Fish in oil

Newcomer to the Fish Festival this year was Cadgwith based artist Simon Bradley who works from his Porthole Studio just up from the Cove.  He was moved to pen a few words back to the festival organisers in appreciation of being involved in what proved to be a great day for all converned! look out for Simon at next year's fish-fest or maybe make that trip down the Lizard to Cadgwith and speak to the man himself!

"May I firstly say thank you for enabling us to be part of such a Fabulous Festival of Fishy-ness. Stewards, Staff, Stall-holders, Entertainers, and Public alike .... everyone smiled - it was simply a superb event.

 It was a particular personal pleasure for me for the Skipper of Ajax (Alan) to be bowled over by my oil based impression of one of his mighty fine Hake ... from his first week of MSC Certification. Many others were so thrilled to see Newlyn Fish celebrated & documented by my detailed oil impressions & pen & ink work.

For Luke (ex-fisherman) I think the greatest pleasure was in meeting past colleagues & contacts and in showing & explaining his traditional & original work direct. I view his work as little understood & in need of exposure before traditional methods are lost to time.

My (Newlyn) sole regret was that it was so busy so constantly that I was unable to take time out to print fish. I brought all of my print gear with me (child friendly safe wash materials rather than my oils !!!) ... but every time I though - brilliant a lull I can print ... we got another fish-flurry. I gladly took time though to explain my fish printing process to all - my methods certainly took a few by surprise!

A relief also for me to be able to direct especially families with youngsters around to Vicky from the Porthmeor Studio's to see traditional squid ink printing in action (that exhibition is open untill the end of the month)... several came back proudly showing their delightful impressions ! It was brilliant that she was there & able to do that through the day... In many ways this took a personal pressure off me and enabled me to concentrate on giving the very best service & explanations to all."

Look out for Simon and Luke at next year's festival!

Examples of Simon's work includes linocuts...

direct oil printing and drawing...

oil printing from fish - including details like the vessel that caught the fish...

and an idea of the techniques used...

like this megrim sole from one of Stevenson's beam trawlers.

See more of his work here:

Barnabas is back today!

If you can, get down to Newlyn today and welcome the Barnabas back to the harbour after her epic 10 week voyage circumnavigating the UK including the Shetlands. She will leave Porthleven this morning and head across the Bay to Newlyn and a berth in the Old Quay for a celebratory BBQ and beer!

St Ives lugger Barnabas nears the end of her historic voyage to the Shetlands and back.

The Barnabas left Newlyn on a misty morning.

After leaving Newlyn early on the morning of June 29th, the St Ives lugger Barnabas is now on the final leg of her round Britain journey - having left the Shetlands in late July she is now only a few miles south of Newlyn - having re-created the kind of voyage carried out by hundreds of local luggers before her in the quest for fish as they followed the shoals of herring and pilchards around the coast.

With a fresh northerly breeze the Barnabas has been forced to tack right across the Bay before heading back into Porthleven for the night - she will sail to Newlyn and the end of her epic voyage tomorrow.

#FishyFriday is here again!

Quiet enough for a #FishyFriday with the big boats on the board...

but Mr Dory made a good landing...

of cracking haddock from the Imogen III...

while the big beamer topped up the trip with a dollop of gurnuards as they are sometimes pronounced...

and just to get Lionel and his cleaning kit in Autumnal mode...

some early signs of cuttles on the grounds...

not much size in them yet though, makes them even more succulent - try some instead of squid!...

the morning light was full of the autumn blues...

here being enjoyed by the three most important girls in the Nowell family, not often you see them together of a night.

ICES Advice on North Sea fishing quotas 2016 recommends increase on major stocks

The International Council for Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has just published its catch quota recommendations on the Bay of Biscay (including the Iberian Coast), Celtic Seas and the Greater North Sea for 2016. These figures, based on scientific stock assessments, show significant increases for key species for 2016 with many stocks having shown clear signs of recovery. The scientific data presented reflects a positive long term trend of increasing fish populations and a reduction of fishing mortality across many areas. This clearly indicates that long-term management plans and consequent management over the years have been successful.

The development of the North Sea cod stock is particularly noteworthy. ICES has recommended a quota increase of 15% to over 40,000 tonnes which will contribute to reaching the targeted spawning stock by 2017. Further increases are foreseen for this stock if the sustainable exploitation of recent years continues.

North Sea cod has been synonymous with overfishing in the past, allegedly being threatened with extinction. However, a range of management measures including capacity reduction and restrictive quotas led to a huge reduction in fishing pressure and we are seeing the stock rebuilding steadily as a result.

North Sea plaice has also set a new record with the spawning stock having reached nearly 900,000 tonnes. The scientific advice recommends a quota increase of 15% to a total of 213, 440 tonnes.

North Sea herring is also very strong, with stocks having reached MSY levels. ICES recommends a quota increase of 16% to 555, 086 tonnes. Haddock in the North Sea, West of Scotland and Skagerrak has been above MSY since 2008 with a 30% increase in quota recommended for 2016. Hake is above MSY levels and a 6% increase is also recommended. North Sea Megrim is also above MSY and has been increasing since 2005.

It is important to note that these positive results were achieved ahead of the second phase of the discard ban which will come into effect in January 2016. The definitive fishing quotas for these stocks are fixed in the bilateral negotiations with Norway and obtain legal force by the decision of the EU Council of Ministers in December 2015. Europêche has welcomed these recommendations for 2016 with Kathryn Stack, their Managing Director, noting the positive results: "Huge sacrifices have been made in recent years in order to achieve sustainable stock levels. Now we are seeing the results. It is important to stay on this track whilst making sure people are aware that our seas are in fact healthy and abundant."

ICES also recommended a reduction of 6% of Pollack to 75,049 tonnes. The stock is managed in a sustainable way but is prone to fluctuation from natural factors. In fact, this stock is the first to have been certified as with the sustainability label of the MSC.

Concerning hake stocks in the Greater North Sea, Celtic Seas, Northern Bay of Biscay, ICES have recommended a 6% increase in quota. However, despite a continued reduction in fishing effort year on year and a cap of +/- 15% in TAC changes[1], ICES has advised a massive 62% reduction in the Southern stock of hake (Cantabrian sea, Atlantic Iberian waters). Kathryn continued: "The sector simply cannot support such a cut in such a short space of time. The fishermen targeting this stock will suffer the consequences with no room for manoeuvre."

For more information, please contact Daniel Voces +32 2 230 48 48 daniel.voces@europeche.org

Indian Summer on its way?

The Boy form Bideford's working deck is typical of any inshore trawler working over the stern - there's hardly any clear deck space when the trawl is aboard!...

in the market there are only a few landings from inshore boats today - so it's all top quality fish in the auction...

with  a small shot of grey mullet from the Scillys...

and a handful of sardines on the loose...

otherwise the western end of the market was devoid of fish as you would expect over a big spring tide, the noxt one being one of the biggest of the year as the autumnal equinox approaches......

good to see the Crystal Sea II  back in action after her annual refit...

and the star of this week's The Catch, Govenek of Ladram basks in her morning glory...

while the harbour waits for the sun to put in an appearance...

Tom looks on...

with a wreath for the Fish Festival team at the foot of the memorial...

across the water, the Queen's Hotel in Penzance just catches the morning sun.

Watch #TheCatch - Channel 4's new action documentary episode one aboardthe Nelwyn netter, Govenek of Ladram

“They are the last hunters,” is how Incledon sums up the allure of fishermen to film-makers. “Fishing has danger, camaraderie, instinctual passion,” he says. “These are things most of us never get to experience or express in our day-to-day lives.”

James Incledon - Director of #TheCatch

Seems the first in an eight part series of James' documentary captured the essence of fishing in the sense he talked about judging by the feedback via Twitter last night:

Skipper Phil Mitchell and the crew aboard the newlyn Gillnetter, Govenek of Ladram

If the Great British Public buy more fish then the documentary and the efforts of the boys will be rewarded...

Missed yesterday's Newlyn Fish Festival? - remember, ALL the profit goes to the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen... 

once it's in the blood, it's worse than drugs...

I think this came as a complete surprise to all of us Emma ;-)

Looking forward the next week when it's the turn of the Brixham boys and their heavy beam trawl and scallop gear.