the new fish market conference room. Lucy ran through some background to the proposed developments and fielded questions from the audience...

especially with regard to the very short timescale between revealing the plans and the final submission date - the middle of next month.

NP&HC are currently in the process of submitting the second phase of a funding bid to the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the EU Structural and Investment Fund (ESIF)Growth Programme 2014-2020 for part-funding of a £6.142m project with the aim of developing core harbour activity and high value employment.

If successful, NP&HC could accelerate their planned development programme to maximise useable space; further enhance the efficiency and safety of harbour operations; improve the public realm; screen off industrial traffic, and construct a number of high quality industrial units during the next three years.

Specifically, this programme would involve the phased replacement of harbour buildings on The Strand and the construction of six to eight industrial units on the site of the inshore lifeboat shed when the RNLI have relocated their activities to the new Penlee Lifeboat Station.

These units would be designed to complement Newlyn’s heritage, maximise views, provide professional, customer-facing facilities and improve both commercial and pedestrian access. Green spaces would be incorporated within the overall development and hidden history would be revealed in order to further enhance public amenity.

“By providing premises for a broader range of fisheries and marine industry as well as improving value for our existing tenants, we can create more well-paid jobs and provide the catalyst for other local businesses to prosper,” explains Harbour Master & Chief Executive Officer, Rob Parsons. “This proposed development is about improving the townscape, the traffic flow and the economic vitality of Newlyn so we look forward to sharing our plans with local people to demonstrate how they could benefit everyone in our diverse community.”

These public consultation events will incorporate a rolling programme of tours of the recently-refurbished Fish Market and information slides in the Board Room between 5pm and 7pm on Friday 7thSeptember and 9am and 12 noon on Saturday 8th September. Further updates will be posted to the harbour's website for those who are unable to attend.

The meetings were told that the current Brexit situation had seriously eroded into the time left available to bid for EU (mainly ERDF) funding.

You can take part live in the Bi-Annual Scottish Fishing Conference 2018

This year's Scottish Fishing Conference will be livecast over the internet - this means anyone, anywhere can take part live.  Why not get together with a group of people arrange at your local fishermen's mission or other centre (internet-abled pub, training centre, college) who can show the event on a big screen?

This is the final Programme for the Bi-Annual Scottish Fisheries Conference on the 9th & 10th July. 

Many blog readers will be unable to make the long (and expensive in terms of travel cost and more importantly time) trip up to Scotland might be interested to know that this year they catch it online!

Save the livecast link https://www.mindfullywired.org/live-streaming-basfc18 in your online calendar with a reminder so that you can be there virtually.  Anyone can ask direct questions to any of the speakers using the chat box in the bottom right hand corner of the screen via the conference organisers.  You can also follow the conference speakers using the Twitter hashtag, #BASFC18 and ask questions to @fiscotorg

All the sections that are being live-streamed (everything apart from the breaks) are highlighted in yellow.

Please share the agenda, live stream link and hashtags to anyone with an interest in the conference agenda items. We’d like as many people joining online as we can. We’ll be taking questions on twitter but we’ve also set up a function to take questions online, which will be put to the speaker/panel at the appropriate time.

As you can see FIS have keynote speeches from the Faroese FM and a senior representative from the Norwegian Fisheries Department,

All the details you’ll need are here - share them with a friend:

Live stream link: https://www.mindfullywired.org/live-streaming-basfc18 - the chat function in the bottom, right-hand corner will allow participants to submit questions and comments in real-time.

Hashtag: #BASFC18
Twitter handle: @fiscotorg

One year away from the divorce court.

 The referendum caused the country, counties, family, friends and workmates to vote a simple 'Yes' or "No' on an issue with so many facets and so many unknowns that neither Leave or Remain could provide straightforward answers. Like an arranged marriage without the getting to know, date, engagement and then a wedding to tie up the nuptials the UK is now headed off to the divorce court hoping to keep at least 50% of what it had in the marriage. 

Fishing is undoubtedly one of the UK's chattels that on paper could do without.  Looked at purely on the basis of financial value,  many decent sized companies employ more people and produce more wealth than the fishing industry in its entirety.

Look at the industry as a part of the UK's maritime, cultural and national identity and its value - like the legacy of the aristocracy, great buildings and monuments built on the back of an empire - its value is not so easy to calculate.

Margaret Evans from CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company) recently paid Nelwyn a visit as the country was only days away from marking the countdown with 365 days to go to the divorce date.

She found herself exploring the irony that despite being in a region that has received grants amounting to 10% of the entire EU budget many wanted a divorce that would cut themselves off from that financial support in the future.

"More than two decades later, with Britain's official exit date from the European Union now just under a year away, Cornish fishermen are on the verge of escaping what many of them call the ill-founded and tyrannical rule of the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)."

"Not by our local boats, but because we're being given scraps by Brussels, and we've seen the boats from France and Belgium come and take what they can take out of our own waters."

The EU's complicated manner of deciding fish quotas for its members sees nearly 60 per cent of the fish caught in the waters around Britain being landed by boats from other EU countries. 

Cornish fishermen, for example, are limited to eight per cent of the cod quota in their own waters, while the French can catch 73 per cent."

You can read the full article here:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Margaret Evans

Europe correspondent

Margaret Evans is a correspondent based in the CBC News London bureau. A veteran conflict reporter, Evans has covered civil wars and strife in Angola, Chad and Sudan, as well as the myriad battlefields of the Middle East.

Teresa May's Brexit fishing industry statement from Mansion House, London.

First Gove, now Teresa May says the words the fishing industry wants to hear in her Mansion House speech today as an icy wind blasts through the open doors of Newlyn fish market.

Fishing industry transcripts:

"The EU itself is rightly taking a tailored approach in what it is seeking with the UK. For example, on fisheries, the Commission has been clear that no precedents exist for the sort of access it wants from the UK.
We are also leaving the Common Fisheries Policy."

"The UK will regain control over our domestic fisheries management rules and access to our waters.

But as part of our economic partnership we will want to continue to work together to manage shared stocks in a sustainable way and to agree reciprocal access to waters and a fairer allocation of fishing opportunities for the UK fishing industry.

Annotated by Alex BarkerThis is an important promise for the Brexit supporting fishing community. The UK’s share of the catch in UK waters was set sometime in the early 1980s and has barely changed since. Should Britain press hard on this point, the EU may say it will restrict its ability to sell fish products into the EU market. And we will also want to ensure open markets for each other’s products.

Just as our partnership in goods needs to be deeper than any other Free Trade Agreement, so in services we have the opportunity to break new ground with a broader agreement than ever before.

We recognise that certain aspects of trade in services are intrinsically linked to the single market and therefore our market access in these areas will need to be different. But we should only allow new barriers to be introduced where absolutely necessary."

Live updates from today's UK Fishing Forum!

#ukfishingforum Tweets

Committee questions UK Fishing Industry representatives

Subject: Fisheries


The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee holds its first evidence session for its fisheries inquiry. The aim of the session is to highlight the main challenges and opportunities for UK fisheries after withdrawal from the EU. Wednesday 15 November 2017, Committee Room 8, Palace of Westminster at 9.30am


Purpose of the session

In this session, a panel representing the UK Fishing Industry will address key opportunities and challenges for the industry following the Government’s announcement on 2 July 2017 that it will be withdrawing from the Common Fisheries Policy (CPF) and the announcement of a Fisheries White Paper and Bill.

Witnesses: Bertie Armstrong, Chief Executive Officer, Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, and Mike Cohen, Chairman, The National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations, and Bryce Beukers-Stewart, Lecturer, Environment Department, University of York

Atlantic cod - seeing is believing!

Atlantic cod, New England’s most iconic fish, has been reported at historic lows for years, but fishermen hope a new video monitoring technique will prove there are more of the fish than federal surveyors believe.

Ronnie Borjeson, who has been fishing for more than 40 years, says the federal surveys don’t match up with what fishermen are seeing. “I don’t care if you’re a gillnetter, a hook and line guy, a trawl guy,” he said, “there’s codfish everywhere up there. Everywhere. You can’t get away from them.”

Borjeson helped test a video rig designed by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth that allows them to record fish underwater and count them on the video later. With this rig, scientists can sample a larger area in the same amount of time and hopefully improve federal estimates of how many cod are left.

For years, Atlantic cod has been reportedly overfished—but a new video monitoring technique may prove otherwise.

According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, cod are overfished, and in 2014, the spawning population reached its lowest numbers ever recorded. The once-booming cod fishery has been subject to increasingly strict regulations since the 1990s, forcing commercial fishermen to target less-profitable species while they wait for the cod population to recover.

Kevin Stokesbury, the researcher spearheading the project, hoped to create a more effective and transparent monitoring system by collaborating with local fishermen. “They know their gear and they know the distributions. So for me, I’ve certainly never discounted what they say,” he said. “You have to back that up scientifically, and I think that this is a means to do that.”

Federal scientists estimate the cod population by towing nets through randomly selected areas of the fishing grounds and hauling the fish on board to be counted. The results of these trawls are combined with information from fisheries observers and catch estimates to create a picture of the overall health of the fishery.

But cod are not evenly distributed across the ocean floor. The fish gather in tight groups to spawn, leaving large areas of habitat essentially devoid of cod and increasing the likelihood that a random sample will come up empty. The federally managed area in the Gulf of Maine alone is more than 30,000 square miles. With limited time and resources to accomplish their work, federal surveyors must rely on a small number of these surveys to accurately estimate the whole population.

And, according to Borjeson, “The general consensus [among fishermen] is they’re incapable of catching fish.”

Yet as Jon Hare, the Science and Research Director for NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center pointed out, fishermen “are targeting and looking for higher abundances of cod. That could also make their perspective on the abundance of cod different than what’s coming out of the [survey].”

Stokesbury thinks his video system can, at the very least, help scientists get a better idea of how many fish are in the spawning groups and help the fishery managers and fishermen see eye to eye.

The video rig has gone through several iterations to deliver clear images in the harsh, salty environment. The current version has two cameras and a set of LED lights facing backwards inside a fishing net. When fish are swept into the net, they pass the cameras and are funneled harmlessly out the open back end.

Hare agreed that the system holds promise, but cautioned that the work is not yet done. “You still need to extract [the information] from the video. You’re potentially looking at thousands of hours of video data,” he said.

Stokesbury and his team are working on this problem now. Currently the software takes two to three weeks to identify and count the fish for every week at sea. This is a vast improvement over the original method–graduate students counting by hand–but Stokesbury expects to reduce the processing time further as their software improves.

If that happens, Hare believes the system could be very useful. “As humans, we put a lot of faith in visual data,” he said, “Having the real-time visual information is a good approach to having people come to a common understanding.”

Borjeson hopes fisheries managers will incorporate video monitoring as soon as possible. “The system works,” he said. “People love it. They embrace it. It’s absolutely indisputably the way to do a stock assessment.”

Full story courtesy of NovaNet.

NOVA Next is NOVA’s award-winning digital publication that provides answers from the cutting edge of science and technology. Launched in 2012, we feature in-depth articles and commentaries from some of the most respected journalists, scientists, and engineers. NOVA Next explores the ideas that are changing the future, from the frontiers of synthetic biology to the politics of personalized medicine.

Let us know what you think. We’re listening on Facebook, Twitter, and email.

If you’re a journalist and have an idea for a story, send it our way.

Left school and want to fish for a living? Sign up for your free fishing course now!

Our next 3 week Introduction to Commercial Fishing course will take place from 25 September to 13 October 2017. I would be very grateful if you can do anything in your power to bring this to the attention of the commercial fishing skippers and crews using your port. There will be an opportunity to meet the instructors and find out about the course at a taster session on Wednesday 13 September 2017.

This free course is aimed at new entrants to the fishing industry who are at least 16 years old. The course consists of two weeks shore-based training (covering safety, gear and catch handling, net mending, rope work, navigation and boat handling) followed by one week of mandatory basic safety courses for fishermen (Sea Survival, Fire Fighting, First Aid, Health and Safety) as well as the Seafish Basic Fishing Vessel Stability course.

This introductory level course will suit both young people looking for a career at sea in the fishing industry as well as those looking for a change of career. The course aims to equip candidates with the basic skills and knowledge to commence work at sea in a safe and useful manner. It will be provided free of charge in Cornwall for a limited number of candidates via Seafood Cornwall Training Ltd.

If you can help get to fishermen then please get in touch with us at the office on 01736 364324 or call my mobile.



Clare Leverton
Acting Manager
07964 373708

Seafood Cornwall Training
Admiralty Boathouse
23 The Strand
Newlyn Cornwall
TR18 5HL
01736 364324
www.seafoodcornwalltraining.co.uk

Land based job opportunity based in Newlyn

Whitelink Seafoods Cornwall has two vacancies for immediate start. Seeking a Fish Packer and a Fish Packer/Driver with current CPC license to work from the Newlyn depot.

Applicants must be available for early starts and flexible hours.

Contact Craig on 01736 447079 or email craig@whitelink.com

Fishing from Newlyn video.

Falmouth University student Adam Pickup-Bowker has put together an insightful video on the fishing industry as he sees it in Newlyn.  Even more reassuring is the sight of a young skipper, James Roberts and his even younger crew, William - an inspiration if ever there was that fishing has a future - these guys believe it!

True Grit and the Future of Fishing

The latest post from Mike Warner's EastCoastAvocet's blog focuses on the gritty side of fishing, the story of Lowestoft skipper, Jefferey Melton. As a way of life, fishing is diminishing - as are many other traditional occupations across the globe that require graft. While it seems there are there are plenty of adrenaline junkies' videos on YouTube from young people getting their kicks from taking risks there seem to be a diminishing number of them in this increasingly sanitised and safety-obsessed world willing to do so in order to earn a rewarding living. 

Mike's story is not intended to glorify but to tell it as it is - any work involving moving machine parts has associated risks - as does everyday commuting on public roads in a country with 26 million cars. In Newlyn, local bass fisherman, Steven 'Cod' Astley had a brush with septicemia that cost him both legs, amputated below the knee - 

he is determined to get back to sea once he gets used to his new pins.


Here, a few extracts from Mike's story highlights some of the key issues and events that have shaped current thinking:

"I’ve often spoken of the dangers that our fishermen face at sea (and on land) in their timeless pursuit of wild seafood. Indeed, with an unprecedented nine lives being tragically lost in the first half of 2016 alone (Seafish) and more life-changing accidents being recorded than the Alaskan Crab fishery, so graphically portrayed in the riveting documentary Deadliest Catch, the UK’s most dangerous peacetime occupation has certainly been living up to its reputation recently.

These alarming statistics have prompted organisations such as the RNLI ,The Fishermens Mission and Seafish to galvanise and redouble their efforts in encouraging fishermen to wear PFDs (personal flotation devices) and have been handing them out free, to those who qualify, as described in my 2015 post, reflecting the jointly organised and well-documented #SeaYouHomeSafe campaign. This laudable and essential practice of life preservation following a man overboard incident, has not just saved many lives already but sought closure for bereaved families where the deceased’s body has been successfully recovered.

But PFD’s don’t prevent accidents. Disaster can lurk behind every crashing lump of icy swell and every straining warp, but equally, as identified by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), many incidents recorded occur in relatively calm conditions, during the fairer weather months from June to September (Seafish).

Skipper Jefferey Melton aboard the Serene Dawn

Lowestoft skipper Jeffery Melton, was fishing singlehandedly aboard his 14m beamer, Serene Dawn (LT 7), in the Wash, in May 2015, a freak set of circumstances combined to render the 54 year old Jeffery, a well-known, hugely experienced and much admired East Anglian fisherman, suddenly and violently disabled in an horrific, split-second trauma, whilst towing for shrimps some miles off the North Norfolk coast.

“It was just another day” he smiles, “a routine I’ve practised a thousand times. I got down to the fish room, to look at the pump and began to lift the hatch, which was proving stubborn to move. As I gave it a shove, it freed and I stumbled forward.”

The ensuing seconds remain a blur to Jeffery, but in the following hazy and searingly shocking moments, he realised that where his booted and oilskinned left leg had been, was now a tangled, bleeding mass of shattered bone and torn flesh, below the knee.

“I thought to myself, Jeffery boy, what the hell ha’ you done?”

Read the full story here with pictures of a recent trip with Jefferey talking candidly to Mike Warner.

Status and Potential Yield of European Atlantic Fisheries

A brief summary of the status of these stocks and what it would take to maximize the yield from them.

You can read a version of this that was posted on the CFOOD website - stands for Collaborative for Food from Our Oceans Data.

With thanks to Ray Hilborn.  Also worth a viewing - Skeptic looks at marine protected areas (MPA).

Artist in residence - aboard the Karen of Ladram.

England's greatest artist, JMW Turner famously lashed himself to the mast of a sailing boat to experience first hand a storm at sea in the name of art...

225 years later portrait artist Henrietta Graham, the other half of Tim Hall from Newlyn based Painting Holidays, set sail aboard the netter Karen of Ladram to record the working lives of skipper Sid and his crew...

after steaming for 12 hours the boat is ready to shoot the first of her nets, at 2 in the morning...

 as they fish for hake 120 miles west of Land's End...

a few hours later, shooting almost done all hands are treated to one of those sunrises that make the job so rewarding...

and inspiring as the first preliminary drawing comes off her sketch pad.

Timely showing - First episode of The Catch goes out on the night of the Fish Festival at 8pm on Channel 4.

Here's a timely new TV documentary in the light of the changes to the way the Mission operates out of Newlyn - come and meet Phil Mitchell, skipper of the gill netter Govenek of Ladram as she plies the Western Approaches in her quest for hake, turbot and monk - in the kind of conditions that make most people thankful they are watching from the comfort of their sofa!

"In this new series Channel 4 have taken the fixed-rig camera to one of the most extreme destinations yet. Deep-sea fishing is the one of the most dangerous jobs in Britain, by some margin, and The Catch gives us unprecedented insight into the reality of life at sea.

The Govenek of Ladram in 'Through the Gaps' of Newlyn harbour.

Every day off the coast of England dozens of deep sea fishing crews are battling rough seas in order to hunt out the most valuable fish. But life at sea is often about so much more than fish. Miles out at sea the six-man crews only have each other to rely on, eating, sleeping and working together a matter of metres apart at all times – the work is tough, tensions are high and sleep is limited, how will these men learn to co-exist? Living in an environment like this is intense, and the fixed-rig shows fishermen like you’ve never seen them before – the on-board pranks, arguments at the dinner table, seasickness and the knowledge that a single haul can turn around the fate of a boat.
Though there's plenty of risk, the rewards can be high. After years of bad news stories and EU quota battles, the word is there is still money to be made at sea. Peak season for high-value fish is October to April – coinciding with the worst weather of the year. To succeed they have to pit themselves against dangerous weather conditions such as gale-force winds, 40-foot swells, and endless, driving rain.

Whilst the crew are out at sea, their partners and children are at home holding the fort. Constantly checking the weather and praying for a safe return some are parenting single-handedly, coping with the threat of bankruptcy, organising weddings and giving birth – life continues on land while the men are away at sea.

With a shortage of young men who have grown up in traditional fishing communities wanting to follow in their fathers' footsteps – recruiters are having to find new fishermen from further and further afield. This combined with rumours of big pay cheques has resulted in a new generation of landlubbers looking for work at sea, luring lads with no background in fishing to England’s busiest ports. The series follows these rookies as they join the tight-knit crews on board and see if they can hack it.

Episode 1 - Meet the realPhil Mitchell - skipper of the Govenek of Ladram

In the first episode of the series we meet Phil, the skipper of a large Gill netter called the ‘Govenek of Ladram’. Phil runs a tight ship, wanting his crew to work hard, eat together as a team and even makes sure that they dress up for meals without any fish guts on their clothes. Phil’s crew, Stan, Stevie, Sean, Bricktop and Simon, have been with him for years and are a well-oiled machine. But fishing can be a young man’s game and his crew isn’t getting any younger, Phil needs to bring in new blood and train them up before his most experienced deckhands move to an easier boat, or retire altogether.

Louis is a lost 21-year-old on the dole who has struggled in the past to feel part of a group and make friends. He lives at home with his mum and has never been to sea before. He has signed up for a deckie training course in the hope that he will be able to find a career, and a crew that will accept him as one of their own. But Louis has a rough ride ahead of him, to fit in he doesn’t just have to show that he can graft on deck but that he understands the rules of boat etiquette.

The Govenek fishes mainly for hake,

But life on board isn’t only difficult for the rookies, all the pressure and big decisions fall into the hands of skipper Phil. On a fishing boat there are no set wages, the crew earn a percentage of the profits – so if the haul is bad, the fish prices drop or a storm sets in they are the ones with the big decisions to make. Phil decides to steam 197 miles through a gale force 10 storm in the hunt for a good catch. But will his gamble of £7000 of diesel fuel steaming through 40 foot swells pay off and ensure that his crew comes away with a paycheck after a week at sea?

Behind the scenes: Just some of the camera cabling used to film aboard the Govenek...

and the kit going ashore after the last trip filming was completed.

See the story behind the new series on Channel 4 here:

And the full video trailer here:

Fabulous Fish, Fishermen and Filleting Competition at Newlyn Fish Market

Brilliant October sunshine kissed the Chefs’ Forum’s fifth Cornwall event, this time held at Newlyn Fish Market. Budding young chefs from Cornwall College got the opportunity to board fishing boats and talk to skippers about life at sea. Top chefs from across Cornwall learnt about sustainable fishing in Cornish Waters from the Cornish Fish Producers Organisation. 

This event celebrated collaboration between industry networking organisation The Chefs’ Forum and the Cornish Fish Producers Organisation with a common purpose to teach chefs and hospitality students about where the fish they use in their everyday profession comes from and factors facilitating its availability. 

Andy Wheeler, spokesperson for the CFPO stated: “It was great to be able to host The Chefs’ Forum here at the fish market, the market was transformed into a kitchen for the day and the students worked with their lecturers to brilliantly showcase Newlyn market fish in producing some excellent canapés. He continued “Inviting the chefs and students onto the boats was a great way to encourage them to cook with less mainstream species such as megrim sole and let them know about the abundant quantity of hake being caught off the Cornish coast. Using species that are in plentiful supply really helps our fishermen.” 

Stephane Delourme then judged two heats of a fish filleting competition; students then professional chefs. VRQ Level 2 student Fraser Hill won the student element which secured him a ‘money can’t buy experience’ of a day shadowing Stephane in his kitchen. This will contribute towards making him ‘industry-ready’ on leaving College in line with College learning objectives communicated to culinary guests at the event. Anton Buttery of Langman’s Restaurant, Callington won the professional heat with a score of a perfect ten for his filleting expertise. Anton’s prize was a box of goodies from Chefs’ 

Forum sponsors Total Produce, Forest Produce and Cornish Sea Salt. It is this vital support that makes Chefs’ Forum events possible as they are free to attend for students and chefs. The day was rounded off with a fabulous boat trip out to sea for chefs to try their hand at mackerel fishing. The chefs and students had a great day and relished the chance to catch up with friends old and new whilst learning about the provenance of Cornish fish.

'The Business of Fishing'

'The Business of Fishing' aims to improve everyone's understanding of the business aspects of the UK fishing industry by showing some of the day-to-day and strategic challenges that fishing vessel owners face and how they overcome those challenges. The video shows the industry through the eyes of four different vessel owners from different fishing sectors and regions of the UK. The focus is on running a successful business while taking care of the fish stocks and the natural environment.

'The Business of Fishing' was screened for the first time at an event at the Mayfair Hotel in London on Tuesday 12 March 2013. At the screening event, the invited audience of policy makers, environmental NGOs, media and industry representatives each had the opportunity to meet vessel owners involved in the film and discuss some of the issues that it explored. A further launch event was held in Edinburgh the following week and several other screenings around the UK and in Brussels followed as popular demand grew. The film has been shown at a discussion event in the European Parliament and to DG Mare at the European Commission in Brussels, to the House of Commons all party fisheries committee in London.

West country viewers should have no trouble in spotting the familiar face of skipper David Stevns Jnr aboard the family owned Crystal Sea II.

Commissioned by Sea Fish Industry Authority - the Authority on Seafood

Filmed and Edited by Greenroom Films, Edinburgh Executive Producer for Seafish: Hazel Curtis ©Sea Fish Industry Authority 2013