A very fishy Friday for Stefan!

It's that time of year, yes, we have no vacancy.......

bound in for the gaps, the beam trawler Nellie passes the Low Lee buoy.......

a rare moment, when the Mount is bathed in sunlight breaking through the cloud cover.......

patience is a virtue.......

who put the chic in Chicadee.......

major work abaord the St Georges..........

she's in landing and down by the head again.......

but this time with a record haul, maybe over twenty tons......

and the skipper's happy enough........

the boys from Meva can only look on in awe........

as they Cornish Sardines keep coming ashore.......

harbour master Andrew makes it a working day........

while others in the market are even faster.......

top quality line caught pollack from the Sea Spray........

one small, one big, and a whole box of medium bass from the Butts.......

most of the mackerel men have moved round to St Ives, but when you can do over 10 knots the Longships is just within reach and workable.........

a man who cares about his catch, he's gone to sea with an insulated tub and filled it with slush ice (flake ice and sea water mixed) to chill that catch to +2º........

and a good run of mackerel, with prices around the £1.60 mark for medium fish this morning.

Mid-week mackerel marinade.

Fillet your own line caught mackerel - or ask your fishmonger nicely......

marinade for around an hour with 3 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp mirin, a slug of sake or dry sherry, an inch of grated fresh ginger, a decent clove of garlic crushed with salt and a teaspoon of sugar........

mix well...........

micro-graters make this job easy......

one of those gadgets that is worth having - if you a don't possess a runner bean stripper - get one!

Man and family vs seagull and family.

It's good to see that us Brits have not lost our sense of proportion. Here's a story related from Keith Dickson's Newlyn Mission blog after his visit to Mevagissey yesterday. 

"Just a quick story. The boat the Crimson Tide featured in the previous picture of Mevagissey Harbour was stopped form going to sea recently as a Seagull had built a nest on the cabin roof and laid eggs in it. English Natural Heritage and the RSPB both told the skipper he would have to wait till the chicks fledged before gong back to sea. It is nice to see that fishermen lively hood's are of secondary importance to our Seagulls well being."

Where else would the RSPCA(1824) have come into existence some 60 years before the NSPCC(1884)?

Anglian Prince sold and off to Canadian waters.

Sister ship Anglian Princess has been on contract to the MCA as an Emergency Towing Vessel and stationed in Mount's Bay untill recently.

At 1000 hours this morning the Herakles had entered the Med through the Straits of Gibralter.

If you wondered where the Anglain Prince had gone - now we know.  Britain’s last traditional salvage tug, the Anglian Prince has been sold for further service with Rederi AB Nestor of Pitea, Sweden, and managers Marine Carrier AB.  The tug left Hull docks in the UK on 14 June bearing the new name Herakles and flying the Maltese flag. It is understood that the tug was bound for Montreal and its first assignment for its new owners.

See the full story in the Maritime Journal.

The Armed Knight is watching you!

Not often you see a boat come down between the Longships and Land's End. Care needs to be taken with two semi-submerged rocks to avoid, the Shark's Fin at the Nor'ard end of the channel and the Kettle's Bottom almost midway between the Longships and the cliffs. With no ground sea running, neither are visible around high water.

Roger Nowell mending gear aboard the Semper Allegro.

Roger Nowell in his beam trawling days for Stevenson's would often do the same - challenged by boss man Billy Stevenson one evening after arriving, Roger vehemently denied having taken such a route on his way home from 'up channel' - to which Billy replied, "See, I've just been watching the local news on TSW filmed at Land's End - and guess who I could see over the shoulder of the interviewer?!!" Roger,.......... your fired.

Nominations for the Radio 4 Food Awards 2011.

Lionel points out the distinctive spots on a plaice.

Through the Gaps exists to promote fish at source and demystify the fishing industry in an increasingly complex market place. The author's intention is to provoke readers to think or think differently about how fish are caught, handled and presented for consumption and to inspire blog viewers and port visitors to become more fish aware and informed about this hugely important community. To be inspired by fish and fishing, not just as food but by the men and their boats and the lives of those who work in and around to serve the port, the lifeboat, the Mission, the places to eat, drink and shop, the art galleries - all of these contribute to the life and soul of Newlyn. Celebrate quality of life not lifestyle. Whether you catch or cook, the future of fishing is in the hands of all those involved being made more aware to meet ever increasing demands from political, environmental, economic and social change - the more informed people are, the stronger the debate.


Please take a few minutes to nominate 'Through the Gaps' in the Food Champion category of this years BBC Radio 4 Food Awards.

If only everything in fishing was black and white!

NEW DATA NOW AVAILABLE TO VIEW ON THE MARINE PLANNING PORTAL

More data has now been added to the Marine Management Organisation’s interactive and online map.

Once registered, users can select (fixed and mobile fishing gear and intensity) and then use the boxes to add comments directly to the web site.

Be sure to register with the marine planning portal which allows anyone logging on to view a range of information and locations – from details of wind farm developments to conservation areas - even fishing operations – and understand how busy our seas have become.


New information has just gone live for the following uses:

· Marine Protected Areas

· Defence and national security 

· Energy production and infrastructure development

· Ports and shipping

· Marine aggregates

· Marine dredging and disposal

· Subsea cables

· Fishing activity

· Aquaculture

· Tourism and recreation

· Marine ecology and biodiversity

· Historic environment.

Plan-making is already underway in the East Offshore and East Inshore marine plan areas - from Flamborough Head to Felixstowe – with a total of 10 marine plans to be drawn up for England over the next decade to inform and guide marine regulators and users.


The planning portal offers an easy way to be involved and contribute to marine planning. Using the controls, you can locate and then zoom in on particular areas or activities by selecting the specific data you want to see. You can also post comments and make suggestions on new data or information to inform the plans in the East of England, which are expected to take two years to finalise.


We hope as many people as possible will get online, look at the map and share any insights they may have on the evidence we will be using. The MMO will also be running a series of workshops in the East of England over the coming year which will provide opportunities for others, including those who are not online, to have their say.


You can also contact the planning team by telephone on 0191 376 2790, or email: planning@marinemanagement.org.uk