Mullet mesh madness - when is 60mm not 60mm?

On 60mm mesh, the Orion gauge indicates 67mm - under the required 1Kg pressure.

Fishermen who have invested in lightweight monofilament gill net to target species like red mullet may look to use the gear with some trepidation. Using a net gauge that applies the required 1Kg of pressure under EU regulations (introduced to give an accurate reading of much heavier twine used by trawlers and beam trawlers) the soft twine soon stretches to give average readings well over the 60mm! Of course, this also works to advantage at the other end of the scale with some nets that are under 80mm then averaging out well over 80mm!


This will be one of the first jobs from April 1st for the newly formed IFCA (Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority) with its much wider remit to include environmental issues that were not part of the old CSFs responsibility in the same way - and IFCA is no April Fool or Poisson d'Avril as the day is known in France.


A timely publication of research CEFAS carried out aboard Chris Bean's Lady Hamilton last year gives an insight in to just how complicated any form of net legislation is with regard to targeting specific species, especially inshore where those fishermen who work the smallest vessels in the fleet have no option to shift 'further off'!

Project 20: Cornwall red mullet gill net fishery discard reduction

Purpose: To look at the capture of red mullet, and associated species, with different mesh sizes of gill nets. A range of nets will be used, within the range 50-80mm, made up into identical fleets to help determine the desirable net size to reduce the number of discards.
Timing: June to October 2010  

Selectivity of gill nets used in the Cornish RedMullet fishery.

RIP CSFC

CSFC boss Eddie Derriman at the helm of the fisheries patrol boat St Piran under its old nomenclature.

Westcountry inshore fishermen may mourn the end of Sea fisheries Committees (SFCs), voluntary bodies (once formed to placate quarrels between fishermen) that have looked after both fish and shellfish stocks in coastal waters for over a century. Twelve such bodies stretch around England and Wales and from April 1 will be replaced by IFCAs – Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities.

The last meeting of the Cornwall SFC was held at the County Hall, Truro on Friday (18 March), where Chief Fishery Officer Eddie Derriman gave a talk on the history of SFCs; and the final meeting of Devon SFC will take place at Plymouth City Council Offices this Friday, where its Chief Fishery Officer Keith Bower will present 26 pages of history and anecdotes since Devon SFCs inception in 1892. Cornwall SFC was the second of 12 SFCs that were vested and “much has happened during the 121 years it has been in place,” explained Mr Derriman, adding how the service began with a lone fishery officer who patrolled the ports and worked from home, a service which now has 11 personnel. Originally the committee had just 24 members.


The first Cornwall SFC byelaw came in 1890 as the ‘Steam Trawling Byelaw’ made on 20 August, only five months after the committee was created to prevent steam powered trawlers from working within the SFCs jurisdiction, then being three miles from the lowest drying rock. Only in 1993 did all SFCs extend their powers out to six-miles offshore.

Salt pilchards in a wooden cask bound for Italy.

In 1898 a census of the fishing industry found there were 1,242 fishing boats in Cornwall, mostly pilchard catchers, of which 161 were steam driven. Almost 5,500 men worked aboard those vessels with an estimated 40,000 people ashore working in the pilchard ‘palaces’, brining and pressing the pilchards.

Devon SFCs history is similar, yet in practice Devon SFCs actions and operations were quite different. That ‘difference’ applied to all neighbouring SFCs. While having adjoining borders, fishing practices within each SFC are often widely different – and the valuable local knowledge of that difference may be lost within IFCAs, fear many.

Devon SFCs first elected chairman was the Mayor and Chief Magistrate of Plymouth, Mr Windeatt, “well known to all as one who had given a lot of time to fishery matters,” writes Keith Bower. He explained how SFCs began during a Victorian era when technology was moving fast, steam powered vessels were replacing sail; fish and shellfish stocks were increasingly under pressure. Soon came the Devon SFC byelaw to curtail the use of trammel nets, one net should not exceed 70 fathoms in length and not to be set within 50 fathoms of another. Some committee members sought help to understand what a trammel net was! On 11 September 1892 Devon SFC held a meeting with Torquay fishermen hearing that “the destruction of mother-fish, spawn and young fish by trawlers had almost ruined the fishing in Torbay”. Fishermen told how before more Brixham trawlers wandered onto inshore ground, they could make a living with nets and lines set close to the shore; predicting how over fishing by such trawlers would invite other countries such as Germany to benefit from the conflict and quickly supply the UK with that shortfall of fish.

From that conflict stemmed the three mile limit, within which trawling was quickly banned, the committee were told how the “big Brixham trawlers” would not be affected and were not to blame as they “did not desire to fish in Torbay, it was the small ones that did the mischief”.

Such offenders were skilfully waiting for line fishermen – known as hookers – to run out of bait. Yet after the hookers ceased fishing the smell of their bait remained in the seawater and had attracted many fish into a relatively small area; the small trawlers quickly moved-in to scoop-up whatever was on the seabed – often ripping away the long lines from the few remaining hookers too!

Article courtesy of Phil Lockley.

Plymouth Marine Studies visit headed up by Dr Simon Ingram.

 End-to-end with fish this morning on the market......

 and the guys were still grading after the auction had started........

down the quay the trip's work is not over yet as Alan the Irishman next to Pete the Cornishman gets his boys to over end the gear.......

one happy skipper, Timmy Boyle washes down the good ship Gary M after an excellent run of fish sees his third landing for the tide go for auction......

 and it's just quality fish all the way.........

back down the quay and there are more reasons to be cheerful part III, another smiling skipper, after arriving at midnight then landing till gone four this morning it's an early start at seven and a quick shower in the offing for TV favourite skipper Elsworth.......

 while down on the market his fish is just being sold.......

at the same time as Simon Ingram and 27 students from the University of Plymouth Marine Studies department including 14 Hong Kong students enjoy a tour of the fish market and auction courstey of Lionel..........

seen here demonstrating how the angler fish attracts potential victims towards its gaping mouth while laying on the sea bed.......

next up, and the cause of some consternation judging by the look on some faces, Lionel points out the differences between two species of ray.......

with the students keen to make notes as they go.

North Atlantic first for Newlyn! - a white lipped Australian monk fish.

Lophius piscatorius

Here is a typical Northern Atlantic monk or angler fish Lophius piscatorius showing it's 'fishing rod' that it uses to attract its prey.........

Lophius pistakus

contrast that to the white-lipped Southern Atlantic or Australian angler fish Lophius pistakus which has eveolved to lay on the sea bed upside down with its lower lip protruding thereby disguising itself as a dead or decaying fish. This is the the first time one of these fish has ever been recorded this far north - a sure sign of the shift in sea temperatures fishermen are noticing in the North Atlantic. Newquay Aquarium were gutted to find that the fish had been taken aboard living but, despite using the shellfish tank, the crew were unable to keep the specimen alive till the end of their trip.


Monk fish are hugely important in the Western Approaches for the South West fleets. Local Newlyn beamers, Twilight and Billy Rowney completed another annual survey for CEFAS in November last year, the results of which can be seen in this publication.

Busy!

Sardines and aquaculture in crisis - over 100 years ago.

Here are a selection of extracts from a reserach paper by J Kunstler published over 100 yeqars ago in France. The title of the report is:


The Sardine Question and Aquculture Crisis - a familiar ring to the tone and content despite being translated by machine (Google Translate).

"The economic importance of marine fisheries is enormous. Their performance is all the more precious that so far there was no need to sow to reap, and that, in the words of Franklin, this is an income that gives us all free Nature. This way of life will last indefintiely? The plaintive echoes which, on all sides, we announce a gradual depopulation are likely to make us fear that this will not always be so, though there is no unanimity on this point and that many scientists believe simple movement of fauna under different influences, natural or even due to human action. Anyway, the current crisis seems to give a sardine greater likelihood of the pessimistic assessments.

But, 1888, a new Order withdrew that permission. The progressive course of improvement of instruments capture was stopped by the fact of legal impediments, under the influence of fear special ri va nt of economic ideas of those concerned, and this by the advice of a commission consisting predominantly by fishermen. They have forgotten that prior to use of a remote contingency, it must first live and that therefore it is necessary to follow Example neighbors and develop ways to capture.

Fears that can arise regarding fishing methods too advanced are twofold: economic and theoretical, aimed at a possible depopulation. There can certainly be considered as quite chimerical to fear that overfishing has to result of lowering the current price. But the evil and feared would be more or less overcome by increasing the total production, it might even be more or less avoided some regulatory restrictions. French products sell for a little better than their like strangers. However, the introduction of these the market is nonetheless one. great discomfort by comparison with the time when our Britons had a monopoly Production of sardine cans. Past, poor fisheries were compensated quite natural in raising the price of the commodity sold. Today it do not be the same, because the presence of products. Foreign maintains the variation in prices within narrow limits. From these considerations, it appears that it seems essential our fishermen to upgrade their ptocédés capture both want to fight against foreign competition.

Fishing seasons ollrent changes most diverse, or they have a uniform
remarkable or are confused by their irregularity. Abnormal phenomena can occur during periods of emergence, under the influence of causes still unknown, but which, a priori, seem clearly correspond either to changes in temperature water or weather-General, who start moving waters of the North Atlantic or Finally, a phenomena that alter the water regime Coastal.


Thus England do not send us that 1.5 million kg, and that retransmits only province in about 5 Ojo receipts. Boulogne it is most important to our ports fishing. He sent to Paris in about 7,000,000 kg. Peas::-olls, consisting mainly of mackerel, herring, whiting, conger, mullet, skate, gurnard and quail. There as though in smaller proportions, turbot, sole
and channel catfish. A spirit of bold initiative characterized this port.
Its fleet consists of thirty trawlers steam and double large sailboats, including. Crew is a score of men. These boats will seek mackerel off the coast of Ireland, or herring high in North Sea, from the end of June, for the following tinue to the coasts of France, where he arrived in October and where the fishery for about another two months. Many of these navir'es also engage in fishing trawl year mainly to take flatfish, turbot, sole, rays, dabs, plaice, brill, but also red mullet, hake, etc..


The sailboats, themselves, are equipped with a steam winch to bring on board the trawlers, as well as for hauling nets used for fishing for herring and mackerel nets can reach a length of several kilometers.
Besides the above vessels, the fleet includes Bolognese number of trawlers still more pelites, for practice herring fishing using nets, within sight of land, and that of skate and conger using very long cables trimmed hooks. Last year, two steam trawlers Bolognese went in Icelandic waters and have reported a cargo of about thirty thousand francs of cod.

CONCLUSIONS


Of all the foregoing considerations, we will the following conclusions:

1 It is urgent to consider an overhaul of rational regulations;

2 There would be restricting the right to fish I sardine drift component benches ds breeding. This restriction would be easy to apply, since it does not appear at the same time as the sardine roe;

3 It seems essential to allow, encourage similarly, on the coast of France, the use of sophisticated equipment for catching sardines spawn. A transitional measure useful could be the adoption of the net Guézennec;

4 He ​​also seems rational to consider a substitution plan final vapours, with appropriate regulations to current boats;

5 It would be highly desirable to establish a monitoring effective marine fisheries;

6 should facilitate the creation of a laboratory biological studies of marine animals in order to achieve complete knowledge of their habits and conditions reproduction, and lead to the creation of institution hatchery capable of replacing, as and when, In salt water, as was done for the soft, voids disastrous results from the fishing more intensively.

7 It would be useful to convene a meeting of a Commission International competent, responsible for studying the drawbacks of trawling for shrimp trawling and steaming, 'limit' trawling zones, and regulations develop a rational, potentially, effective supervision, safeguard the heritage of the fishermen in the interest of food and trawlers themselves."

Banquet bound!

 Bigger than a seven stonefish box, this huge turbot would make eyes of many Michelin starred chef water at the thought of preparing a centre-piece dish with this fish.......

 not so the humble skate.........

 keeping out of the rain this morning........

 as the Charisma makes a late, or is it early, landing........

a fresh batch of visitors time their visit well with a good mix of quality fish on the market this morning - wonder how much they would be drawn to make the same trip to a warehouse in darkest Indian Queens on the A30?