Newlyn's £20 million pound haul - but it's cocaine not cod!

Breaking news! The Border Agency have just released the news that 200kg of cocaine has been found aboard the yacht Windrose towed from the Scilklies into Newlyn over the weekend.

"Following a search of the yacht, Windrose, in Newlyn, a substantial quantity of cocaine, thought to be approximately 200 kilos, was discovered," a Border Force spokesman said. "It is estimated that if cut and sold in the UK the drugs could have had a potential street value of around £20 million. "The drugs have now been removed from the Windrose and taken to a secure location for further analysis. An investigation is ongoing."

#borderforce #cocaine #drugs #badmove

This makes depressing reading and really doesn't help with regard to the impact lobbying has in relation to the fishing industry

ALTER-EU report about the European Commission and European Parliament's 'Joint Transparency Register'

We have now reached a critical juncture in the debate on lobbying disclosure and reform in Brussels. The European Commission and European Parliament are reviewing their Joint Transparency Register, and considering how best to secure lobbying transparency at EU level. All the signs emerging from the Commission are that they would prefer to retain their voluntary and ‘light touch’ approach to lobbying regulation.

The findings of this report show that this approach is unsustainable, misguided and simply not credible. The experiment with the voluntary system to date, and the evidence presented in this report, clearly shows that the effectiveness of the voluntary register is unconvincing at best, and dismal at worst.

- Over 100 large companies involved in EU lobbying are missing from the register, as are numerous consultancies, lobby groups and MEP-industry forums. Law firms that lobby continue to boycott the register, with the meaningful participation of law firms actually having decreased in the last year. With so many major players missing, the register is clearly not ‘de facto mandatory’.

- The financial information in the register continues to be far too unreliable, with many of those that appear to be the biggest spenders in fact being small players. At the same time, there remains a big problem with large players under-reporting on the size of their lobby expenditure. The result is that the register gives a misleading picture of who is lobbying and with what resources.

- Numerous entries in the register provide incomplete and outdated information, demonstrating that the register’s monitoring and enforcement remains far too unambitious.

Given the widespread and routine non-compliance with the register by many of the most active and effective lobbyists in Brussels, as documented in this report, the Commission simply cannot claim that the current system is working, or that it is likely to work in future.

The Commission appears to be in denial about the very obvious problems with the current system. Voluntary transparency permits those most reluctant to be transparent to continue lobbying in the shadows. There is compelling evidence that the voluntary approach is inherently problematic, and it is now clear that there is a legal base for adopting a mandatory approach. All that is currently missing is the political will to reform this broken system.

Courtesy of ALTER-EU - Europe's campaign for lobbying transparency;

Be in front of the TV on Sunday evening England v Wales in the Junior World Cup

Cornish rugby fans and fishermen alike will no doubt be glued to the TV on Sunday Eveneing to see (hopefully) England stuff Wales for the second time this year after they gave them a drubbing on the eve of the Six Nations Final!

Two local loads with close fishing connections - Jack's father is Michael Nowell, skipper of the beam trawler Louisa N and son of legendary Frankie Nowell brother to the equally infamnous Roger Nowell - who was the star of the origianl TV 'fishing sereies, 'The Skipper'.

This video allows the two youngster to voice their thoughts prior to the huge game against the Kiwis - so aftene the downfall of home teams in any world series. As it turned out the Kiwis were no match for the power and stamina of the home team and they were duly despatched in a dramtic semi-final game worthy of the final!

Ona lighter note here the two noys on their home turf give one another stick!

Mid-week market

First decent landings of mackerel for weeks hit the market this morning...

with just the one beam trawler landing these monk tails from the William Sampson made good money...

as did the JDs which had Roger Nowell's initials on them earmarked for the inshore trawler Imogen...

Mr Bass has been at it again...

and the stunning quality pollack from the Sea Spray get additional attention...

keen bidding in the fridge where the inshore boats keep their fish...

and star of the show this morning, the Wiffer seems to have made a huge landing of mackerel - at £5 per kilo this looks like a good day's work!!..nice one Wiffer...

a handful of JDs that ended up in the cod end of the Innisfallen...

plenty of paws to make those crab sarnies...

Go For It! does just that...

much talk on Twitter as to the poor state of the handrail along Newlyn Green.

Man dies on Isles of Scilly after Border Agency board moored yacht

The Border Agency vessel Seeker towed the yacht Windrose to Newlyn.

“The man is believed to be a Dutch national in his early sixties.” It is understood that the yacht had been boarded as part of a Border Force (the recently renamed UK Border Agency) operation shortly before the incident. Police say the matter has been referred to the IPCC by the Border Force and a local investigation will be carried out this morning. 

There has been no information as to why the yacht was boarded. The RNLI have confirmed that the St Mary's lifeboat was launched to the aid of a solo yachtsman in trouble on Sunday nine miles south west of Bishop's Rock lighthouse. A spokesperson said the yacht Windrose was on passage from the Azores to Falmouth when she got in trouble. The lifeboat came alongside the vessel at about 3.15pm on Sunday to find the yachtsman suffering fatigue and having problems with his rigging. Two crew members went on board and lowered the rigging and then the boat was towed into St Mary's. The RNLI were unable to confirm the lone yachtsman's nationality. 

But the Windrose is believed to be the yacht boarded by Border Force officers on Monday. Part of the quay at St Mary’s has been closed while the investigation goes on, with the adjoining Old Quay being used instead, according to island sources. Representatives of the harbour said on Twitter: “We will open the quay fully as soon as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience.” It is believed a helicopter from RNAS Culdrose attended the islands last night and transported a man suffering from head injuries to the mainland.

Story courtesy of the Cornish Guardian.

Economic benefits of offshore oil and gas to be maximised ?

Oh-oh! Why is Chris Davies MEP so keen on banning trawl fishing in Deep Sea where deep sea drilling is now? 

And why is he only lobbying about storage of carbone (expensive technologie operated only by offshore technicians). 

Whereas he is fighting deep sea drilling?


Economic benefits of offshore oil and gas to be maximised 

June 10, 2013 12:05 PM Originally published by UK Liberal Democrats 

The economic benefits of offshore oil and gas production, for energy security, jobs, tax revenue and growth are set to be maximised, as Government announced the start of an independently-led review today. The UK's oil and gas industry is of vital national economic importance, supporting 440,000 jobs, and stimulating business, innovation and skills. Some 41 billion barrels of oil and gas have already been produced from the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) and we must maintain our momentum and make the most of the huge opportunity that the UKCS still represents. The review will be led by Sir Ian Wood, who will undertake full analysis, and work with industry leaders and Government to make recommendations for improving the future economic recovery of UKCS oil and gas. Secretary of State Edward Davey said: "Although investment levels are rising strongly, the UKCS is one of the most mature basins in the world and therefore faces unprecedented challenges. "Our offshore infrastructure is getting older, and we are seeing a decline in the rate of exploration and in the amount of oil and gas that is being recovered. "All these issues need to be addressed if we are to stimulate innovation in this sector and see maximum economic benefit for the UK in the decades ahead.

http://www.chrisdaviesmep.org.uk/

Local fishermen support small scale fisheries because that's what they do!

The Greenpeace ship is on a European journey to support sustainable fishermen in Europe, as negotiations on the reform of the European common fisheries policy enter their final phase.

See the full collection from the Guardian here.