Keriolet and the Labadie Bank on the map!

Screen grab of VesselTracker targets on the Labadie Bank.

After yesterday's ultra-long range VesselTracker AIS signals today's snapshot picked up a few Breton and Irish prawn boats north of the Labadie, WNW of the Scillys.

also spotted just off the Irish coast, the Keriolet, ex-Concarneau........

a far cry from the wooden 'classique' Keriolet that worked so stoicly from Newlyn for many years - previously from Lorient - the original French owner retiring and running his own bar called, naturally, Bar Keriolet!

Fish merchant Robin Turner gives his thoughts on EU discards news.

North Devon's Journal newspaper ran a story on the news that the Brussels is looking to end the practice of discards at sea by 2012. Local fish merchant Robin Turner is quoted saying,

"This is not a silver bullet," said Mr Turner. "It's easy to ban something but discards came about because of quotas – which came about because of paperwork that has no bearing on what goes on in the ocean - Every small sea area is different from the one next door – you can't generalise from one area to another – fishing is very complex."

The full story including additional comments from North Devon Fishermen's Association John Butterwworth.

Airlifted injured French fisherman.

Cephren sheltering in Newlyn for weather in 2009.

RNAS Culdrose airlifted a fisherman suffering from crush injuries aboard the Guilvenec registered Cephren yesterday to Treliske hospital. Full report from BBC local news here.

Must be the weather - AIS with 300 mile plus range!

Must be something in the air this afternoon - a VesselTracker AIS chart covering the Western Approaches showed a number of vessels well to the south west of Land's End.......

with the Loxandra, the farthest boat selected, the distance calculator was used to plot a course between the vessel and Penzance - recording a distance of 309 miles! Not bad for a system that uses the VHF frequencies - normally giving a signal strength equivalent to or not much more than a line-of-sight range.

Cabot's Matthew sails into Newlyn.

Feels like Spring has made an early start in Penzance this week.......

with the waters of the Bay looking enticing for anyone keen enough to ignore the hint of frost on the ground......

though there are still some eerie sights along the prom........

with a good section of the old causeway that ran from Newlyn to Wherry Town exposed this morning.......

all hands to the meat wagon making an early delivery for Lentern's the butchers......

the fish that started a fight, a good sized cod gapes at the furore it has caused around the EU.....

still trying to get the last of the boxes from the netter CKS sorted before the auctioneer turns up......

this time of year the boats land a selection of both hard and soft roes from fish like cod, pollack and ling......

the Emiel twins from Brixham are in town......

as is the superb replica of John Cabot's Matthew from Bristol.......

which sailed down from her home port yesterday......

and is taking a short break on Cornwall's top fishing port ........

catching a few early morning rays........

see the latest fishing boats for sale page.......

perhaps someone attending next week's Newlyn Pier and Harbour Commissioner's meeting could suggest that some/alternate/all of these meetings are held either in the evenings, or on a Saturday (as they once were), when all those interested members of the community who hold down full-time 9-5 jobs could then find time to attend and take part, just a thought........

another new name - what was Pizza Patio has now become the Italian Kitchen.......

tipping the ice back from whence it came, more examples of recycling in Newlyn........

another name change, this time what was Penzance Farmer's Market is now Penzance Country Market.

Call for video or film maker to go for archive funding.

'Out of Archive' calls for applications.

Name those menders on the deck of the Keriolet.

With funding from Arts Council England and the Creative Industries iNet, South West Screen is offering five South West based creative practitioners the opportunity to work with three South West archives to explore new ways of exploiting cultural assets, using digital platforms to create new business models and ultimately connecting with new audiences.

Successful applicants will be offered a £2,000 research and development award plus a project budget of £5,000. Applicants can come with additional sources of funding

Given the interest aroused on this site by the recent archive footage of the fishing industry this would seem to be an ideal opportunity for someone to bid for the cash and make use of the material that undoubtedly exists out there.

Going, going, gone! - port record goes again!

Never has as port record seen so many changes in such a short space of time - years would pass before the port record for landings in Newlyn would need re-entering in the record books, not so in the last few months! Two years ago in the first week after the Christmas break the St Georges under Captain Billy Worth too the port record to £50,300. A few weeks ago the record went three times in one week only to be broken again last week by a mere £80. Today, the St Georges does it again and knocks the Cornishman off the top spot this time breaking the record by a significant margin taking it to £57,000!

St Georges now holds the port record at £57,000.