The Ironman of Tuna.

Film courtesy of TunaSupport.com

Extreme pole and line fishing for tuna - with a commentary very much in the style of the day and using language that might seem a tad inappropriate today.  The Ironmen use bamboo poles, barbless hooks and fish on the side-deck up to their waists in water - wait for the moment the really big fish show up and it takes two or three men working together to board a fish that can travel at over 50 mph!


There are plenty of comments on YouTube regarding the sustainability f such a fishery - as someone says - if this was the only way to catch tuna then there would e plenty left in the sea today - how true. Compare fishing with pole and line to this.


Contrast the video above with Greenpeace's brush with the world's biggest tuna boat, the Spanish owned and flagged Albatun Tres, capable of holding 3,000 tons in her tanks.

Damanaki's dilemma.

With the end of European Seafood week closing on a flurry of presentations, publicity stunts and much debate the rumour mill has begun on the likely, or not likely success of CFPreform this summer. The CFP itslef has lost all credibility with all but the most uncaring or uninterested yet the complexity of re-writing any kins of policy that seeks to manage the unmanageable will make the next stage of negotiations all the more fraught without a real sense of common purpose. Jason Hollands article throws some light on the breadth of these talks and the range of dilemmas involved.

Inshore VMS project

Here's an update on progress with the Inshore VMS project from Seafish.

Although things may have appeared quiet on the VMS front since February a lot of development work has been going on in the background designing and manufacturing a hybrid SC2 unit improving the unit’s performance and capabilities of transmitting using both mobile phone and satellite communications.

The SC1 VMS units currently fitted onboard 30 vessels have continued to report consistently at one minute intervals with very little loss of positional data out to 12 miles offshore. CEFAS is currently analysing the quality of the positional data and will be reporting back within the next month.

Development of the SC2 units has been slightly delayed due to manufacturing holdups and specification changes. The SC2 when delivered will have GSM (mobile phone) & satellite communications as well as e-logbook capabilities -renamed the SC2i. Skippers can choose what level of service they require from the simple mobile phone VMS covering the inshore waters to a full e-logbook system meeting the EU requirements for the larger 12m+ vessels(subject to type approval).

The SC2 GSM, which will have mobile phone communications, similar to the SC1 currently fitted, but with an improved recording and transmissions system linked to a new mapping program, will be available on the 21st of July. The SC2i will be launched early September. In order to test these new units we will be upgrading some of the vessels SC1 units with the SC2 GSM. Further SC1 units will be upgraded with the SC2i towards the end of July. Once tested, upgrades will be available for all the vessels on the trial either as a simple swap for the SC1 or at a much reduced rate.

In addition to the Inshore VMS project, the MMO, with the assistance of SWIFA, are currently running a pilot SAC management trial in Lyme Bay to assess the use of VMS as a management tool. In order to monitor activity around the Abbotsbury ledges two further scallop vessels working in the Lyme bay area have been fitted with SC1 units (Called VMS plus) with a further six vessels to be fitted when the units are available.

For more information contact the Seafish Project Manager Gus Caslake


Tel: Office 01736 362625
Mobile: 07876035738
http://sin.seafish.org

Friday's fish.

The last thing small fish see before being devoured by the king of the banquest table........

an eye for the quality.......

and bass from Mr Astley with tag number 2........

megs and monk stacked high from the St Georges........

the decks are clear and she's nearly ready to sail on the first trip tuna chasing.........

back from her jaunt in the Baltic, so soon.......

without a dragon in sight......

check out the new organisation that has replaced the Cornwall Sea Fisheries - these guys have a much wider remit and will be heavily involved in administering and monitoring the new MPAs (Marine Protected Areas)......

low water is around 0700.......

and little wind to disturb the harbour......

with a handful of the mackerel boats chasing hard to find fish this morning.......

one of the smallest boats to be fitted with bow andd stern thrusters - makes keeping the ring net away from the boat much easier.......

The Carlton Hotel in full bloom with a few rooms to let.......

on the prom at the budget end of the market, no sign of room service here.

Cornish Hake Gill Net Fishery - MSC Certification

Cornish Hake Gill Net Fishery


MSC Certification


Notification of Proposed Peer Reviewers


A Peer Review panel has been proposed for this fishery. Potential peer reviewers have been
approached on the basis of their experience of one or more of the following; the fishery under
assessment, fishery management, stock assessment issues and relevant ecosystem interactions.


Brief details of each reviewer are provided overleaf. All stakeholders (including the applicant fishery)
are now given the opportunity to state any objections to the selection of a proposed member of the
peer review panel, on the basis of any conflicts of interest, accompanied by a statement on the basis of
any objection.


Comments on the suitability of any of the persons listed below should be forwarded, before 1700 BST
on 27th June 2011, to Jim Andrews at Moody Marine Ltd as follows:


Dr Jim Andrews
Tel: 0845-880-2540
Mob: 07908-225-865
e-mail: j.andrews@moodyint.com


8th June 2011

Top tuna table tumbles takes Tokyo towards tighter times.

Prices on Tokyo, the world's biggest tuna market would appear to be suffering from buyer starvation. Today's market trade has seen a huge percentage of top tuna remain insold - for example, 127 of 271, the most expensive Bluefin tuna remained after the morning auction process - at 7,000 Yen (£53.30/Kg) a kilo that makes for a lot of money tied up in unsold fish on the market floor. Prices and demand are good for fish on Newlyn market at the moment with large monk tails making around £18 per kilo - that's over £100 a stone in old money!

French disquiet at the green/eco 'cacophony' surrounding fishing.

Our Euopean cousins across La Manche are also gripped by the weight of green eco-warrior warmongering on fishing. This French blog that covers fishing and fish farming also cites the degree to which the industry is being pilloried on all fronts - translated.

"That attention to the sea and its fish! More and more communication to better hide the degradation of coastal ecosystems, a few days of the rush to beaches, marinas, campsites and - with its share of pollution - a few days before the announcement of major reforms of the next Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and - with its share of draconian measures prepared by the European Commission. In ever more cacophony, the marine trades are finding it increasingly difficult to exist - placed between two fires, one side, environmental organizations who demand ever more, and other land-based activities , agriculture, tourism, urbanization, pollution - that increasingly, fishermen and shellfish farmers do not even have to say the words days at sea - during International Ocean Week of Fish all fishing are pilloried for discharges at sea."