Belgian flagged beam trawler Z85 Morgenster missing in the Channel off Hastings

The Morgenster has been a regular visitor in Newlyn over the years - when most of the Dutch crewed beam trawlers fish up in the channel for Dover soles...

or when they shelter for weather...

when they traditionally hang their trawls by the cod end clear of the decks...

or in this case when she changed both beam trawls.

The first news (yesterday at 14.45pm) from the MCA was that the Belgian owned but Dutch run fishing vessel Z85 Morgenster (MorningStar) was missing in the channel. Gale force winds and poor visibility made conditions for the search difficult.

"This afternoon Dover Coastguard was alerted to a missing fishing vessel which had been fishing in the Dover Strait. The vessel is known to have four crew on board. A Coastguard Rescue helicopter is searching an area in the South East of the Channel, two all-weather lifeboats from Dungeness and Dover are on scene and a French Search and Rescue helicopter has also been supporting the search effort."

"According to the Dutch Coast Guard, there are four people on board. The captain and crew have Dutch nationality, the other two crew members were a Belgian and a Portuguese."

At 6am this morning a number of Dutch and Belgian fishing vessels were still in the area searching...

the last recorded track using AIS shows the vessel deviating from her course...

though using another AIS source system gives a different picture of the track.

Latest update from the BBC at 7.29am:

"A search for a trawler missing off the Kent coast, with four people on board, has been suspended.

Rescue teams began searching the Channel on Wednesday afternoon, after the Belgian fishing boat went missing in rough seas and gale force winds. Dover Coastguard said the search was stood down at about 03:40 GMT because of bad weather. No trace has been found of the boat or the crew, who are believed to be Dutch, Portuguese and Belgian.

Coastguards said their families had been informed. A coastguard helicopter, two Kent lifeboats and a French search and rescue helicopter carried out the search. They were joined by several other fishing boats."

Sea to Plate: The Fisherman, as told by Peter Bruce of FV Budding Rose

Sea to Plate : The Fisherman from Jade Beard on Vimeo.

The Scottish White Fish Producers Association (SWFPA) wanted to explain how an MSC certified Scottish haddock is caught, handled, landed, sold at market, processed, delivered and sold to eat all with in 24 hours. 

Calum Richardson, owner of The Bay, Stonehaven, believes that shops need to act responsibly and provide customers with not only as much fresh produce as possible, but also educate customers to the provenance of the food we eat. This is exactly what the people in this series believe. 

In the first in the series we meet Peter Bruce, skipper of The Budding Rose. Peter has been going to sea for more than 30 years. We spoke to Peter immediately after he landed 400 boxes of MSC accredited haddock and he explained his part of the process.

Britain's favourite takeaway #fishandchips unwrapped!

Watch our video where we chart the history of the nation’s favourite dish

They’re a national institution and every week 7 million portions of fish and chips are consumed in the UK – that’s a staggering 380 million portions a year. Not only do we love to eat them, but they’re good for the economy too with the industry worth £1.2billion a year to the UK.

But whoever thought of serving fish with chips? And why? And how long has Britain enjoyed this very British delicacy for?

Well, it was actually the beginning of Victoria's reign that saw fried fish being sold as leftovers to the working-classes in London Billingsgate fish market. Alexis Soyer, the celebrity chef of the time, used to eat it with his fingers on his way home from work.

From there, the rest, as they say is history….so to find out how they spread from East London, to the outreaches of Britain and across the world, watch our video…

www.seafish.org

Cheers Merv!

Mervyn Mountjoy 1950-2015

#Seafish see more fish

Passing tug sheltering on the Stone quay...

all set for another trip to the Scillies...

the Cornishman landed the biggest trip on the market this morning...

fishy eyelash, but which fish?...

getting the measure of little lemons...

just a few tubs of cuttles this morning...

along with a good selection of inshore trawl and net fish...

what's in your room 101?...

tails of horror...

or more holy ones...

the fastest tails...

all getting the once over from Seafish's Gus Caslake and Kirsten from the economics team...

along with the IFCA team.

FISHING BODY REJECTS BASIS FOR GREENPEACE'S DIVISIVE COURT ACTION

Some things are just not what things seem.....

"Greenpeace comes to the aid of Britain's small fishing vessels "

Sounds fantastic doesn't it - British fishermen now getting help from of all organisations Greenpeace!

This is what they say: 

"Environmental pressure group says the government has awarded too great a share of the UK's fishing quota to less sustainable, industrial craft"

Seems fair enough. But this is a case of "lies, damned lies and statistics" to create a headline and emotive theme for a story and now a court case!

The figures they quote are as follows:

"Fishermen operating vessels under 10 meters long are only allocated four per cent of the UK’s fishing quota and six per cent of the English quota, whereas the five largest* foreign controlled vessels in England have 32 per cent."

What they don't say - because it doesn't suit the argument - is that the two quotas they give figures for are mainly for two entirely separate fish types. The first (6%) refers to mainly white fish species and the second (32%) refers to pelagic fish like mackerel and herring - it's a bit like comparing dairy farming milk quota with arable farmers potato quotas - the two are not related other than by common cause.

The five largest* vessels are huge pelagic trawlers like the one below...

Freezer trawler Ariadne

who fish exclusively for pelagic fish and they do not catch the hake, haddock, cod, pollack, red mullet, bream, John Dory, Dover soles, whiting, bass (well they will sometimes), mullet, pouting, wrasse, ray, skate, plaice or ray...

all of which are what the 6% refers to as caught by the tiny (in comparison) inshore boats like the one above.


The NFFO goes one step further and in the article below outlines why Greenpeace's action may in fact have greater unintended consequences that are more damaging in the long run - though at least as they say turning the spotlight on the plight of the industry as a result of the CFP's flawed quota system and mis-mangemnt by the MMO failing to take into account the needs of very small fishing interests may turn out to have positive results!



From the NFFO:

"The National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO) has warned of potentially devastating effects policies outlined by Greenpeace could have on the availability, sustainability and price of fish should the NGO’s High Court action, announced this week, be successful.

The practical effect of following Greenpeace’s policies could leave much of the UK quota uncaught, undermining the nation's food security and putting the country’s national dish at risk. As a knock on effect of this, the proposed policies could also result in fish consumption becoming the exclusive preserve of the rich as prices at niche markets supplied by small-scale local fleets would be unaffordable to most British families.

The NFFO, which represents fishermen of all vessel sizes, has stated that whilst the proposed court action will help to shine a spotlight on the quota issue and help to bring clarity to an issue which has become bogged down in distortions and misinformation, the grounds for the case are delusional.

NFFO chief executive, Barrie Deas, said “So much nonsense has been spoken by Greenpeace on the issue of quota distribution and the sustainability of large and small-scale fishing that a court case which scrutinises the real issues can only be a good thing.

“As well as threatening the affordability of fish, greater allocations to the smaller inshore vessels could result in these waters becoming overfished as competition displaces vessels to previously sustainably fished areas. ‘Robbing Peter to pay Paul’ is simply not the answer.”

“Despite Greenpeace’s claims that they champion small boat fishermen, they have once again failed to think through the practical implications of what they are proposing. The UK’s need for a diverse fleet of large, medium and small vessels to take advantage of all its fishing opportunities is vital to the industry’s interdependence in supporting port infrastructures and ensuring continuation of supply.”

While there have been periodic acute shortages of quota in some under-10 metre fisheries, these resulted from a number of different factors, most of which were unrelated to the internal distribution of quota in the UK. The overall reduction in EU Total Allowable Catches since 1990 together with restrictive EU policies, for example towards skates and rays are among factors much more significant than the internal distribution of UK quota between small and larger vessels.

In recent years the NFFO has advanced a number of ways to address the underlying issues of quota shortages in the under 10 metre fleet. Championing more responsive management at EU level and by regional member states, providing high-catching under-10 metre vessels with more effective quota management systems equivalent to those already enjoyed by producer organisations and strengthening industry cooperation are just some examples of work being done by the NFFO and its members to safeguard the future of the UK’s diverse industry.

Deas continued: “All of this is a million miles away from Greenpeace's cynical toytown fantasy narrative of evil pantomime villain monster vessels. The under-10m fleet is a vitally important component of the UK fishing industry and it is of the utmost importance that it is put on a proper sustainable footing. This will not be achieved by Greenpeace’s distractions and grandstanding.

“There can be merit in using quota to encourage more sustainable ways of fishing. However, it is simply nonsense to say smaller vessels automatically fish more sustainably than large vessels. It all depends on the management regime and what the vessels are doing, not their size.

“Although there are always risks in going to court, we are confident Greenpeace's shallow and frankly erroneous claims will wither under the spotlight of High Court action. Greenpeace must have made the judgement that the publicity, even of failed court action will justify the costs. It is this deeply cynical tactical thinking that has characterised Greenpeace's intervention in fishing from the start.”

Source: Courtesy of the NFFO

Newlyn's international rugby star Jack Nowell - ride the tackles, ride waves!

ENGLAND rugby star and Newlyn boy Jack Nowell has lent his support to the campaign to build a new Penlee lifeboat station. The sportsman visited the current station in Newlyn last week and learnt about the work of the crew as well as the ambitious plans for a new £850,000 station.

He joined RNLI volunteers to launch the campaign, backed by The Cornishman, which aims to raise £200,000 towards the cost of the new building.

“It’s a huge honour and privilege to be asked to support the Penlee Lifeboat Station appeal,” he said. “I grew up in Newlyn and the volunteers at the station are my friends, so I’ve always supported the charity. “The lifeboat station is right at the bottom of my garden. I remember me and my brothers watching the lifeboat go out through the harbour when we were younger and wondering where they were going. We’d always try and find out afterwards what had happened and who the crew had saved.”

English rugby player Jack Nowell pays a visit to Penlee lifeboat station to show his support for their new fundraising appeal. Jack grew up in Newlyn and could see the lifeboat launching from the station from his window.

The sportsman visited the current station in Newlyn last week and learnt about the work of the crew as well as the ambitious plans for a new £850,000 station.

He joined RNLI volunteers to launch the campaign, backed by The Cornishman, which aims to raise £200,000 towards the cost of the new building.

“It’s a huge honour and privilege to be asked to support the Penlee Lifeboat Station appeal,” he said. “I grew up in Newlyn and the volunteers at the station are my friends, so I’ve always supported the charity. “The lifeboat station is right at the bottom of my garden. I remember me and my brothers watching the lifeboat go out through the harbour when we were younger and wondering where they were going. We’d always try and find out afterwards what had happened and who the crew had saved.”

Subject to planning, the much needed new station will be rebuilt on the site of the existing boathouse in Newlyn Harbour.

Proposals would see a new building twice the size of the current one boasting improved facilities for the crew including a larger changing and shower room, dedicated mechanics workshop, larger crew room and separate training room, which could also be used by groups in the local community.

“As a professional rugby player I know just how important teamwork and training is, so a dedicated training room is vital for the crew,” said Jack whose visit to Penlee was made into a short film.

“It’s incredible the amount of training these guys do, but they need it to keep up to date with the equipment they use and so that they stay safe when out at sea. It’s really important for me to be able to do what I can to help them raise the funds needed for their new lifeboat station and help them get the facilities they deserve.”

Other proposals for the site, include a visitor attraction where Penlee’s heritage and sea safety information can be displayed.

If given the go ahead by planners, building works at the station are expected to begin in October and should take around five months to complete.

Much of the £850,000 build fund is set to be met through trusts, grants, philanthropy and corporate supporters but there are hopes £200,000 can be raised through the public fundraising campaign.

“I’d encourage everyone to get involved, support the events that are being organised or organise your own,” said Jack. “It all helps towards that target.”

For more information and to donate to the appeal, visit the station of log on to 

Show your support and donate to the appeal: http://bit.ly/15ORawA