Historic day for #SAR in the UK

The launch of the civilian UK search and rescue (SAR) helicopter service was marked today (Thursday 26 February 2015) in a ceremony held at the new SAR base at Humberside Airport.

Bristow Helicopters Ltd, will operate the Search and Rescue Helicopter service for the UK on behalf of HM Coastguard. The UK limited company was awarded the ten year UK SAR contract by the Department for Transport in March 2013. It will deliver the service from ten bases strategically located close to areas of high SAR incident rates.

These bases will go live in a phased approach from 1 April 2015. The first bases to open will be at Humberside and Inverness. Bristow crews will deliver the UK SAR helicopter service with state-of-the-art helicopters, equipped with the latest search and rescue technology including night vision, mission management and increased onboard medical capabilities.

Today’s ceremony was attended by the Rt Hon John Hayes MP, Minister of State at the Department for Transport, Sir Alan Massey, Chief Executive of the MCA, representatives from the military and other search and rescue organisations who will work with the new service, and a host of invited guests who have been instrumental in preparing the new service.

John Hayes MP, Minister of State at the Department for Transport said: “As the Minister responsible for Her Majesty’s Coastguard, I am delighted to be in Humberside on this historic day when we are on the cusp of launching this new state-of-the-art helicopter service.

“Although I would clearly rather everyone avoid the circumstances where a search and rescue helicopter rescue is needed, I very much look forward to hearing about the professionalism and commitment that resides in all that work here and which will surely save lives from 1 April.”

Sir Alan Massey Maritime and Coastguard Agency Chief Executive said: “I am hugely proud that HM Coastguard has been entrusted with the UK’s search and rescue helicopter service. For us this is a continuation of the high-quality service that we have been providing in selected areas of the UK for the last 30 years.

“The RAF and RN have set the bar incredibly high, and I would like to thank them for their service and recognise the outstanding work they have done both inland and on the coast over many decades. We will take their legacy forward with the utmost pride and care”.

Samantha Willenbacher, Director of UK Search and Rescue at Bristow Helicopters Ltd, said: “It is an honour to have been chosen to deliver this vital service across the UK. We know this is a service that people rely on in times of great need and we are committed to continuing the great work of the military.

“We have enormous respect for the dedication that our military colleagues have demonstrated in delivering search and rescue over the past 70 years and we have always understood how vital it is that their knowledge and expertise is maintained. We have worked closely with them in preparing for the civilian service to go live and have also welcomed many of them into the new civilian SAR force, including Chief Pilot here at Humberside Liz Forsyth, a former SAR Commander at RAF Lossiemouth and Pilot Flight Commander at RAF Valley.

“I would like to thank the local community in and around Humberside for making us feel so welcome and to thank Humberside Airport for their ongoing support. We look forward to the base going live and will continue to strive to deliver the best possible SAR helicopter service to the UK.”

The UK SAR bases at Caernarfon and Kent will go live on 1 July 2015, followed by St Athan on 1 October 2015. Prestwick and Newquay will become operational on 1 January 2016 and the remaining three bases at Lee-on-Solent, Sumburgh and Stornoway will follow in 2017.

Gap2 - what's in it for fishermen?

The big theme running through #Gap2 's  International Symposium in Barcelona this week was the increasing number of fishermen willing to provide fishing data - and not just historic data but live data - and an increasing desire by scientists and researchers to use that data for the management of effort. Simplistically put, at present there is a huge two year plus lag in the time that catch data gets ratified by the management processes that govern CFP quotas - increasingly fishermen are seeing the results of their effort and selectivity approach to fishing produce huge hauls of fish - consistently in areas where there are supposed to be low stocks!

The paper below considers how things could be different and provides a way forward to use fisher's data.

All of the Gap2  presentations can be viewed via the Bambuser website and the agenda here @GAP2_project account, and follow hastags #GAP2IS, #collaboration and #GAP2simposio: 

It's a fine not-so-fishy #FishyFriday

Bringing a little Spring-like sunshine over the Bay this morning...

and the prom still lacking the handrail...

casting a long shadow across Newlyn Green...

and an harbour almost empty of boats...

the fine weather means that all hands are heading out...

through the gaps...

and away to sea...

in a gentle swell...

except for the Algrie with her fuel problem...

the Mission has the usual bunch of suspects taking breakfast...

if you can, get a chance to catch up with the big voices that are the Fishermen's Friends around the coast next month.

Clash of the Celtic tigers - Newlyn's Jack Nowell to run out for England against Ireland in Sunday's #SixNations

Right now you can win a copy of Salt of the Earth signed by England's Celtic cousin and rugby star Jack Nowell. Tickets can be bought from the Star Inn in Newlyn - great excuse to enjoy a pint with Debbie and the team in one of Newlyn's finest harbourside pubs!

From the #MMO - Consultation on March catch limits - a must read!

Consultation on March 2015 catch limits

The following is our provisional estimate of the catch limits that will apply for the main quota species for the under 10 metre pool for March 2015 and a guide on the anticipated catch limits on for the rest of the year.

The estimates are based on the level of quota available to us today (18 February 2015), and it is our intention to continue to seek gifts and swaps in of stocks for all of those listed below. The limits below are proposed because setting at this level should ensure that the fisheries will remain open for the whole calendar year and wherever possible factors such as seasonality and best anticipated market prices are also factored in. As it stands we are unable to monitor uptake in the over 10 metre Non Sector in the same way because there are less vessels and uptake patterns are less predictable.

We are unable to assume we can swap in stocks just because we have a good track record of doing this over previous years. It is also worth stressing that to find enough quota for the key targeted stocks it is often necessary to trade away other stocks where uptake is less than we anticipated.

We are happy to take proposals on changes to these limits to take into account local factors, but because quotas are set for a large area of coastline we have to balance the needs of each local fleet against keeping the fishery open for the full year. For your information we have included some figures to highlight some of the issues relating to key stocks.

Bottom trawling not as bad for California sea life

Bottom trawling — the fishing method of dragging open nets along the ocean floor — has been widely criticized for its potential to damage sensitive marine habitat structures. That damage may be negligible off most parts of the California coast, according to a recent study conducted by ocean scientists and published in Fishery Bulletin.

Researchers from California State University Monterey Bay, The Nature Conservancy and Pomona College found that California’s largely soft-bottom sea floor saw negligible lasting impacts from small-footrope trawling equipment.

“Surprisingly to us, we found pretty negligible effects to the sea floor and to fish habitat in these soft-bottom sediments on the continental shelf,” said Mary Gleason, lead scientist for the Nature Conservancy’s California Oceans Program.

During the three-year study, fishermen were asked to trawl patches of the ocean floor off of Morro Bay in Central California. The areas that were trawled were analyzed by underwater photos and video and compared with adjacent areas that had been left untouched.

The researchers found that, while some scour marks remained in the test patches more than a year after trawling, photos showed some smoothing was occurring.

They also found no significant differences between trawled and control plots with regards to invertebrate species.

The scientists concluded that the negligible impacts were due to the fact that California’s continental shelf mostly comprises sand and mud and not rocky coral that takes great lengths of time to form.

“Trawling in rocky areas, with long-lived corals is going to be much more damaging and have a bigger, longer lasting impact than trawling in soft bottom habitats made up of mud and sand,” Gleason said.

Gleason said that the results may provide support for changing how California’s coast is fished. Most of California’s state waters are closed to bottom trawling.

“I think one of the main messages is that bottom trawling impacts are very context dependent. It depends on the types of gear you’re using, the types of habitats being trawled and how often trawling occurs,” Gleason said.

Bottom trawling is the most effective method for catching certain types of flatfish, including species of cod and sole.

“Rather than just sort of banning trawling everywhere, we need to acknowledge that trawling is the only way to catch a lot of important seafood,” Gleason said.

Though bottom trawling can be a polarizing topic within ocean conservation circles, some environmental groups praised the study for increasing understanding of trawling’s impacts.

“It really is an advance, because that level of study and scientific rigor hadn’t been done before,” said Geoff Shester, California campaign director for Oceana. “We hope to see that be replicated in more habitats so we don’t just learn about the impacts in the place they studied, but how can we apply this in other types of areas as well.”

Shester said that the collaboration with commercial fisherman on the study and other shows projects shows the potential for responsible fishing in the future.

“By getting better science and working together, we’ve actually been able to find win-wins where we actually increase fishing opportunities while also simultaneously increasing the overall protection to sensitive marine habitats up and down the West Coast,” Shester said

http://www.scpr.org/news/2015/02/17/49867/bottom-trawling-not-as-bad-for-california-sea-life/

Gap2 "Why Collaborate? A Fisher's View" - conference video excerpt.

"Why Collaborate? A Fisher's View" 

Benoît Guerin Fishing Skipper, International Consultant Port Vell, Alan Steer Fisher, UK, Mart Undrest Estonian Fishermen's Association, Paul Piscopo Fisher, Malta Jan Ingvald Andersen SFA, Norway and David Stevens from Newlyn and the whitefish trawler Crystal Sea Fishing.

The conference video begins with each of the panel members introducing themselves and why they are at the conference to talk about their collaborative work. For example, the Crystal Sea II has carried catch monitoring CCTV aboard the boat for three years.