MCZs - Marine Conservation Zones are here!

Make sure to visit the new interactive web site for the latest chart information regrading MCZs........

An example from the new interactive MCZ site - simple registration required first.

Sure to provoke a huge debate the proposed MCZ (Marine Conservation Zones) zones made public today have been published on line for the first time. After consultations spread over several years and involving thousands of respondents from Kayakers and Surfers to Divers, Anglers and Fishermen, Natural England together with the regional bodies Balanced Seas, Finding Sanctuary, Net Gain and Irish Sea Conservation Zones have delivered the basis for managing the environment and conservation areas at sea here in the South West and elsewhere.

Containers on the prom?

You won't find too many other towns in the UK with high street shops like this...... 

mirror-like morning in Penzance wet dock.......

with just a gentle swell moving the waters off the prom.......

and leaving a regular pattern on the shingle beach........

these granite steps on the prom have been trod by many feet over the years.......

someone spent the night on their own.........

if Euchre's your game then don't miss this tournament with prizes coming soon at the Star Inn opposite the fish market.......

almost at the end of a major refit, the Jacoba is back in Newlyn........

and her gear now being put back together for the start of the scallop season......

not he best job but someone has to load up the crab bait, the smellier the better for the crab of course.......

signs of that winch job underway on the big beamer.........

well, perhaps the man has his eye on another site with more room.......

just round the corner.......

a reminder for the fleet that the iceworks is having some major repairs undertaken in a couple of weeks.......

brightly coloured visitor on the pontoons........

with visiting lifeboat on the end.

Escabeche and sweet potato!

They'll be partying in the land of the pasty today!

As always, the Star never misses an opportuntiy to party.......

ansd a certain Humphry Davy would no doubt approve.......

evidence abounds around the quay of St Piran's influence........

and up the mast.

PZ10 - Mystery of the model from the Ship Inn, Mousehole.

PZ10 - Looking over the stem of the model from the Ship Inn, Mousehole.

Any information about the above model, which for many years was on display in the Ship, Mousehole would be gratefully received. See additional views in the image gallery.

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.