Tale of Newlyn's Rosebud at Porthcurno Telegraph Museum

A talk at Porthcurno Telegraph Museum will explore the tale of the herring drifter Rosebud that sailed to London to fight against the Newlyn slum clearances. The Rosebud set sail for The House of Commons in 1937 to petition politicians over the Newlyn slum clearance scheme.

Speaker and museum volunteer John Wallis will explain how three telegrams he discovered in a cupboard, along with a rather sorry looking stuffed cat, shed light on the events of 1937, when the plucky vessel carried the hopes and prayers of the Newlyn community to the Palace of Westminster. In the first of the museum’s Ideas Cafe talks for 2014, guests will enjoy a rich collection of photographs and a unique local collection of memorabilia, much of which has never been seen publicly.

The museum itself remains closed for development, and will reopen this summer with brand new exhibitions and visitor facilities. The Ideas Cafe talk takes place in the Clore Learning Space - the museum’s brand new learning centre - on Wednesday (February 26) at 6pm. Tickets are £3.50. Full details: www.porthcurno.org.uk

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Newlyn Harbour is now #openforbusiness as the fleet are all at sea

Tom is cast in an eerie glow as a mist rolls off the Lidden across Newlyn Green...

on the market prices are still sky-high for the handful of boxes on Tuesday's meagre market...

even a few brown crab made good money...

a tale of woe for the big beam trawler Sapphire II as her main winch has broken - this meant that skipper Mike has had to drop both huge beam trawls on the sea bed...

off the harbour before getting carefully into position and stowing the two huge derricks - with the good chance that the boat will have to go to a shipyard in Holland for repairs...

full moon over the harbour early hours...

and some keen holidaymakers make it down the quay to see what is going on...

with the first fine weather since 2013 most of the boats have made it back to sea...

except for...

the Sapphire II awaiting news on the winch...

all quiet on the lifeboats after last night's escapades.

Fishing industry welcomes aid pledge at boats get back to sea

Story courtesy of the Western Morning News.

Newlyn's busy port is empty today as fishing boats get out to sea


Harbours were empty today as the Westcountry’s storm pummelled fishing fleet finally managed to get out to sea amid Government promises of help dealing with the aftermath of the terrible weather.

After more than two months when only the biggest vessels were able to grab an “odd day out,” fishermen seized the opportunity to fill their holds and earn some money.

Meanwhile industry leaders have said they will next week meet with the Government after pledges that storm aid to small businesses will include fishermen.

Paul Trebilcock, chief executive of the Cornish Fish Producers Organisation and chairman of the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations (NFFO), said it had been a hard period for people in the industry.

“It has been pretty bad,” he said.

“The smaller boats have been pretty much tied up for the duration, while even the bigger boats have only been able to grab the odd day out fishing and the catch has been nothing like it should have been.

“This has gone on for about two months now and people are frustrated.

“It’s one of the most exceptional periods of weather that anyone can remember.”

Mr Trebilcock, who is based in Newlyn, said the port was virtually empty as fishermen took advantage of the good weather to replenish stocks.

He said that the NFFO was meeting with Defra officials next week to discuss the impact of the storm on fishermen who have been hit hard by the storms.

In the Cornish village of Porthleven alone, ten boats sunk under a barrage of waves, while across the region dozens have suffered uninsured damage.

In a memo sent to Mr Trebilcock, a senior Defra official said the “priority is to ensure that government aid for small businessesinclude fishermen affected by unparalleled storms in December, January and February. “An evaluation of those affected is being undertaken and sources of potential funding prepared.”

Mr Trebilcock welcomed the assurance, saying Defra was “making the right noises” to help people who have seen their livelihood snatched away by the weather.

Jim Portus, chief executive of the Devon based South West Fish Producers Organisation, said it had been a difficult time for his members. He said that ironically boats had been out for more days than last January and February, but the catch had been much smaller and profits lower. Fishermen were resilient people, he said: “Fishing is a risky activity and fishermen are generally well prepared for the economic and physical risk.”

Mr Portus also called on consumers to ensure they were supporting the region’s fishing industry by buying fresh, locally sourced fish.

St Ives MP Andrew George said he would be working hard to pressure Government ministers to give maximum aid to the hard hit fishing industry as well as to farming. He recently took Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to meet some of the fishermen who have been affected. Mr George said he had now written to Mr Clegg to ask what action had been taken to ensure fishermen who suffered losses would be helped by the Government.

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By Lyn Barton, WMN reporter, Twitter: @BartonLyn 

Movement in Newlyn

While there is hardly a breath of wind in the harbour this morning there is still plenty of movement in the water. Ordinarily a boat lying next to the quay would be motionless with so little wind in the air - not so this morning with the effect of the huge seas that have invaded the Western Approaches in recent days still being felt as is evidenced by just how much the Sapphire II is kept straining at her mooring lines.

February at sea as seen by a Breton fisherman: "At night, it became Dantesque"

This is the story of the Breton trawler, Phoenix 1 that fished off the Scillies from February the 1st to February the 13th. The text is translated directly from the skipper's account.

To put this voyage in perspective, apart from a few days, the entire fleet of boats - large and small - that fish from Nelwyn were kept in port by the weather.

'Dante' refers to Dante's Inferno - enough said.

"The storm as seen by a Breton fisherman: 

"At night, it became Dantesque" - Rémy Baranger, a fisherman skipper from Loctudy in Finistère, sent a video he has taken in recent days aboard his trawler, the Phoenix 1. Images of the raging sea, where fishing can be risky.

It is south of Ireland that the trawler Loctudy Phoenix 1 encountered Dantesque sea conditions for 14 days of raging sea. But his last fishing season will remain forever etched in his mind and in the memory of his crew. 

Leaving Loctudy on February 1, Phoenix 1 returned last Thursday, February 13. 14 days in the heart of storms that swept the North Atlantic in recent weeks. 14 days the crew were tossed by waves in the strong winds. "We took advantage of a weather window from February 1, while all other boats were returning". We arrived in the fishing area, halfway between southern Ireland and the Scilly Islands (west of Cornwall), Phoenix 1 encountered sea conditions very difficult. This is also in an area nearby and fishing that night (from 1 to 2 February) that the Le Sillon, a trawler Guilvinec be the victim of a rogue wave . The six fishermen aboard Le Sillon abandoned their boat and were then rescued by a helicopter from RNAS Culdrose.

Fishing day two: Very rough seas, the crew of the Phoenix 1 has already braved many occasions. But, what was especially felt by these fisheries professionals, it was the power of the winds encountered in recent days. "Gusts of wind that they were not used to seeing." Gusts that make this area where there is no "high waves and where the sea is less formed," waves becomes terrible, winds 50 to 60 knots with peaks in excess of 85 knots , as shown by the anemometer aboard the trawler in the video made ​​by the skipper. A raging sea that makes these seasoned sailors sometimes afraid. "It has taken two packets so serious that could break." "Some of my crew told me they had never seen it like this." "These are conditions that we see only once in a lifetime" says skipper Rémy Baranger. In these very bad sea conditions, fishing is done every other day on average so as not to not take too many risks "when the sea becomes Dante" . The crew may well be seasoned and boat designed to withstand extreme conditions, "we are not so far hotheads" wishes to clarify Breton, and even "if we know that given the little fish available sale, that we bring cost twice as much. "

In these images Rémy Baranger returned last week, you recoil at seeing the trough where the trawler sinks. These videos were taken from inside the bridge and aft. These were not the worst conditions that the Phoenix 1 has had to endure. In situations of extreme sea fisherman boss could not help but be at the helm to maneuver his boat."

Out on a shout and bounders

Tonight's AIS tracks tells two stories - on the one hand the Penlee lifeboat Ivan Ellen gets called out to deal with three young girls doing what local kids do at high water - jumping off the prom - unfortunately for them this resulted in both inshore and offshore Penlee lifeboats being called out on a shout to rescue them - though one of the girls, herself the daughter of a lifeboatman was praised for her prompt action which led to a satisfactory rescue!

Here's an update from the Penlee FB page: 

Both Penlee Lifeboats launched on service at 17:44 this evening, Falmouth Coastguard received a call from a member of the public reporting three young girls in the sea and in difficulties in rough seas between the Promenade and Battery rocks, Penlee ILB arrived on scene first and located the girls and quickly got them aboard the Lifeboat, they were then taken to Penzance harbour where an ambulance was waiting, thankfully the girls are ok but very lucky, Penlee Alb, Rescue 193 helicopter and Penzance Coastguard CRT also on scene.

 meanwhile, the netter Ajax has seven tonnes of ice on board and is heading off to sea to catch some hake.

Latest news - the MMO’s role in bad weather

As part of the Defra network the Marine Management Organisation has offered its support to the organisations dealing with the impact of the recent bad weather.

The MMO’s coastal offices continue to be open and will act as a local point of contact for members of the fishing industry.

Fisheries

While fishing activity may be lower during the winter months we recognise the exceptionally difficult conditions facing the industry and coastal communities at present.

Our quota managers are working hard to help maximise fishing opportunities for the industry. We will be flexible and make best use of the pool quota for vessels which aren’t members of Fish Producer Organisations when they are able to get out to sea. For example we are trialling quarterly, rather than monthly catch limits.

Fish Producer Organisations manage the quota allocations for their members.

Further information on quota management is in the fisheries section.

We are currently working with Defra to look into what help is available to fishermen that have been affected by the storms.