Missing Belgian fishing vessel wreck located

The missing Belgian fishing vessel, which lost comms in the channel last week (Wed 28th January), was located today by a survey vessel. The Dutch authorities have sent a Royal Netherlands Navy warship the ‘HNLMS Luymes’ to the fishing vessel wreck location. On board the warship is a diving team and a Dutch police officer, which is standard procedure for missing people. Two officers from the Belgian shipping inspection, which is in charge of the investigation, are also on-board the warship. HNLMS Luymes is expected to arrive on scene tomorrow morning.

The Belgian fishing vessel that went missing last week with the loss of four lives was located off the Hastings coast by survey vessel.  HNLMS Luymes has arrived over the position...

 of the wreck today...

and is reported to be using ROV devices to survey.

Inshore fisherman tracked across the Channel! #eatlessfish ;-)

Which canny inshore fisherman was tracked over the course of 282 days?  Not content with just fishing the inshore waters off Holland, Belgium and France but traversing the channel to fish the coasts of Kent, Essex, Suffolk and even as far north as Norfolk.

Was he English? Dutch? Belgian French? - this pirate of the Channel holds no passport and operates blissfully unaware of the CFPO's quotas for all the species that he catches and often discards all but the best part of the fish he catches despite fishing well inside the 12 mile limit of four EU countries!

His latin name would be Halichoerus grypus, translated to English as the 'Hook-nosed sea pig' - known to fisherman the world over as the common grey seal. On average they consume 5Kg of fish per day unless breeding.

Get your £2000 towards replacement Vessel Monitoring System (VMS)

THE MMO is offering grant aid of up to £2000 towards replacement Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) terminals for over 15 metre boats, with applications open until 20 February.

Filling out a page of the Inmarsat C linked VMS log book for the MMO at sea.

For some years now fishing vessels of 15 metres and over have been operating a satellite-based vessel monitoring system to comply with EU Regulations. That requirement is now extended to vessels of 12m overall length and over by Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011


The introduction of VMS to these smaller vessels is now almost complete. The MMO is therefore now in a position to accept grant aid applications for replacement terminals for English fishing vessels over 15m.


Once the MMO receives application forms and clarifies these meet the eligibility criteria it will contact the supplier, AST, who will in turn arrange for a time and date for installation. After AST install the device they will then invoice the MMO for payment.


Application forms and further guidance is available from the MMO website. Failure to apply is likely to result in vessel owners paying at least £2,400 for the new device.


For more information contact Ray Hedley on 0300 123 1032.




For some years now fishing vessels of 15 metres and over have been operating a satellite-based vessel monitoring system to comply with EU Regulations. That requirement is now extended to vessels of 12m overall length and over by Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011
The introduction of VMS to these smaller vessels is now almost complete. The MMO is therefore now in a position to accept grant aid applications for replacement terminals for vessels over 15m.

Reminder on grant for e-logbook software upgrade

The MMO wrote to the fishing industry on 14 January about grant aid to upgrade the separate e-logbook software systems. The deadline for this was 6 February. Anyone who has not yet applied should contact the MMO as soon as possible.

Consultation on Options for the South Inshore and South Offshore Marine Plans

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is currently preparing marine plans for the South Inshore and South Offshore Marine Plan Areas.

The MMO has already undertaken a number of stages of plan preparation;

·       analysing the evidence,

·       identifying issues,

·       drafting the Vision and Objectives. 

For information on the South marine planning process to date please go to the South marine plans pages on the MMO website.

The MMO is now launching consultation on draft plan Options.

The Options process focuses on the consideration of different ways of achieving the draft plan objectives and vision, to make sure that the choices made and their implications have been considered.

We have produced an Options report, explaining the options and this is available to view here

This is an informal consultation on the Options report and it will run for four weeks from the 3 February to the 4 March 2015.

There are a number of consultation questions we would like you to address in your response:

Question 1 - Which is your preferred option? In answering this question, please note it is not possible to select a combination. However, in your response to question 3 you can tell us if you prefer a combination of the options.

Question 2 - Why do you prefer this option?

Question 3 - Would you make any changes to this option and, if so, what? Would you like to combine aspects of different options into a new option? For example, if you prefer option 1 for objective 1 but option 3 for objective 2, please tell us.

Question 4 – Do you agree with the intent of the policies? If not how would you change them?

Question 5 – Please indicate those issues you feel are out of scope (eg. those appropriate for signposting rather than marine plan policy).

Please respond to the consultation via the online consultation tool:


https://www.connect.marinemanagement.org.uk/consultations/south-options

Faith in the future of fishing, Karen of Ladram joins the Newlyn fleet.

Steaming down from Brixham, Newlyn's next netter the Karen of Ladramis about to join the fleet...

taking a berth on the new quay to pick up nets and finish off a few jobs before sailing at the weekend...

the boat was the Boy John half of a pair team with the Rosebloom from Peterhead, see more great photos of the boats and others from Peterhead port blogger Alan Smillie in Scotland...

and is now renamed the Karen of Ladram...

and registered in Padstow...

under skipper Simon Porter whose previous command was the Sparkling Line...

the big Spencer Carter N10 net hauler has been fitted in the starboard side with hydraulically operated hatches...

and a new fish handling system built to allow fish picked form the net to get to the gutting table and washer in the port side deck...

how not to paint yourself into a corner - there were still painters aboard the boat last night at 6pm!...

the galley and mess are huge for a 20m boat...

and the quality of the overall build and fitting out is self-evident...

which  means the crew are all smiles in their new home...

the quality finish extends to the wheelhouse...

here showing the view form the skipper's chair when hauling...

and looking astern...

the crew waste no time in putting their whitefish and hake nets aboard...

from the quay...

supplied by Mr Needle himself ferrying the next bag up the quay.

To the Wolf and beyond.

After a weekend anchored in the relatively calm waters of Mounts Bay, THV Patricia spent the day servicing the Wolf Rock lighthouse - nowadays unmanned of course - before heading up the Western approaches.

Last year the fraternity that was Trinity House celebrated its 500th anniversary.

Great news! @Anyfinisposs ible!

Anyfin is Possible is a project funded by the Students' Green Unit at the University of Exeter Students' Guild. Their aims are to promote the eating of a wider variety of fish species instead of the usual five (haddock, prawns, cod, salmon and tuna) to decrease the pressure on these threatened species.

The students find both fishermen and scientists in optimistic and positive mood about the future - as Brixham's Barry Young opines on sustainability, "A skipper who has invested a million pounds in his boat wants to see a future from fishing"

The students have commissioned a series of short films to record their findings.

A brief taster into the impact of overfishing on the marine environment with emphasis on by-catch. If we can eat a wider variety of fish, we can help to reduce the pressure on commercially exploited stocks.

Anyfin is Possible interview with Dr Steve Simpson, senior lecturer in marine biology at the University of Exeter. Watch to find out more about the science surrounding overfishing and what we can do to help!

Part 2 from the Brixham Fish Market series. Hear Barry Young's view on sustainability!

Barry Young talking about which fish he believes are up and coming. Thank you to Brixham Fish Market for letting us film! We had a great time soaking up the atmosphere at the fish market.

Check out the latest news from them and their work - the team can be found on Twitter as @anyfinisposs and Facebook.