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Plenty of fish and another gorgeous morning in Newlyn

An eerie ETish glow surrounds the FalFish trailer this morning...

and the market is once again chokka with fish...

this time the Filadelfia picked up plenty of

 megrim and Dover sole...

along with a solitary gleaming bream...

and hardly any plaice this trip...

back at the bass, Cod had a good but not great day on this most elusive of fish...

while young Mr Pascoe took his place at the top pf the table for the day with the best shot of the day...

while the inshore trawler, Still Waters managed yet another solid little trip on the rays...

along with the odd red mullet...

and the Millennium tipped up with a haul of glistening haddock...

and a few dozen Dory...

with half the market out of bounds there's not much room to move...

for big fish like these monster 8+ kilo hake...

and a few giant JDs...

more than enough to keep the buyers busy...

especially for a huge trip of hake from Sid on the Karen of Ladram...

who had to stack all his fish at least three boxes high...

the two most common types of cephalopod landed in Newlyn are from l-r, the cuttlefish, Sepiaofficinalis and the squid, Loligo forbesi...

though it is the cuttles that seem to cover everything in their vicinity in black sepia ink!..

while in the opposite direction yet another stunning sunrise greets all those lucky enough to work in the harbour at this time of day...

with just enough time to grab a few pics before bidding on the next lot of fish...

to land the night's work

or bring the boat round to the market... ......

as the Govenek of Ladram makes her way into a berth on the Mary Williams pier...

go this way, not that.

Long steam home.

In this video shot shortly after her launch in 2012 the Kristine Vendelbo HM202 heads for home with 210 tons of sprats on board ...

wind forward three years and we find she has just steamed from that same home port of Hanstholm in the far north of Denmark to fish...

right on the 12 mile limit between Land's End and the Scillies - though on the AIS she now shows up as the Irish vessel, Unity. 

On Friday, the 29th of September 2017, Atlantic Shipping, as brokers, delivered the wet fish trawler M/V “Kirstine Vendelbo" to her new owners. The vessel is 27.50 x 7.70 m and was built in 2012 at Vestværftet, Hvide Sande, Denmark.

Partnership in Portugal to secure small-scale fishing livelihoods.

Environmental Defense Fund Europe will be joining forces with new philanthropic institution the Oceano Azul Foundation for a programme of work centred on artisanal fisheries in Portugal. The partnership was announced by José Soares dos Santos, President of the Oceano Azul Foundation, as part of a panel presentation at the global Our Ocean Conference in Malta on the 6th October. The project represents a new geography for Environmental Defense Fund's work across Europe, supporting sustainable fisheries in collaboration with fishing communities, governments and other stakeholders.

Commenting on the announcement of the partnership, dos Santos said that "economic and social sustainability depends more than ever on the sustainability of the marine environment".

This sentiment was echoed by Jessica Landman, Senior Director for Oceans, Europe: "At Environmental Defense Fund we work towards three goals: more food on the plate, more fish in the sea, and thriving coastal communities. It's a real pleasure to be partnering with the Oceano Azul Foundation in working towards these objectives for small-scale fisheries in Portugal: a nation of ocean-goers and seafood-enthusiasts. Together we recognise the importance of social, economic and environmental sustainability delivered hand-in-hand, and the vital need for communities to have a voice in how fisheries are managed. Watch this space!"

The first order of business for the partners will be to investigate where best to launch a pilot project to implement community-led, science-based co-management in Portuguese coastal fisheries. Environmental Defense Fund will be bringing to bear experience garnered from a long-term partnership with WWF Spain, where half a dozen or more analogous projects have been rooted in local fishing communities. Many of the tools to be applied in these fisheries - from data collection to the design of management using secure fishing rights to incentivise conservation - have been developed by the organisation's dedicated 'Fishery Solution Centre'. EDF’s Acting Iberian Peninsula Manager, Miguel Gomez, commented: "We know we have the right tools for the job - and we're looking forward to applying and adapting what we've learnt in Spain with the team in Portugal."

As part of an array of announcements for the new foundation, Oceano Azul also shared plans for a EUR 1,000,000 project, in conjunction with the Waitt Foundation, to develop a network of protected areas in the Azores, and to to donate EUR 100,000 annually to the ECOMARE Marine Animal Rehabilitation Centre.

Martin Luther 500 years on and time for a change.

Undoubtedly, the as yet unknown German scholar Martin Luther had no idea that 500 years to the day he posted his 95 theses on the door of his local catholic church in Wittenberg would there be a fishing boat 50 miles south of Waterford bearing his name. The boat, an ex Belgian beam trawler, is currently fishing along with other Irish and French vessels in the Celtic Deeps.

Technology has evolved so quickly and to such an extent that this modern-day Martin Luther's whereabouts can be monitored and contacted from a device small enough to fit in the palm of your hand - the introduction of printing at the time allowed for the spread of information which in turn eventually led to the Reformation and sowed the seeds for the Western world we live in today - maybe now it is the turn of the internet to sow the seeds for the second Reformation as this article in the Guardian suggests:

In other words, we are all members of the Church of Technopoly, and what we worship is digital technology. Most of us are so happy in our obeisance to this new power that we spend an average of 50 minutes on our daily devotion to Facebook alone without a flicker of concern. It makes us feel modern, connected, empowered, sophisticated and informed.

In this article, a discussion and link to a modern twist on challenging the norm - in this instance our total immersion in technology - the website 95theses has 'nailed' 95 technology challenging theses to a virtual door. 

Catch monitoring - a cost efficiency analysis on the New England groundfish fishery.

It's always helpful if someone else somewhere else with a similar problem comes up with a suitable solution.  Our American cousins famously suffered overfishing for cod in particular - here is a solution offered:

Background NE groundfish- management/monitoring

At Sea Monitors, Electronic Monitoring, Dockside Monitors

• What you pay

Costs, program

• What you get

Data Quality

http://eminformation.com/2006/2006

British fishing’s Brexit revival

British fishing’s Brexit revival - an optimistic piece from Alexander Fuiza writing for CapX

• British fishermen were allocated just 30 per cent of the fish in their waters in 2015
• Setting its own fisheries policy could deliver the UK a £3 billion boost
• A fishing revival would bring new activity to areas that need it the most

With the EU finally beginning formal preparations for negotiations over its future economic relationship with the UK, it’s time to look again at an area that stands to gain from Brexit: fishing.

Once it leaves the EU, the UK will can undo former Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath’s catastrophic decision to sell out British fisheries for European Economic Community membership. British fishermen should see a substantial boost to their share of fishing quotas in UK waters. The important question now is just how substantial an economic boost this will be.

Under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) Britain has been forced by the EU to set rigid fishing quotas, often leading to healthy fish being thrown overboard – many of which die – to avoid exceeding the limits imposed by Brussels. The UK has had to surrender 70 per cent of the quotas in its own waters (defined as anything within 200 miles of the coast or the midpoint between Britain and a nearby country ).

How much of their own fish do non-EU countries retain? A good comparison to the UK is Norway, which is also blessed with substantial fishing waters, is Norway. They maintain a quota system similar to the CFP, but the proportions caught by domestic fishermen are much higher. In 2016 domestic fishermen took 84 per cent of fish caught in Norway. In Iceland the share is greater still; most years it is higher than 90 per cent of Iceland’s fishing catch goes to domestic fleets, according to the Icelandic Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture. These examples both point to a boost to British fishing from Brexit.

So just how much would taking back control of our fisheries bolster our economy? In 2015 fish was worth £1.661 billion in the UK economy. There were 12,107 fishermen employed in the UK, with a further 12,000 employed in the processing industry. Of the fishermen, 6,420 were based in England and Wales, 4,829 in Scotland, and 859 in Northern Ireland. Part-time fishermen accounted for approximately 19 per cent of the total. UK vessels landed 708,000 tonnes of sea fish into the UK and abroad with a value of £775 million; 12.7 per cent of the fish UK vessels landed were from foreign waters – the value of domestic catch alone being around £676.6 million.

If UK fisherman took the same share of domestic fish as their Norwegian counterparts, the value of domestic fish landings would jump from £676.6 million to £1,894.5 million. Factoring in an equivalent boost to fish processing, this could mean a £3 billion boost to the UK economy.

Of course, mapping Norway’s numbers onto Britain’s fishing industry is a fairly basic way of speculating on the industry’s future. But it does make the point that Brexit represents a substantial opportunity to the UK’s fishing industry. If this boost had a proportionate effect on employment in fishing, it would mean more than 20,000 new jobs in both fishing and fish processing.

In the same way, it could be anticipated around 21,792 fishing jobs could be gained, and around 21,600 fish processing jobs, for a total of 43,392 jobs in addition to the 24,107 currently employed in fishing and fish processing. That excludes potential secondary employment growth from jobs servicing the newly employed, on-shoring of fish processing jobs, and the creation of larger fishing firms.

The result wouldn’t just be more jobs, but more jobs in areas where they are badly needed. Again, assuming a proportionate distribution of these new jobs, around 8,692 of the potential 21,792 new positions created would theoretically accrue to Scotland, concentrated in the Islands, Highland towns and Ayr, rather than well-heeled Edinburgh. Almost half of the benefits going to Scotland, despite it representing around 8 per cent of the UK population, is almost ironic given how many Scots voted Remain, but there we go. Roughly 1,532 jobs would go to Wales, and 1,546 to Northern Ireland. Both Wales and Northern Ireland are substantially poorer than the UK as a whole, with GDP per capita of £18,002 and £21,770 respectively. Northern Ireland’s unemployment rate is substantially above the UK average at 5.7 per cent.

Relatively left behind regions of England would gain too. The North East, home to Brexit bastions like Tynemouth, Sunderland and Middlesborough, stands to gain 2,180 fishermen. The South West meanwhile could gain as many as 4,995, concentrated in the too often forgotten rural counties of Cornwall and Devon. Unemployment in the North East is 6.8 per cent. In the South West it is 3.7 per cent, though a large number of jobs in counties like Devon and Cornwall come and go with the tourist seasons. Clearly, these areas could do with a boost.


By Alexander Fiuza


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