Breton fishing initiatives

Off the north coast of Brittany, here's an example of how for twenty years working on an informal basis, different fishing groups have mutually agreed to work together in a specific area for the benefit of all.




Chart A

Open publication

Chart B

Open publication

Crucial CFP talks in Brussels today.

Fishermen and fisheries leaders from all over the UK are willing the EU to come up with a radical and workable way forward in the wake of today's crucial Fisheries Council CFP meeting in Brussels.

LETTER FROM RICHARD BENYON:

We all know that the current Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is broken and no one wants to see it continue to erode the livelihoods of our fishermen and blight the marine environment. I am committed to going into this week’s important negotiations with a view to us achieving our objectives of sustainable fish stocks, a prosperous fishing industry and a healthy marine environment. We’ve come a long way since the detailed negotiations began in September 2011 and this week’s Fisheries Council provides a clear opportunity to continue pushing the reform in the direction we need. This will not be easy – the ambitions that I hold are not shared by all – but I will be working hard to deliver as much as I possibly can. We will continue to press for robust commitments to ensure we can eliminate discards quickly, reflecting the strength of feeling among the British public that we need to tackle this terrible waste. I’ve set out the objectives we are fighting for in these negotiations, but as one of 27 participants round the table I can’t pre-empt the outcome, but what I can do is make clear the UK will not shy away from these objectives and will continue to fight for a fairer deal for UK fishermen and the marine environment.

Richard Benyon UK Fisheries Minister

These days the focus of attention for the majority of Uk fishermen - ie those who would qualify for membership of the Under 10metres association NUTFA - has to be the derisory quota system that now operates in favour of the bigger vessels who are managed via their producer organisations - like the CFPO in the south west.

In the wake of the recent Fishermen's Friend event held in Plymouth last weekend, Jerry Percy, chief executive of the New Under Ten Fishermen's Association, admitted there had been concerns about teaming up with Greenpeace. But he said both sides had spent "30 years throwing stones at each other", which had got them nowhere.
Mr Percy said quotas had to "reward" those fishermen who "increased their sustainability and reduce their impact" and not be based on "historic rights". They had wrongly become "commodities to be bought and sold".
He said reform of the EU's CFP – which is due later this year – represented the "last chance" for change for decades.

Richard Lockhead is quoted saying, "Our fishermen and our fishing communities are counting on the next CFP to show common sense. They are counting on the Council to acknowledge the great work that is taking place to conserve fish stocks and increase sustainability. And they are counting on the support of the whole of Scotland as we continue to fight to protect their livelihoods and their communities.”

Full coverage of the events leading up to the meeting in yesterday's Guardian.

Orinico Flo St Mary's lifeboat tow update

These days the AIS shows just how GPS linked in with an autopilot allows vessels to reciprocate a course exactly - even a tow!

With the islands now in sight, the St Mary's lifeboat The Whiteheads with the dismasted yacht, Orinco Flo is nearing the end of her 150 mile tow job.


The Cornish owned yacht left Antigua back in May and was due back in Cornwall some time ago. The yacht's owner had contacted Falmouth Coastguard on the 27th May concerned that the vessel was overdue. 


With the VHF radio now limited in range, a passing 246m tanker, Eagle Turin was the last boat to be in contact with the yacht and had provided food, though the skipper declined any assistance deciding to continue on passage with a jury rigged sail. 


After Falmouth Coastguard involved an SAR helicopter from RNAS Culdrose the skipper was contacted again and he agreed to accept a tow form the St Mary's lifeboat which was duly despatched yesterday evening.

This AIS screenshot from VesselTracker AIS show both the lifeboat and the Orinoco Flo now berthed alongside the quay at St Marys after the 14 hour round trip tow.

Birthday Boy!

Newlyn stalwart - the man who made more chips than Jewels - and the man with these initials' birthday today!

Scillies lifeboat goes to rescue 'missing' dismasted yacht 100 miles off the Scillies.

St Mary's lifeboat is currently steaming WSW of the islands to go and pick up a dismasted yacht that has been 'missing' for 11 days.

This was the last recorded AIS position recorded by the yacht after leaving Antigua.

The catamaran was said to be making "very slow progress" towards Falmouth with an improvised mast and sail rigged by the skipper - photo courtesy of RNAS Culdrose SAR

Here's the story from the BBC:

A catamaran which had been apparently missing for nine days, has been found by a search and rescue helicopter from RNAS Culdrose. The crew from 771 Squadron found the dismasted vessel about 100 nautical miles off the Cornish coast. The Orinoco Flo, which was en route to Falmouth from Antigua, was last seen on 2 June but had been out of radio contact since. The skipper, who had rigged an improvised mast and sail, was unhurt. The catamaran's radio had been damaged when the mast fell, he said. The skipper told the helicopter crew he had food and water on board, but with his boat making "very slow progress" and poor weather forecast, he would accept the offer of a tow to the Isles of Scilly by the St Mary's all-weather lifeboat.