Finally, fish from four fine fishermen and their crew

A little Christmas spirit by way of illumination in Pete Tonkin's fine fish emporium brighten's up an overcast morning opposite the market.....
where Iceberg's fish wagon reverses to a loading bay.....
pile 'em high! - the first run of mackerel for weeks hits the market floor......
young Roger Nowell on the Imogen managed to get a few good hauls in and has provided the market with a welcome selction of whitefish from the Bay......
Marisco just couldn't resist the macs.....
still pretty devoid of fish but at least the buyers had something to bid for.....
including a landing from the Sardia Louise.

Newlyn starrs in short documentary film competetion

Newlyn Harbour documentary:

A Newlyn harbour, a short documentary film made by Saeed Taji Farouky

The film Synopsis:

Newlyn Harbour is a short experimental documentary exploring the southern village of Newlyn, the UK's largest fishing harbour. With the fishing industry in a crisis, Newlyn is struggling to survive in its current state. Local organisations have responded with plans for major commercialisation and modernisation. But what if the project to save Newlyn ends up killing the very thing it set out to protect? Newlyn Harbour reflects director Saeed Taji Farouky's outsider impressions of the experiences.

The competition for young film makers is sponsored by the CoOperative - closing date for entires was November 30th 2009. We wish Saeed luck!

Does discarding fish conserve stocks?

Coming up to the annual quota carve up in Brussels - perhaps representatives from each country should watch this clip of a Lerwick registered boat forced to dump tons of fish in the name of 'conservation' - fish quotas do not take into account the inability of fish to decide for themselves in which nets they should or should not get caught.

Brixham market opens with fish from an Angel.

Brixham market opened the bidding in its new market last Friday with fish from the beamer Angel Emiel. The fish made near record prices as a the dearth of fish continues thanks to one of the longest spells of prolonged gales for many years. Dover soles made £21 per kilo - thats over £120 a stone in 'old money' - almost £8 a pound on the market!

Also available on the BTA website is this very useful page that lets boat owners and merchants see at a glance what boats and fish are due for auction - a feature 'Through the gaps' is looking at introducing here.

It would seem illogical for a port like Brixham to have spent over £17 million on a new fish market to serive their fleet while in Cornwall there is talk of doing away with such a facility for the sake of a centralised depot somewhere on the A30. Newlyn's proposed market cost is less than a third of Brixham for a greater annual turnover.

Week four, the poorest run of weather for many years.

The lights are on but no one is at home, once again Monday's market was almost devoid of fish....
with the biggest landing coming from the Padstow netter Charisma who along with the Berlewen had managed to get away on Wednesday last week to work in the Channel......
in and out over the weekend, both the Crystal Sea and the Tranquility are back in Newlyn......
full steam ahead!

Antarctic heads south

Spotted on the AIS, the big Irish mid-water tank boat Antarctic headed south.

Saturday's forecast update - Cyclonic 10s.

For the first time in nearly three weeks the Crystal Sea II makes her way out to sea.....
passing the coaster Settina at anchor in the Bay.....
possibly Banksy's Cornish cousin Bashy........
as the Crystal Sea disappears into the heavy rain shower the Prospector ventures forth for a look......
to the untrained eye the Bay might look calm enough, a closer inspection of the horizon several miles distant reveals a different story, with 'hills' of ground sea visible.....
which is what forces Roger aboard the Imogen to head back in through the gaps after a look.......
in front of Newlyn Green, the early stone workings have been revealed again by the heavy seas - the purpose of these is unknown.......
running until the 30th of January, the Marcus Coates exhibition at the Newlyn Orion Gallery.