Monk. hake and mackerel are #CatchoftheDay at Senera Restaurant in Penwith College

Great to see staff and students celebrating #CatchoftheDay in Penwith College's Senara Restaurant - which is open to the public every day and on Friday evenings.

Today's menu looked amazing - three courses for £7.50!

Monkfish Scampi, Textures Of Peas + Chunky Tartar

Beetroot Carpaccio, Hazelnuts, Balsamic, Crispy Goat’s Cheese + Rocket

Vietnamese Chicken Pho

*****

Hake, Roast Peppers, Preserved Lemon, Chickpeas, Chorizo + Harissa Aioli

Butternut Squash Mezzaloon, Sage, Pinenuts + Beurre Noisette

“PIG STY”

*****

Rum + Coconut Cheesecake (amaretto), Mint Syrup + Stem Ginger Ice cream

Chocolate Pave, Raspberry Sorbet + Almond Tuille

Mr Hanson Cheese, Senara Chutney + Oatcakes

Happy Birthday Plymouth Fisheries - 20 years old today!

The day doesn't just start early at Plymouth Fisheries, it never ends: England's second largest fish market based at the entrance to Sutton Harbour is open 24 hours a day for fishermen to land a catch.

Ensuring constant access for fishermen was an essential requirement when the fish market was created at its custom-designed premises 20 years ago by Sutton Harbour Holdings plc with the support of Plymouth Trawler Agents.

Pete Bromley back in his trawling days

Manager Pete Bromley, a fishermen himself for over two decades, prioritised making life easier for fishermen when he took over the job in 1995.

"Fishing was a cut-throat business for such a long time, dealers collaborating to rip off fishermen was rife, so when we set up Plymouth Fisheries we were determined to make sure we created a fish market which was truly accessible as well as being fair for the fishermen," Pete said.

"I've tried to run the market based on all my experiences of fishing around England, and focus it on getting the maximum price for every good fish that is landed to support the local fishermen, because they are the people who matter most."

Pete worked with Dave Pessell from Plymouth Trawler Agents to pioneer a new electronic auction system at the fish market – which remains the only one of its kind in the entire South West region.
This system enables dealers to log in and bid online from anywhere in the world, as well as ensuring fishermen receive the best possible price for their catch.

The auction system proved such a success that many fishermen landing at ports all over Devon and Cornwall often travel to Plymouth to sell their catch, with up to 60 per cent of fish sold through Plymouth Fisheries now arriving by road.

This has helped Plymouth Fisheries grow dramatically over the last two decades, with turnover rising from £750,000 in 1995 to £18.7 million in 2014.
Today, Plymouth Fisheries sustains more than 600 jobs, and sells 6,000 tonnes of fish and shellfish every year.

Every day, up to 40 boats ranging from 16ft line-caught bass fishing boats to 35 metre scallopers arrive to berth at 110 metres of landing quays in the safe haven of Sutton Harbour, which is protected by lock gates to accommodate vessels up to 5.5 metre draft.

"Boats can arrive anytime they want but the larger fishing boats time their arrival for the free flow period, and most of the smaller boats come in between 7am and 11pm," said Pete. "I start work anytime between 5.45am and 7am, and I'm here til mid afternoon usually."

Every kind of fish and shellfish is sold, with the most common including lemon sole, haddock, Dover sole, plaice, whiting, cod, pollock, cuttlefish and scallops, and quickly shipped out to merchants, retailers and fish production companies.

Meanwhile fishing boats access fresh ice, water, fuel and other supplies ready to return to sea.
"All we have ever had at Plymouth Fisheries is a passion for the fishing industry, and doing all we can to support it," Pete said.

"The entire industry depends on our fishermen so we are fully committed to supporting them. We don't just want the fishing industry in the South West to survive, we want it to thrive."


Read more: http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/years-fish-Plymouth-s-Sutton-Harbour/story-26180362-detail/story.html#ixzz3UdY66Uhg
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Anecdote: As an aside to this story I can remember a significant member of the fishing community in Newlyn saying, "See, it will never happen - who's going to land there?" Well, twenty years on there must be over £3 million pounds worth of fish from Newlyn boats who kand there on a regular basis and that have contributed to the growth of the port.

Summer must be just round the corner as we have Calypso time in Newlyn!

Another big Belgian beam trawler is in Newlyn...

from Zeebrugge...

the Calypso has arranged for transport...

and lands six boxes at a time...

while some of the crew mend the port side trawl...

the boxes are hauled intro the lorry

 with plenty of space for the big landing and will go back to the fish market at Ijmuiden to be auctioned,,,

meanwhile one of the local beam trawlers...

Lisa Jacqueline mends her gear...

back on the market there's just the one green...

and a solitary red...

as the buyers gather to bid on another 1000+ box market...

and the shout auction gets underway with auctioneer Ian giving fellow auctioneer Ryan something of a headache...

and the buyers turn to their phones for confirmation of prices...

some cracking red mullet...

soon get whisked away...

good to see Edwin from FalFish is just one of the Newlyn buyers happy with his #CatchOfTheDay .

Belgian beam trawler Calypso landing in Newlyn

Nazarene leaves Newlyn for the fishing ground

Discarding and the landing obligation

Discarding is the practice of returning unwanted catches to the sea, either dead or alive, either because they are too small, the fisherman has no quota, or because of certain catch composition rules. The new CFP does away with the wasteful practice of discarding through the introduction of a landing obligation.  This change in regime serves as a driver for more selectivity, and provides more reliable catch data. To allow fishermen to adapt to the change, the landing obligation will be introduced gradually, between 2015 and 2019 for all commercial fisheries (species under TACs, or under minimum sizes) in European waters.

Under the landing obligation all catches have to be kept on board, landed and counted against the quotas. Undersized fish cannot be marketed for human consumption purposes.

The landing obligation will be applied fishery by fishery. Details of the implementation will be included in multiannual plans or in specific discard plans when no multiannual plan is in place. These details include the species covered, provisions on catch documentation, minimum conservation reference sizes, and exemptions (for fish that may survive after returning them to the sea, and a specific de minimis discard allowance under certain conditions). Quota management will also become more flexible in its application to facilitate the landing obligation.

In October 2014 the Commission has adopted five discard plans (through so-called delegated acts) in preparation of the implementation of the landing obligation that is applicable from 2015 on (pelagic and industrial fisheries in all Union waters, and fisheries for cod in the Baltic).

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1392/2014 of 20 October 2014 establishing a discard plan for certain small pelagic fisheries in the Mediterranean Sea     

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1393/2014 of 20 October 2014 establishing a discard plan for certain pelagic fisheries in north-western waters  

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1394/2014 of 20 October 2014 establishing a discard plan for certain pelagic fisheries in south-western waters     

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1395/2014 of 20 October 2014 establishing a discard plan for certain small pelagic fisheries and fisheries for industrial purposes in the North Sea  

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1396/2014 of 20 October 2014 establishing a discard plan in the Baltic Sea

Get on course with a Seafish Apprenticeship

A TRAILBLAZER apprenticeship for new entrant fishermen has been given the green light by England's Skills Minister Nick Boles.

A sea fishing apprenticeship has been delivered successfully in Whitby for many years and has proved immensely popular, but the Richard Review in 2013 called for improvements in apprenticeships to better reflect the needs of employers and as a result all apprenticeships have to be re-written as trailblazers by 2017.

Seafish will work with fishing vessel owners, skippers and organisations – including the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations and the Maritime & Coastguard Agency – all of whom are committed to keeping the apprenticeship route open. Apprenticeships combine classroom training with on-the-job learning, giving trainees valuable experience and a nationally-recognised qualification.

The training covers all the duties expected of a deckhand including preparing the deck, the use, storage and maintenance of fishing gear, engine room support, handling and stowing the catch, and keeping watch. Successful trainees must be physically fit, have good eyesight, and be able to communicate well with others.

Simon Potten, Head of Safety Training and Services at Seafish, explained: "We welcome this backing from the Minister and are really enthusiastic to re-develop the Sea Fishing Apprenticeship as a Trailblazer, so it is fit-for-purpose for the next generation of fishermen.

"Commercial fishing is a challenging occupation. An apprenticeship provides the best possible route into the fishing industry for new entrants as it combines comprehensive training with work experience. Over a twelve month period it produces competent deckhands with transferable maritime skills. Many apprentices go on to develop long and successful careers in the fishing industry."

Anne Hornigold, Chief Executive of the Whitby & District Fishing Industry Training School, added: "It's fantastic to see apprenticeships in maritime occupations going from strength to strength. This backing from the Government underlines the importance of investing in the future generation of fishermen. The Whitby Fishing School has run a Sea Fishing Apprenticeship for many years and has successfully achieved national recognition for our innovative high quality training methods. It's exciting to see so many enthusiastic young people coming into the industry and a real pleasure to train them in a number of important roles."

Full story here courtesy of FishNewsEU