The price of fish - fishing in 9s gusting 10s

Chart courtesy of WindyTV

Look out guys, this was the forecast chart at 6am this morning...

@BM_Matt aboard the Brixham beam trawler, Our Miranda posted this short video as she headed into the breeze on Sunday afternoon...

while 100 miles to the west Alan and the boys were hauling in even bigger seas on the @Ajax_Hake.  When the weather is this uncomfortable everything is a chore aboard the boat, the mug of tea has to be held all the time and getting to sleep is a fight to relax enough.

Must try and get these guys to shoot video on their phones in 'landscape' not 'portrait' format to prevent 'pillarboxing', the ugly black bars that result either side of the video!

Porthleven Baulk art now on show at the Old LifeBoat Gallery

Private viewing ceremony for @Porthleven_Art

Saturday night saw the Fishermen's Mission team say a big thank you to all those who have helped enable this superb exhibition of artwork individually crafted from the smashed timber baulks that normally protected the harbour from storms.

The soundtrack to the video slideshow is of the heavy sea running against the Old Lifeboat House Gallery that same evening.

The gallery is now open to the public from 10:30am to 4:30pm 5th - 8th March and 10:30am - 7:30pm 9th-10th March.

The auction will be held in a marquee on March 18th - and is available online courtesy of auction house, David Lay.

After the weekend gale, part trips on Monday's market make good money.

Five beam trawlers and a netter on the market this morning - but all with broken trips owing to the weekend's appalling weather...

so it was pretty much a line of boxes per boat...

though the netter, Ajax had a good shot of haddock...

despite the rather unattractive thorny name sometimes these fish dazzle...

plenty of small red mullet around with the boats, signs of a good season later in the year when they move closer inshore...

there were nearly more buyers than boxes this morning so prices were high...

even for fish like these cuttles...

braving the torrential rain, a group of students assemble by the iceworks as they continue their harbour tour...

despite the weather a handful of hardy handline fishermen braved the weather and found somewhere to work in the lee of the shore to pick away on a good run of mackerel...

while the bigger buyers fought over a few dozen boxes of hake...

beam trawl brill...

and two types of gurnard to identify...

by now the rain was lashing it down so the bedraggled students with Lionel leading the way...

headed for the haven of the market - a few years ago they would have enjoyed the hospitality of the Mission of course.

Gales on Happy St Piran's Day

St Piran flags hang out all over Penzance...

as the Market House  and Humphry Davy statue are lit up by a fiery evening sky on the Eve of St Piran's day...

when the day dawns some celebrate by carrying on as normal, like the Battery Rockers...

under the St Piran's flag atop Penzance's most prominent church, St Marys...

while in Newlyn, the visiting Belgian beamer, Marbi get on with overhauling their beam trawl...

meanwhile out at sea the Karen of Ladram is hauling her hake nets in very poor weather!

Skerries whitefish trawler, Ocean Way sinks off Shetland - all hands safe.

The crew of a Skerries whitefish boat were rescued when their trawler sank a few miles off their home isle this morning.

The five men off Ocean Way, which is Skerries owned, were picked up by Lerwick Lifeboat shortly before the 24.3m long steel trawler sank. The men had to be picked up from the sea as it was deemed to dangerous to take the lifeboat alongside.

They were then checked over by medical staff and all of the crew, which includes two Latvians as well as local men, were found to be unhurt.

Ocean Way is normally skippered by Leslie Hughson, but on this trip it was his son Steven Hughson in command. She fastened a trawl door on the seabed while fishing five miles south east of Skerries and started taking water before 6.45am when she alerted coastguards.

The salmon boat Gerde Saele was first on scene and passed a pump to Ocean Way but this is said to have failed after some time. The coastguard helicopter arrived at 7.50am, 15 minutes before the Michael & Jane Vernon arrived with its eight volunteer crewmen – one of whom actually works on Ocean Way.

He was one of the two men who went onto the sinking fishing boat with the lifeboat’s own pump. Ocean Way was by that time making for Lerwick, having freed herself.

Video courtesy of @MCA_media

But the lifeboat’s pump was unable to cope with the ingress of water and the Coastguard Helicopter was in the process of winching a further pump to the lifeboat when it became apparent that the Ocean Way was beyond saving and her skipper decided to abandon ship.

The vessel sank at 8.20am eight miles south east of Skaw Taing in Whalsay. The two RNLI crew helped the men swim clear as the Ocean Way foundered.

Lifeboat coxswain Alan Tarby has described the dramatic events which unfolded once the crew decided to abandon the boat.

He said: “It all happened very quickly. The time between the crew jumping off the boat and the boat sinking was about two minutes.”

Mr Tarby said the crew had decided to jump from the boat because of the dangers involved in “transferring people at sea”. He said that in choppy seas the risk of being squashed between the fishing vessel and the lifeboat can make it safer to be rescued from the water.

Prior to the boat sinking lifeboat volunteer and Ocean Way crew member Darren Harcus was put aboard to aid in pumping water from the boat.

Working two weeks on and two weeks off with the Ocean Way Mr Harcus happened to be on call with the lifeboat when the incident occurred. His knowledge of the boat was deemed to be an asset for the lifeboat crew who decided he should go aboard the vessel.

But his efforts were not enough to save the boat which was taking on water extremely quickly.

He said: “We went aboard and tried to pump but it was obvious that the water was coming on too quickly.”

The water temperature was a reasonably mild 6 to 7 degrees and all members of the crew were in the water for no longer than a few minutes, meaning that none came to any harm.

Mr Tarby added: “The rescue was made much easier because the Ocean Way’s crew were all wearing the correct safety equipment and had undergone safety training. It was a good outcome even although the vessel was lost, all the crew were unharmed.

“The lifeboat crew performed very well, especially the two men who were in the water with the fishermen.”

Wind was North Easterly Force 3-4 and the sea state was moderate with a one-metre swell.

LHD fish salesman James Aitken said that he had been shocked to hear of the sinking when arriving for work this morning. “They are all fine as far as I know, which is the main thing. They were airlifted off and heading to hospital for precautionary checks.”

The Ocean Way was built by Buckie Shipyards in 1996. Another Hughson brother, Colin, is the skipper of the 23m whitefish trawler Fairway.

Porthleven Art Auction now on view at the Old Lifeboat House Gallery.

From tomorrow (Sunday 5th March) all the art works that have been created from the timber baulks will be on view in the Old Lifeboat House Gallery.  This will give people who can get to the gallery a chance to see the works in the flesh.  For anyone interested but who cannot make it to Porthleven in person all the works are now viewable online thanks to local auctioneer David Lay.  You can view the works, save your favourite pieces and bid from the comfort of your computer, smart phone or tablet!

The gallery will be open from:

 March 5th-8th 10:30am - 4:30pm

March 9th-10th 10:30am - 7:30pm

The auction itself will be held in a giant marquee on Saturday, March 18th 

View the online catalogue here

Below is some background on how the auction came to being.

In all, ten major storms hit Porthleven between November 2013 and February 2014...

during the day of February 5th 2014, the Porthleven Harbour baulks were smashed allowing huge seas into the inner harbour - causing boats to sink and damage to others.

Two ton wooden baulks have protected the inner harbour since its construction in 1858

The Porthleven Baulk Project is an imaginative, creative fundraiser. It is about creating beauty and hope from devastation, by using broken baulks, destroyed by fierce nature and re-forming them into a wide variety of unique and stunning art pieces. Out of loss and darkness comes hope.

The reclaimed baulks were cut up in blocks or as a 'canvas'.

On the 5th February 2014 the harbour defences in Porthleven, South West Cornwall gave way to the torrential beating from sea. Ten boats sank in Porthleven harbour, and many fishermen lost floats, nets and crab pots when huge waves crashed through into the inner harbour. Work had already been impossible due to the extreme, on-going weather conditions and then the storms destroyed their means to catch.

The storm of 2013/ 2014 lasted for six months. During that difficult time, the Charity the Fishermen’s Mission, supported fishermen and their families. It was soon decided by the trustees and the board, that support was needed urgently. Payments of up to £500 would be given to fishermen upon the receipt of one household bill in arrears. Over £110,000 was given to fishing families in the South West alone.

Baulks were cut up into sections and stored.

The Porthleven baulks, individually are two tonnes of wood bolted together and with substantial metal caps. They are lifted into the harbour entrance by a crane. As a resident of Porthleven and a Regional Fundraising Manager for the Fishermen’s Mission (in Cornwall) I would walk past the boat yard and look on at the broken pieces of the harbour defenses and often think of the storms. An idea formed, permission to use the wood was granted and the Porthleven Baulk Project was launched.

We have a team of dedicated volunteers working on the project tirelessly. They are Leigh Santi, Rita Collier, Pat Hosking, Bel Higgs, Suzie Williams, Barbara Powell, John Winterton and Louise Winterton. We are working with many creative people to make innovative items from the broken baulks, which will then be sold at an auction in aid of the Charity.  You can follow progress on Twitter with @PorthlevenArt or on their Facebook page.  ..

At least 80 artists have already agreed to paint on to the wood (in canvas cut sizes). Others are working with the wood to create mosaics, etchings, ceramic and glass. Craftspeople are creating items of furniture. Each piece will have a letter of signed authenticity to prove that these pieces are from the Porthleven baulks. Artists include Daphne McClure, Michael and son Nick Praed, Naomi Frears, Elaine Turnbull, Kim Potter, David Hosking, Mark Lace, Nigel Chamberlain, Caroline Cleave, Christine Brunnock, David Cordeaux, Julia Schofield, Cailtin McClintock, Dee Cook, Dame Carol-Anne Duffy, the Queen's poet, Lesley Holmes, Kim Potter, Suzie Williams, Jason Lilley and many more.

The auction will be held on 18th March of next year (2017) in the Atlantic Inn, Porthleven with an online auction as well. All the pieces will be on display at the Lifeboat House from the 4th to the 10th March 2017.

This is a unique opportunity to support The Fishermen’s Mission by purchasing not only a piece of social history but a celebration of enduring talent.

Brexit: French fisheries mobilise.

This is the title of a special dossier published this week by our colleague Le Marin, title of the Ouest-France group specialized in maritime news. Our reporter, Solène Le Roux, poses the challenges of negotiating the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union and its possible impacts on the fishing sector in France.

The Brexit gives cold angers to the French fishermen, writes Solène Le Roux. Approximately 30% of their catch depends on British waters and 50% between Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Brittany. With virtually no possibility of redeployment. The conditions for leaving the United Kingdom of the European Union (EU) will be crucial for the French fishery .

His hopes are based on former EU Minister and Commissioner Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, and his team, who have gone on for 18 months of negotiations. British Prime Minister Theresa May is due to launch Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon in March, demanding the withdrawal of the EU. Objective: to conclude an agreement by October 2018, for ratification by the Parliament and the Council, the effective release in March 2019.

The British have strong claims on the fishery side. Their White Paper, produced in February, denounces an imbalance: in 2015, European vessels caught 683 000 tonnes in British waters (484 million pounds) and the British only 110 000 tonnes (114 million pounds) Of the EU. They intend to correct this historic imbalance. This is the mandate given by some 12,000 British fishermen, for more than 6,000 vessels, who voted over 90% in favor of Brexit.

"The basic proposal of the British could be a drop of 75% of our fishing at home, underlines an analysis of the regional council of Brittany, a reduction of 60% of the turnover for the most affected armaments. "

The challenge is to maintain maximum access to British waters and associated quotas. Either the United Kingdom agrees to maintain a principle of equal reciprocal access, within the framework of agreements with the EU, by obtaining upward fishing opportunities, in particular on cod or haddock. Either it refuses access to its EEZ to foreign vessels and uses its fishing opportunities alone, or by granting the remainder to other States through fishing agreements. Member States will in any case try to defend their historic rights.

France absorbs 41% of British seafood exports to the EU. Scottish salmon is at the top of French purchases with 35,000 tonnes.