Welcome to Through the Gaps, the UK fishing industry's most comprehensive information and image resource. Newlyn is England's largest fish market and where over 50 species are regularly landed from handline, trawl, net, ring net and pot vessels including #MSC Certified #Hake, #Cornish Sardine, handlined bass, pollack and mackerel. Art work, graphics and digital fishing industry images available from stock or on commission.
In this video shot shortly after her launch in 2012 the Kristine Vendelbo HM202 heads for home with 210 tons of sprats on board ...
wind forward three years and we find she has just steamed from that same home port of Hanstholm in the far north of Denmark to fish...
right on the 12 mile limit between Land's End and the Scillies - though on the AIS she now shows up as the Irish vessel, Unity. On Friday, the 29th of September 2017, Atlantic Shipping, as brokers, delivered the wet fish trawler M/V “Kirstine Vendelbo" to her new owners. The vessel is 27.50 x 7.70 m and was built in 2012 at Vestværftet, Hvide Sande, Denmark.
Undoubtedly, the as yet unknown German scholar Martin Luther had no idea that 500 years to the day he posted his 95 theses on the door of his local catholic church in Wittenberg would there be a fishing boat 50 miles south of Waterford bearing his name. The boat, an ex Belgian beam trawler, is currently fishing along with other Irish and French vessels in the Celtic Deeps.
Technology has evolved so quickly and to such an extent that this modern-day Martin Luther's whereabouts can be monitored and contacted from a device small enough to fit in the palm of your hand - the introduction of printing at the time allowed for the spread of information which in turn eventually led to the Reformation and sowed the seeds for the Western world we live in today - maybe now it is the turn of the internet to sow the seeds for the second Reformation as this article in the Guardian suggests:
In other words, we are all members of the Church of Technopoly, and what we worship is digital technology. Most of us are so happy in our obeisance to this new power that we spend an average of 50 minutes on our daily devotion to Facebook alone without a flicker of concern. It makes us feel modern, connected, empowered, sophisticated and informed.
In this article, a discussion and link to a modern twist on challenging the norm - in this instance our total immersion in technology - the website 95theses has 'nailed' 95 technology challenging theses to a virtual door.
It's always helpful if someone else somewhere else with a similar problem comes up with a suitable solution. Our American cousins famously suffered overfishing for cod in particular - here is a solution offered: Background NE groundfish- management/monitoring
At Sea Monitors, Electronic Monitoring, Dockside Monitors
British fishing’s Brexit revival - an optimistic piece from Alexander Fuiza writing for CapX
British fishermen were allocated just 30 per cent of the fish in their waters in 2015
Setting its own fisheries policy could deliver the UK a £3 billion boost
A fishing revival would bring new activity to areas that need it the most
With the EU finally beginning formal preparations for negotiations over its future economic relationship with the UK, it’s time to look again at an area that stands to gain from Brexit: fishing. Once it leaves the EU, the UK will can undo former Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath’s catastrophic decision to sell out British fisheries for European Economic Community membership. British fishermen should see a substantial boost to their share of fishing quotas in UK waters. The important question now is just how substantial an economic boost this will be. Under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) Britain has been forced by the EU to set rigid fishing quotas, often leading to healthy fish being thrown overboard – many of which die – to avoid exceeding the limits imposed by Brussels. The UK has had to surrender 70 per cent of the quotas in its own waters (defined as anything within 200 miles of the coast or the midpoint between Britain and a nearby country ). How much of their own fish do non-EU countries retain? A good comparison to the UK is Norway, which is also blessed with substantial fishing waters, is Norway. They maintain a quota system similar to the CFP, but the proportions caught by domestic fishermen are much higher. In 2016 domestic fishermen took 84 per cent of fish caught in Norway. In Iceland the share is greater still; most years it is higher than 90 per cent of Iceland’s fishing catch goes to domestic fleets, according to the Icelandic Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture. These examples both point to a boost to British fishing from Brexit. So just how much would taking back control of our fisheries bolster our economy? In 2015 fish was worth £1.661 billion in the UK economy. There were 12,107 fishermen employed in the UK, with a further 12,000 employed in the processing industry. Of the fishermen, 6,420 were based in England and Wales, 4,829 in Scotland, and 859 in Northern Ireland. Part-time fishermen accounted for approximately 19 per cent of the total. UK vessels landed 708,000 tonnes of sea fish into the UK and abroad with a value of £775 million; 12.7 per cent of the fish UK vessels landed were from foreign waters – the value of domestic catch alone being around £676.6 million. If UK fisherman took the same share of domestic fish as their Norwegian counterparts, the value of domestic fish landings would jump from £676.6 million to £1,894.5 million. Factoring in an equivalent boost to fish processing, this could mean a £3 billion boost to the UK economy. Of course, mapping Norway’s numbers onto Britain’s fishing industry is a fairly basic way of speculating on the industry’s future. But it does make the point that Brexit represents a substantial opportunity to the UK’s fishing industry. If this boost had a proportionate effect on employment in fishing, it would mean more than 20,000 new jobs in both fishing and fish processing. In the same way, it could be anticipated around 21,792 fishing jobs could be gained, and around 21,600 fish processing jobs, for a total of 43,392 jobs in addition to the 24,107 currently employed in fishing and fish processing. That excludes potential secondary employment growth from jobs servicing the newly employed, on-shoring of fish processing jobs, and the creation of larger fishing firms. The result wouldn’t just be more jobs, but more jobs in areas where they are badly needed. Again, assuming a proportionate distribution of these new jobs, around 8,692 of the potential 21,792 new positions created would theoretically accrue to Scotland, concentrated in the Islands, Highland towns and Ayr, rather than well-heeled Edinburgh. Almost half of the benefits going to Scotland, despite it representing around 8 per cent of the UK population, is almost ironic given how many Scots voted Remain, but there we go. Roughly 1,532 jobs would go to Wales, and 1,546 to Northern Ireland. Both Wales and Northern Ireland are substantially poorer than the UK as a whole, with GDP per capita of £18,002 and £21,770 respectively. Northern Ireland’s unemployment rate is substantially above the UK average at 5.7 per cent. Relatively left behind regions of England would gain too. The North East, home to Brexit bastions like Tynemouth, Sunderland and Middlesborough, stands to gain 2,180 fishermen. The South West meanwhile could gain as many as 4,995, concentrated in the too often forgotten rural counties of Cornwall and Devon. Unemployment in the North East is 6.8 per cent. In the South West it is 3.7 per cent, though a large number of jobs in counties like Devon and Cornwall come and go with the tourist seasons. Clearly, these areas could do with a boost. By Alexander Fiuza
Brighter than it has been as a result of the clocks going back yesterday, first light...
sees Nimrod (named after grandfather) the latest addition to the Rowse crabbing fleet nestling between the Harriet Eve and the Chris Tacha...
though as yet the sign-writer has not yet had a chance to weave his magic over the old name numbers and name on the bow...
shades of the past when there were no market fridges to hold fish in and with only half the market space available two netters are waiting in landing berths for the market to be cleared of fish before putting their fish ashore...
despite a flurry of forklift action ferrying fish away...
meanwhile, in the market Cefas are busy collecting fish data from the Resurgan's landing...
with the single fridge full of mackerel landed by the handline fleet over the weekend...
and fish from two beam trawlers, five inshore trawlers and a handful of punts...
saw some solid landings of haddock...
plaice...
and more plaice...
but all of these landings were totally overshadowed by the fish from this boat - there are fishermen, good fishermen and the best fishermen and then there are the best fishermen that fish for bass - and the best of the bass fishermen in Newlyn has just returned to fishing...
and let us remind ourselves that Steven 'Cod' Astley now goes to sea with two titanium legs after a suffering from sepsis...
so with over 70kg of bass on the market this morning - 20kg more than the next nearest boat its heartening to see he is still the master when it comes to chasing what Keith Floyd always referred to as, the "King of fish"......
while Dennis Pascoe aboard the punt Sprigs of Heather, probably the oldest working full time fisherman in Newlyn, hauled in a few big squid to go with his bass haul...
during the refurb, access is now kept clear at the western end of the market...
despite the hundreds of boxes being stacked across the market floor...
from the big netters like the Joy of Ladram...
and the Ajax...
long-dead fisherman Freddie Howis would often joke that conditions for working on the market were worse now then they were 100 years ago when, "they had donkeys and carts to move fish about"...
a sentiment no doubt shared by that happy market chappy, Roger as he drags another stack of boxes to the exit...
while this big pollack has been doused in tallies it seems...
Plugger on the Shiralee must have been well pleased with this trip of rays - big by any standards not just for a 10m inshore trawler...
as more light begins to crack the sky...
two of the hake netter Charisma's crew exchange pleasantries...
as they wait for the market to be cleared of fish so they can land and sort their fish for Tuesday's market...
since work began on the refurb half the market space has been lost which means that on days when big trips from beam trawlers, netters and the fleet of 30+ handliners coincide...
the market is pushed for space...
and with the morning light giving such stunning vistas...
it's now wonder you just have to take the time to record the moment...
while others work flat out to keep pace with the fish being bought...
the beam trawler, Resurgan made £31,000 last trip, will she beat that this morning...
all three Rowse boats picked out in the morning sun...
while the wreck-netter Gary M waits to sail again...
work is forging ahead and a new roof is on one end of the market...
out in the bay a handful of mackerel boats have found a biggish mackerel mark...
back in the Dry Dock, the new IoS supply ship, Mali Rose.
You could be entitled to a Mullion Compact 150 Lifejacket with a personal locator beacon.
Fishing boat crews who live in Plymouth will be safer at sea, thanks to a project designed by Plymouth City Council with support from the local fishing industry.
Plymouth City Council has been awarded £77,000 from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and the Maritime Management Organisation for the scheme to help reduce loss of life and accidents within the local fishing industry.
The life-saving equipment with in-built locator beacons has now been ordered as part of the two-year project which aims to encourage behaviour change through training and new equipment. Delivery is expected in November and December and then MarineCo will make arrangements to distribute the life Jackets to those eligible fishermen.
The project, which has been designed with input from fishermen’s representatives, SEAFISH and the emergency services, hopes to reduce the number of fishermen’s lives lost at sea.
Last September, following a Motion on Notice at Full Council, the Council applied to the Marine Management Organisation for funding through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund to fund the purchase of ‘personal flotation devices’ equipped with personal locator beacons.
The project includes training, personal fitting and training carried out by a supplier with a unique understanding of the fishing industry, fishing grounds and the operations of emergency services.
Register Your Interest
To register your interest please complete the below form and return to jane.hunt@plymouth.gov.uk. For more information please email or call 01752 398048.
Life Jacket Application [Word, 122KB]