More fine fishy food comes to Newlyn!

Early season mackerel have given some dedicated handliners an evenings work...

chasing that elusive pot of fishy gold somewhere out in the Bay...

not so for the Harvest Reaper while she is on the slip...

just about time the sun goes down - a stroll around the harbour and then looking for somewhere to eat....

so it's great to find a new eating place in Newlyn - and joy of joys it will be serving mainly fish! - originally founded by the wife of a local fisherman, the Mackerel Sky Cafe created a name for itself in Penzance by making use of locally produced food - now it is Newlyn's turn to host its second incarnation as a seafood eatery in the shape of the Mackerel Sky Seafood Bar - looking forward to trying out the menu when it is fully open!...

Missing contact information for photo requests.

Can the two people who requested permission for using images in the blog please add an email address to the request please. 

:-)

Mid-week market in Newlyn

Nice little shot of lemon sole form the inshore trawler imogen II this morning...

while the early season brill and turbot show from the Govenek of Ladram gets underway...

starring in yet another fishy movie, Edwin gets to sign a digital model release form for his next Hollywood fishbuster...

there will be langoustine on the menu today!...

a couple of new market doors have brightened things up...

top quality Ajax hake sold well...

and there were plenty to chose from...

shining turbot always sell well...

on Newlyn market...

each fish carefully bled at sea to maintain the quality...

and every fish looking to go to a good fish kitchen...

on the way to the market...

sporting what looks like a new deck on the inshore boat Soveriegn...

against the Stone quay it's like a scene from 100 years ago...

as the tallships Irene and Bessie Ellen take up residence...

another foreigner in the harbour...

not the prettiest of lines with the Torquay Belle...

gear work to do on the big beam trawler Billy Rowney...

inshore trawlers a la France originally...

what's left of the sand on the beach at Newlyn Green...

at anchor in the Bay

Ivan Ellen and the Irene rendezvous in Gwavas Lake off Newlyn in an exercise with SAR #Rescue193 from Culdrose.

Penlee lifeboat Ivan Ellen is out on exercise this morning involving #771 RNAS Culdrose an SAR helicopter - not too many exercises with these guts left now before Bristows take over!

Mission possible - amazing people who fundraise for the RNMDSF

David and Jan Penprase now have their award for their amazing photographs of the fishing community on Newlyn in the book Salt of the Earth - which has just been published in a limited hardback edition!

A short video which gives the viewer and introduction into the work of the Fishermen's Mission a national charity founded in 1881 which delivers emergency response and welfare help to active and retired fishermen and their families.

People like the Fishwives Choir have made a great CD of songs and appear all round the country when they can to help spread the word and support the work of the Mission.

More infomation about our work can be found here: www.fishermensmission.org

You can follow the mission on Twitter @thefishmish and we are also on Facebook.

Greenpeace wins permission to take UK government to court over fish quotas

The UK High Court has given the green light for a full judicial review into whether the UK fishing quota allocation system is unlawful under new European law. 

The government has given out fishing quota in largely the same way since the mid-90s. About 95% of the fishing quota is awarded to the larger end of the fleet, most notably domestic and foreign controlled industrial fishing businesses – such as the vessel Cornelis Vrolijk - which we previously exposed. It's symbolic of just how broken the system is.

Meanwhile, local, sustainable fishermen which are the heart of many coastal economies get just 4%. Many are facing bankruptcy and food banks. 

Since the start of 2014, the new Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) obliges European governments to allocate fishing opportunities – such as fishing quota - to their fleets according to new criteria. These must now include environmental and social as well as economic criteria. 

It’s no longer OK to simply dish out fishing quota based on what vessels’ were catching 20 years ago. The system must adapt with the outside world and successive governments can no longer ignore the problem.

We believe that according to the new CFP, local, low impact fishermen should receive more fishing quota because they fish more sustainably, have lower CO2 emissions and provide greater employment and job creation opportunities than the industrial scale fleet. 

This is what the full judicial review will be about, and it’s important because the new CFP is fundamentally different from its predecessor in that environmental and social sustainability is at its heart. 

This legal green light comes hot on the heels of manifesto commitments from all the major political parties to give sustainable fishermen more fishing quota, to implement the CFP and to establish marine reserves.

This follows an nine week Greenpeace / Nutfa pre-election boat tour through 23 of the most marginal coastal constituencies in England and Wales. The tour brings together parliamentary candidates, local fishermen and communities to discuss what they’ll do for fish and fishermen if elected. Over 120 candidates have now signed up to become Coastal Champions. 

With so many blue promises, the next government promises to be an oceans champion no matter which colour they are. This is brilliant news for fishermen, fish and the wider oceans.  

The combination of political promises and a legal challenge means we are one giant step towards a complete overhaul of the way fishing quota is allocated in this country, so that it prioritises and rewards sustainable fishing, rather than the most powerful, or those with the deepest pockets.

And not just in the UK. This legal challenge could have far-reaching consequences for the way fishing quota is allocated in other EU countries.  

But for now, no doubt all eyes are on what happens in the UK. The next few months may prove to be a turning point in the history of the UK's environmental credentials the world over. 

Monday's fishy feast from Newlyn

Penzance promenade new railings bask in the glow of a Moinday morning sunrise...

further along the sea front the bad news is that the recent easterly breeze has washed the sandy section form the beach in front of Newlyn Green...

daybreak...

and the market is in full swing...

with a good run of Dovers...

 and monks from the beam trawler Trvessa IV...

as well as over 100 boxes of dayboat fish...

and a shot of line caught pollack from the Sea Spray...

one of the netters is missing an anchor, this one has been on the seabed for some years by the looks of the corrosion...

just in Through the Gaps, the port's largest trawler Crystal Sea II...

as St Francis of Newlyn makes his way out to sea...

almost all the fleet are now at sea in fine weather...

the business end of an inshore trawler showing her net drum and combination bridles on the winch.