Trials and tales.

Tom keeps watch under the light from an early morning moon.........

and at this time of year, for the benefit of all those afloat, Orion, sometimes known as the sailors constellation as it is visible in both the northern and southern hemispheres and therefore a reminder of home.......

with a handful of boxes on the market the buyers whisk away the fish as it is sold........

only this big bass looks like it has Chelsea written all over it.......

there were  a few dozen boxes of langoustine including several boxes of tails, some of the tails being  berried.......

good looking langoustine should have made good money........

red flags alongside the fish market keeping all vessels clear of the hard area in front of the offices.

Man on a Beach - interviews.

And here's an interview from the 'Man on a Beach' series shot in foreign parts up in Mevagissey with Peter, skipper of the latest Cornish Sardine ring netter to join the fleet. Peter, from Newlyn is working the boat from Mevagissey at present. Spotting the boat builder's name name on the side of the boat may cause some confusion, she is in fact, the Asthore.

As hake quota ends - more fish dumped?

Not a good sign at Peterhead for this morning - does this mean that all the hake caught by the Scottish fleet is being dumped at sea?

Discuss. Food for thought.

A transcript from an exchange between members of the EU fishing community in the wake of papers published like the one from Peche and Development, Damanaki vs Elionor Ostrom:

"Thanks Constantine. This document is the French translation of what was presented yesterday to EC. Following lines won't be addressed to you, forgive me in advance. They would be the reflect of what is said on the French docks : 'not in my name'. Rapidly, on the 4 points, I can tell you French industry and real fishermen NGO (like Pêche et Development who wrote the paper Damanaki versus Elinor Ostrom) would support point 2 to 4, highly. And this is not new. Their voices weren't heard before and this document only copied some of their proposals. This may be a positive point. Point 1 may cause difficulties, because what is the definition of those who fish in more environmental friendly way? who establish the rules and guidelines ? Greenpeace and others are dogmatically against trawl. Damanaki answers to this document by saying current proposals will give the framework to comply with this document. BUT, ITQs proposal for less 12m towed gear is a way to target these fishing gears and set them as guilty. And I can insure readers there are many way of using these fishing gears according to many various fishing grounds, as there are many different ways of designing them. There is no legal framework in Europe a part from CFP technical measures to define the environmental friendly way. So for French fishermen, the 'environmental friendly' is already addressed by the respect of current European regulations, and national ones, among them some decided by fishermen themselves inside 12 miles. 
 And some Env NGO could be tempted to set themselves as 'partners' to undertake the control of environmental friendly way, through ecolabels or lobbying. And I can tell readers this won't go. Many of these ecolabels in France only validate current uses and rules already defined, financed and implemented by professionals. In many of our French fisheries we don't need somebody to come and 'help' and get a lot of money for that, with no real inputs. MSC initiatives are only considered as a value-added regarding 'marketing'. There are no significant improvements in the fishing practices. What industry needs to decrease its environmental impact is a massive investment in fishing gear selectivity. But if people look closely to EC proposals, selectivity is not that much emphasized. Ban discard is emphasized, because it facilitates implementation of ITQs in multi species fisheries in a dogmatic and global way as a panacea. In the same way, the definition of small scale fleet is a quite difficult exercise for France. If you would ask me now who is industrial in France, I would be very annoyed to answer. Considering the behaviour on fishing grounds, fishing strategy and the way to sale their fish, I would say first we have no industrial fisheries in France. And if considering the access to capital and investment capacities, I would class as industrial some fishermen who obviously are considered by everybody as small-scale ones. 
 This petition also try to make people think there is a bad industrial fishery against a virtuous small scale one. And I can tell you this is not as simple as that. You have good practices every where, and black sheep every where. What small scale fishery doesn't have by money, they get it by number. And if you consider first sales market there are huge linkages between small-scale and industrial, they support each others. And last : I have to point out that this document doesn't get the support of any French fishermen association in its writing. It is the translation of an English document. LPO is a French E NGO devoted to bird protection in France and is connected to other European ENGOs and their local board in France. Lots of French fishermen representatives are fed up with these self declared 'partners' who, for some, only target more fame on the back of the fishermen work. Technically speaking, this communication takeover bid is excellent."
See or join the discussion for yourself here:

CE work with Fleetwood fishermen.

FLEETWOOD is playing a key role in efforts to reduce a serious fishing conundrum.

The problem of unwanted fish being caught by trawlermen and then reluctantly thrown back dead into the sea has been proved a headache for fishermen and conservationists alike. It is being caused because many trawl nets currently in use also sweep up species that are not needed or those that cannot be landed because of quota restrictions. The issue was recently highlighted on TV by presenter and chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who has campaigned about the shocking waste of perfectly good fish through his sustainable fish battle. 


The Centre for Environmental, Fishing and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), is currently looking to develop trawl nets whose mesh designs will hopefully allow boats to catch the fish they require, but allow other species to swim free. Trials have already taken place and will be continuing, and Fleetwood has a strong involvement because the trawl nets being have been manufactured in Fleetwood by Boris Nets, on Copse Road. And among the vessels involved in the trials is Fleetwood inshore fishing boat Albion, skippered by local man Gary Mitchinson. 


Project manager Tom Catchpole said; “It is worth stressing that this is a collaborative effort and that fishermen themselves are helping to drive it forward. “The biggest challenge is the technical challenge. In this case we need the nets to be able to retain the nephrops or sole – the species that the boats need to catch – but not the dabs and undersized plaice. “The trials have been hampered a little by the weather, so will have to continue into next year.” Mr Howard said: “It is not just about mesh sizes, it is also about the behaviour of the fish. By studying how they behave in the nets, we can take measures to try and prevent them from being caught.”


Story courtesy of the Fleetwood Weekly News.

Hake, hard going.

Looks like the poor weather forecast has hit the area where the AjaxAH32 is fishing. Generally, gill netters begin hauling the tiers of nets at dawn or 'first light' after leaving them 'soak' over night. One of the tweets above is from the Peterhead registered pair seiner Lapwing, who has opted to go on oil duty rather than fish for a few weeks - as she says, at least they won't be dumping any fish.

Squids in!

Good fishing with the Chloe T.........

and aboard the Imogen II,skipper Roger will be well pleased.......,,

as the squid finally show in numbers........

on the slab, a cod gets the otolith treatment........

big squid with all the membrane still in place on the outside of the body........

some buyers prefer to see squid with the membrane intact..........

indicating shorter towing times from trawled fish..........

squid were evident the length of the market with all the inshore trawlers getting good shots........

a small French trawler from Lorient.........

the Monica II, she has a licence to fish for langoustine but has been arrested and detained in Newlyn awaiting the courts decision on offences regarding the wrong net in the wrong ICES area...........

at first light plenty of cloud scudding across the sky........

but unlike much further west, not too much wind.