The lunacy of the EU's CFP quota system - what will it be like when the discards ban kicks in?

This week in what once could be called our own waters, the Ocean Venture's stocking is completely full...

of huge cod, so much fish - 16650 boxes, the boat's biggest trip ever caught in just a few hauls - that...

a third of the catch had to be kept on deck...

steaming in to Peterhead to land - full up. For more photos and information see John Buchan's page here.

VID 20141101 153854 from Laurence Hartwell on Vimeo.

Go back to 1993 and listen to Roger Nowell and mate Peter Mitchell discussing the future of fishing in Cornwall - both men would find the craziness of today's situation where many species of fish are being caught in great quantities (like cod as above in the North Sea) when the current EU quota system - introduced back in the 1980s to protect fish stocks - and are then dumped, dead, back in the sea because quotas have been reached - despite the evidence all around the coast that many fish stocks are at their healthiest levels for decades - and the current CFP cannot change or react quickly enough to prevent this travesty.

It is little wonder that no matter how seemingly short on solid policies that UKIP appear actually are - the British public feel that the time has come to make a stand - no matter how irrational voting for UKIP may appear!

What really worries fishermen in mixed fisheries around the UK - never mind the current closures in Area VII - are the consequences of the discard scheme when it comes into force next year - will it actually be workable? - more worryingly, does the government actually care that honest, hard working men and women are and will be put out of work for good?

A look round the latest boat to join the fleet in Newlyn - the Ajax PZ36

Ajax PZ36 from Laurence Hartwell on Vimeo.

Tiz #FishyFriday in Newlyn

Happiness is #hake for the Govenek of Ladram with her trip filling half of the western end of the market this morning...

with the mesh size 150 mm (6 inches) the catch consists of fish weighing at least 2kg plus...

graded on the market by hand...

to keep the quality as high as possible...

with a good selection of the fish weighing in close to a stone in old money (6.2 Kg)...

and handful of fish making 6 kilos plus...

the number of John Dory in her catch means their must be a good recruitment of these fish in the Western Approaches...

a film crew capture the collection of catch data and otolith retrieval on the market as they make a video to support Seafood Cornwall with its educational programme Net to Plate for Cornish schools...

bass always put a smile on a trawler skipper's face...

and the handliner's too...

the beam trawlers, contrary to current data are seeing more and more monk fish all over the grounds in Area VII...

while these plaice are still showing in many places...

not the common squid the boats are catching but Todarodes sagittatus...

conger eel makes for fantastic fish cakes with its firm fibery flesh...

basking in the harbour light, the latest addition to the growing Newlyn fleet, the Ajax PZ36...

a good sign with the latest sardine boat the Mayflower, yet to make her maiden voyage now has her net aboard after the net bin was modified.

Govenek of Ladram landing in Newlyn

Not all Alaska pollock comes from Alaska - Russian trade retaliation hits US fishermen

Seems it is not just the Scottish and Irish pelagic boys who are suffering from the fallout of Russia's import ban on fish!

Some of the fish, a source of deep pride for Alaskans, is harvested in Russian waters. Some is caught off the coast of Japan and Korea. But no matter its origin, federal regulations allow any walleye pollock distributed, sold, and consumed in the United States, whether in the form of fish sticks or a miso-glazed filet, to bear a label that calls Alaska home. The fish-labeling policy, maintained by the Food and Drug Administration, has long riled Alaskan seafood companies and fisheries. But Russian fish masquerading as Alaskan, when tensions between Moscow and Washington keep escalating, has politicians and others furious. Russia's recent ban on American food imports—including all seafood—has only made it worse. The U.S. still imports pollock, salmon, and crab from Russia, but nothing goes out.That hasn't sat well with fisherman and politicians alike, who have called for the U.S. to impose a retaliatory ban on Russian seafood.
"Yeah, it may be a trade war, but you know what? We're always the good guy," Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, who is up for reelection this year, tells National Journal. "They take the product out of their country that we've been selling, they tell us that we can't sell there any longer, and they just assume we're not going to do anything. When you've got bullies, you gotta stand up to them."

Full story here:

Ajax steaming south off the coast of Cornwall now

A short animation of the Ajax as she makes her way down the Irish Sea, through the St George's Channel towards Land's End...

using her current speed of 9 knots as a guide she is due to arrive in Newlyn around 14:30

where she hopes to pick up some strong ebb tide off the Brisons (off Cape Cornwall) and make 11 or 12 knots which should get her round the corner...

tide times courtesy of the TidePlanner app

in time to get Through the Gaps before low water at 14:20 (times here are not BST).

Tiz foggy or "Thick as a bag" as they say in these parts

Tom peers across Mount's Bay through the morning mist...

as the Govenek of Ladram prepares to land...

this time of year there's a good mix of fish for auction...

though these UK plaice are diminishing off the wet fish counters as the quota cuts begin to bite in Area VII...

a fullish market for the beam trawlers...

the punts are fishing huge squid close inshore...

while this tub gurnard would probably break the UK angling record...

even the dory season seems to have been extended by the fine weather...

best bass will be winging their way to Wings soon enough...

as the fish fly of the market to the waiting transport...

the Govenek gets to land her fish.