On a sunny Saturday morning

Is the German artist Christo in the process of wrapping Penzance terminus station or is the place finally geting a makeover?...

work has begun to cut up the hull of the Anthony, the shot shows just how thick her side planking is...

the frames have all been cut down to the deck level...

time for a few tonnes of ice on the Lisa, though the weather is due to blow her back in again on Monday morning...

and its all caught on film...

you can't beat that for a price on pinn hake!...

next door the art is definitely nautical...

and in the new gallery its all blue...

a big thanks to all the customers at the Swordy who have raised £1500, Pete is proud of you!...

house of cats...

over in Penzance Dock the Imogen III has a new net drum...

and winch...

anda new dual purpose set of doors...

should keep young Roger busy over the winter out in the Bay and round the Scillies...

Scillonian III tucked in the Dry Dock for her winter refit...

the show house at Ocean Blue Apartments is open for viewing.

Falmouth Marine School on fish auction visit

Blue Badge Guide Andy shows off black gold to Foundation Degree Science students from Falmouth Marine School...

a tense moment as the price climbs for those monk...

running in black...

conger looking full of fat...

boxes ready to go aboard.

Eating, it's what we do

Pondering popping a few peanuts in your mouth for a quick snack to spending hours grafting over a hot stove to keep those demon hunger pangs at bay fills a good deal of our daily lives. For some, and all too many in the world, popping a few peanuts might constitute a feast while for others agonising over a whether to have a Pétrus and Romanée Conti to accompany their filet might be their greatest concern.

On a day-to-day basis most of us find ourselves in some sort of middle ground  with the occasional foray to either end of the eating spectrum depending on circumstances - from a drive in Big Mac out of desperation to blowing a little more at a recommended local eatery.

Sometimes, perhaps once in a lifetime or less, the opportunity to enter into to some sort of gastronomic Twilight Zone might come along. So when Rob and Di Coke won themselves a 'meal for two' prize, did they ever for one moment think that at some stage during said meal they would carefully investigate a small kilner jar full of ice by releasing the lid only to have live shrimp make an immediate bid for freedom - intrigued? 

Read on.

Saving the Atlantic Menhaden Fisheries!

Take Action for the Menhaden Fishery: Tell the ASMFC Not to Hurt Working Families Before the Facts are In! - so begins a plea to help save the Atlantic Menhaden Fisheries

The ASMFC is considering harvest restrictions that could threaten the future of the menhaden fishery and thousands of families who depend on it. Please let the ASMFC know that you care by sharing your concerns below. We've done the leg work for you by drafting up a form letter, so please take a moment to sign the attached letter and show the ASMFC that you stand with the menhaden fishery. 


According to Nils Stolpe, the Pew people, with the help of recreational fishermen and their billions of dollars, are campaigning to short circuit the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's menhaden management program, and they're using their usual distortions to do it.

 This isn't just about menhaden, as important as that fishery is. It's about Pew's willingness to go outside the management system and to use political pressure that they've created when they can't get their way with the Councils, NMFS or the Commissions, and if they prevail it's going to have negative repercussions for all of us.

The Maine Lobstermen's Association, among others, is urging their members to sign the petition by the industry group Saving Menhaden Fisheries.

The petition is at http://letter.savingmenhaden.org/

If you want to take a significant step in insuring that our management system in based on solid science, not foundation induced hysteria, take the two minutes to go to the petition site and sign on, but do it before 5:00 tomorrow, which is when the comment period closes. And please forward this message to as many people as you can.

Thanks, Nils

1,100 Chilean fishermen march 350 miles to Santiago in protest of Ley Longuiera - Fishing Laws

About 1,100 fishermen boarded buses in the Bío Bío region to take the long trip to march in the center of Santiago.

Fishermen from Bío Bío feel that their livelihood is being threatened by new fishing laws. Photo: redfive

BÍO BÍO — The buses began heading out yesterday on Route 5 towards Santiago and should arrive tomorrow. The fishermen are marching against the Ley de Pesca, also known as the Ley Longuiera.

The Senate has approved many of the motions of the law, which local fishermen say threaten their livelihood. So, many have gathered to march on La Moneda in protest. They plan to formally submit a petition to the government demanding that the current text of the law be revised to take their grievances into consideration.

The march includes fishermen from Coronel, Talcahuano, Tumbes, and San Vicente.

“We are going to go directly to La Moneda, since the Senate has done nothing after we lobbied against the law. Now is the time to talk directly to the government,” said march organizer Marta Espinoza.

Some of the main reasons the fishermen will be protesting is the regionalization of fishing registrations, the prohibition of fishing within the first nautical mile of the coast, and the installation of satellites on board boats.

As the public’s reaction to the new law escalated, fishermen from all around the country initiated the campaign Yo Pesco, which rapidly involved more than 87,000 people through the social networks. Its main objective is to put pressure on the Senate by letting people directly express their opinion via Twitter and Facebook.  Moreover, it is an appeal to the public to learn more about how the fishing industry is administered in Chile.

One of the official videos of the campaign gathers famous Chilean actors and celebrities in order to clarify their stance against the Ley Longueira.

Story courtesy of the iLoveChile web site.

Charting a Course to Sustainable Fisheries

The Blue Charity debate gets louder and louder - right now there's an interesting dialogue developing tonight on a Linked In page - which will require careful analysis. 

Adding to the list of sites providing NGO funding activity here's the openng paragraph from the Charting a Course to Sustainable Fishing web site in the US:

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Oak Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation are pleased to share California Environmental Associates’ report, Charting a Course to Sustainable Fisheries. Over 100 scientists and conservation professionals were involved in the development of Charting a Course to Sustainable Fisheries. We would like to thank everyone who took the time to contribute to and review this material. We believe that the resulting, comprehensive assessment and the data it contains will be a valuable resource to inform the work of any institution working on overfishing and sustainable seafood issues.

Cod TAC for 2012 - the problem remains without an easy solution in sight

A gorgeous example of a Cornish cod, no tagged cod caught in ICES Area VII has ever been caught outside of these waters,  suggesting that the stock is native to these waters...

however, a look at the TAC for Area VII cod taken from the current data table shows just how unfairly UK fishermen feel the system is - with the base data taken from a time (the late 1970s) when very few Cornish  boats actually fished for cod the fleet now has around 10% of the remaining quota. Worse still, the stocks of cod have increased steadily over the years raising the levels of unwanted over-quota fish at certain times of the year.