Could a cost conscious climate promote Coatsguard cuts and cost lives?

RNAS Culdrose's Rescue 193 on exercise.

Cut to just three coastguard stations offering 24/7 cover around the coast - and down to 19 stations around the UK - the stark news from the agency that oversees manned stations here in the South West. Announced earlier this year, cuts in safety services at sea in the form of the standby tugs like the Anglain Princess that will end next September.

In addition, air sea rescue services are being farmed out to private contractors and some reduced from the present 24/7 cover with obvious serious consequences should you hit trouble, 'out of hours'.

NCI Gwennap Head

Since many of the manned coastguard stations like Gwennap Head at land's End were closed the NCI was formed to fill in the provision manned entirely by volunteers.

Acoustic devices keep dolphins and porpoises at bay.

Porpoise caught in gill nets around 1992.

Encouraging results from trials involving four vessels in the Cornwall are being analysed at the moment according to Marine Conservation Officer Tom Hardy from the Cornwall Wildlife Trust who spoke on Radio Cornwall's Breakfast Show this morning.  The vessels were fitted with acoustic pingers with a range of about 400m that have helped prevent the nets from catching cetaceans as in the image above. Hydrophones were placed on the nets by the trial teams and used to ascertain the extent of cetacean presence in the areas being fished. The trials targetted vessels under 10m which at present have no requirement to work with pingers.

More details here.

New wave of new fish shops - New Wave opens in Cirencester.

Always good to see the return of a wet fish shop to the high street (even if they source their fish from Plymouth and Loe) - though it will be a long time before we return to the days when Mac Fisheries stores were found in every significant town in the country!

From their web site: "Tim Boyd, who, in 1989, founded New Wave Seafoods, suppliers to top restaurants has teamed up with Ben Hoggett who has been a chef with a seafood background for 15 years, spending many years at Bibendum and several other London landmark restaurants. Together they are offering a full selection of responsibly-sourced fish, much of it freshly and sustainably caught by dayboats from England's coastal waters in Plymouth and Looe, as well as live shellfish, herbs, wild mushrooms, organic vegetables and gourmet produce from the world's largest and finest food market, Rungis Marché in Paris, to complement their range."

Those old enough to remember Mac Fisheries shops will find that the web, as usual, comes up with answers to all those unasked questions like - did Mac Fisheries sell their own branded beer?

Is it legal? - UK quota system for under 10m boats challenged.

Is it legal?

That is the question that many in the under 10m sector will be asking in the wake of a recent report. Tom Appleby, University Law lecturer at the West of England University is convinced that the present quota system is weighted heavily in favour of PO managed boats, largely made up of >10m vessels - with a mere 10% of the national quota left to be divied up amongst the <10m fleet who, in reality, represent around 75% of UK fishermen!

Surfeit of silver.

Around three thousand kilos of the finest Cornish grey mullet graced the market this morning courtesy of the Sennen Cove Beach Boys.....

the Charisma from Padstow makes an early start.........

one prize tub gurnard fights its way from a box of lesser fellow red gurnards.......

at the other end of the market a mass of silver - top of the range bass from the local handliners out in force over the weekend on some big fishing.....

with many of these quality fish sure to be headed for the top restaurants and fish shops in the big smoke - no doubt a few of these will be gracing the slab of Chelsea Fishmonger Rex Goldsmith's emporii (if that's the plural for more than one emporium)........

in the black again......

whiting being graded the easy way.......

there's a bit more festive cheer around the harbour now that the tinsel has been added to the tree......

time to stock up with seasonal pickled products from the Cornish Pickle Company.......

just one of the pictures up for auction at WH Lanes.

Cod cuts about as palatable as cod liver oil?

Netters using bigger meshes catch bigger fish like these two lonely looking big cod.......

....whereas boats targetting fish like red mullet with smaller meshes will not catch the bigger fish.

Ahead of tomorrow' annual EU quota talks fishermen are lobbying hard for south west cod quotas not to be cut. This year has seen a sharp increase in the spread of juvenile cod being caught across the ICES Area VII.  Cheryl Murray conservative MP for South Est Cornwall appeared on the Politics Show in defence of likely cuts. A scientist spokesperson said he would like to see fishermen given more say in managing their own quotas on a regional basis - that would receive wide support but would entail the getting together of several nations around the negotiating table to hammer out.

There are many reasons why juvenile cod are evident this year, diminished fishing effort from a much reduced French, Belgian and Dutch fleet, environmental factors like sea temperature or migratory patterns.

A short report from Martin Oates for BBC South-West sees him talking to Helford fisherman Chris Bean aboard the Lady Hamilton - who finds twice as many cod in his nets as red mullet - his target fish! Although the the cod caught by Chris Bean are small - this is accounted for by the small mesh of his nets.

Heavy fishing according to Vessel Tracker.

Almost all the vessels tracked by the VesselTracker AIS west side of the Scillies are engaged in fishing this morning, a mixture of French and Irish trawlers - where are the Newlyn boys - forgot, we only have one trawler left!