Newlyn Green repairs making good progress

In just a few days since Monday the Cormac boys have made real progress in the repairs to Newlyn green and the section of the coast path...

washed away by the winter storms...

with suitably substantial footings being dug down well below sea level.

Stunning tub gurnard, just one of the fish on Wednesday's market in Newlyn

Ajax hake made up some of the quality fish on the market this morning...

along with Sparkling Line turbot...

beam trawl megrim...

netted ray...

and a solitary but stunning huge tub gurnard...

all safely delivered...

out on the quay preparations with the sardine ring nets are underway, here is a leaded footrope...

aboard the inshore trawler Still Waters there is plenty of mending to finish before the boat can go back to sea.

How the story unfolds - keep the dialogue open!

This story needs reading carefully in the context of Maria Damanaki's support and desire to introduce a pan-European driftnet ban - which will undoubtedly have dire consequences for many small-scale fishermen throughout Europe.

Extract from Peche Dev author http://www.peche-dev.org/IMG/pdf/121107_blue_charity_abstract_en-2.pdf:

"‪#‎driftnetban‬ : Now NUTFA understands the tricky games they were thrown into: first friend then control. I know NUTFA were sincere and really tried to defend the smallest but Big NGO played with them. To understand driftnet ban, read again the sustainable fisheries trusts part of blue Charity Business summary [or how BINGOS control & command a fishery by using the good image of the smallest fishermen] http://www.peche-dev.org/IMG/pdf/121107_blue_charity_abstract_en-2.pdf .

BINGOs first pretend to be friend of smallest fishermen, then use them in the public opinion to kill the biggest, then control the smallest; here it is not through privatization, but only through regulation via EU under the table pressure, pretending the smallest carry IUU cases. Damanaki is for long a strong ally of PEW, and reversely."

Though one NUTFA member and small scale fisherman it seems is not so impressed:

 

Jerry Percy‏@TheJerryPercy

@PecheFraiche Oh good, yet another self appointed consultant telling fishermen that they are naive. Don't be so patronising please.

Maybe Jerry and Yan should talk?

Ian Kinsey makes a very valid point in the discussion:

Ian Kinsey The majority of SSF are of a marginal nature , and demand a great deal of the vessel owner,s direct participation in the fishery. This kind of fishery is at the present time not the most attractive segment of the fishing industry for investment by proponents of privatisation.
The fisherman has let himself be played over the sideline, and into a roll as the "necessary evil" in justifying so many positions in and associated with the fishing industry. Collaboration seems to be the new mantra of many ENGOs and scientific groups, such as the GAP 2 and EDF. I am equally suspicious of both. Good fisheries management has many likenesses with good parenting - having the ability and foresight to lead, and nurture a collaborative environment to the benefit of the ecosystem.

#Solitaire race leader Mor Bic dismasted by the Wolf Rock lighthouse

After leaving Deauville in France yesterday the AIS tracking picks up competitors in the 45th #Solitaire du Figaro single-handed yacht race as they head back to Plymouth via Roscoff after rounding the Wolf lighthouse at midday today - apart from the Mor Bic...

not the best place to lose your main mast! 

The Mor Bic, skippered by Yan Elies was dismasted just after she rounded the Wolf Rock in 20 knots of sou'westerly wind while in the lead - now he will have an uncomfortable ride back to Falmouth from out there.

Dématage Yann Eliès (Etape #1) by lasolitairedufigaro

Trafficked into slavery on Thai trawlers to catch food for prawns - the Guardian

Here is just a short excerpt from a story in the Guardian about slavery on Taiwanese fishing boats. The article is about how men are smuggled into Thailand and sold as slaves with the promise of factory work but they actually end up on a 15m trawler fishing for squid, tuna or trash fish used to feed the country's billion dollar fish-farmed prawn industry:

Many of these slave ships stay out at sea for years at a time, trading slaves from one boat to another and being serviced by cargo boats, which travel out from Thai ports towards international borders to pick up the slave boats’ catch and drop off supplies.

I'm sure many skippers and boat owners in the UK would love for their boats to be at sea for years - if only they were they that reliable!

Fisheries ‘holy trinity’ feature in new film

Looks like fine weather in sunny Portugal...

must be one of the most tempting catches to put ashore every trip...

filming the project on the quay in Palamós...

sorting the clean haul of red shrimp on the Nova Gasela (New Gazelle).




GAP2 video showcases value of collaboration in European fisheries

“Our hopes for the future are not only to grow the red shrimp fishery, but to grow it sustainably” Is working with others and taking responsibility the simple solution to sustainable fishing? The GAP2 project answers an emphatic ‘yes’ to this question with the release of a striking new 6 minute feature film, showcasing the project’s work on bringing together fishers, scientists and policy makers in fisheries across Europe.

Focussed upon one of 13 GAP2 research case studies, the video, ‘Bridging the Gap’, follows Norwegian anthropologist, Maiken Bjørkan, as she introduces the collaborative co-management of the Mediterranean Red Shrimp fishery in Palamós, Spain.

Featuring interviews with local fisherman and Skipper of the Nova Gasela, Conrad Massaguer, and Catalán regional policy maker Rosario Allue, the short film explores the successful development of a regional management plan for the valuable red shrimp fishery – a plan endorsed and commended by the regional government.

Can collaboration really lead to more sustainably fished seas? Find out what the Spanish fishermen, scientists and government officials involved in GAP2 really think about working with one another in "Bridging the GAP".

The video shows how the ‘bottom-up’ process used to develop the long-term management plan has laid the foundations for success: involving the fishing community in all stages of the design and implementation of measures to improve sustainability. A strong relationship between scientists and fishers in the Palamós fishery and the investment of the regional administration in the management planning process have both contributed to Palamós’ success. Catalán Chief of Service for Marine Resources, Rosario Allue, even has her own set of fisher’s galoshes, and can be seen in the film inspecting and sorting the catch alongside Conrad’s crew.

Rosario comments: “I started working with the GAP2 project four or five years ago. They had reached a level of collaborative working and mutual understanding, and the regional government here couldn’t remain at the margins”

The message of ‘Bridging the Gap’ – that collaboration between fishers, scientists and policy makers is not only possible, but can lead to fruitful long-term working partnerships – reflects the findings of a four year international research project – GAP2– funded by the European Commission, investigating the value of fishermen, scientists and other stakeholders working together to better understand fisheries management for long-term sustainability. (Find out more at www.gap2.eu). The film demonstrates how collaboration between the ‘holy trinity’ of partners required to develop and implement a fishery management plan is considered essential to sustainable fisheries management, by the people involved.

Aimed at informing the EU policy community, and other key fisheries stakeholders, of the value of collaborative working for sustainability, the video is available on the GAP2 YouTube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7onuKT2ag6E

@GAP2_project #GAP2TheMovie #BridgingTheGap

Conrad Massaguer, Spanish Skipper in the Palamós fishery For further information, including images and quotes, please contact: 

Katrina Borrow, katrina@mindfullywired.org

Wall of Death?

The Sunday Times ran a story a few weeks ago about long lining for sharks in the North east Atlantic - that bit of the ocean the the UK inhabits. 

The boats cited in the article using these longlines work hundreds of miles south of the UK down in the of Bay of Biscay...

one of the last boats to target sharks with longlines in UK waters off Cornwall was a small French boat from the Ile d'Yeu in 1983. While no one can argue with the physiology of sexual reproduction in blue sharks to draw a correlation between the number of boats fishing in Looe today and the number of sharks being landed is a tad simplistic - you could argue the same for conger eel landings in Newlyn as was mentioned with regard to the recent postage stamps issue - the simple fact is that there are no longline boats fishing for conger eel any more - all the boats now use gill nets which do not catch conger eels at all - they don't have gills for starters!

From any other events positive correlations can be drawn - equally erroneous - here are a few examples of how correlation is not necessarily causation!