Monday morning in Newlyn

Plenty of fish for plenty of buyers on the final Monday market of 2107...

more than enough to keep auctioneer Ian busy bidding up the price of Christmas fish...

like these whole monk...

glistening cod...

and hake from the Ajax...

in superb condition...

while the rest of the market was full of day-boat fish like these plaice...

and ray wings, prepared in the traditional way for hanging up to dry...

boxes from all corners of the North Atlantic...

though the cuttle season is now well and truly over they are fetching almost double the price of a few weeks ago...

ling, heads or tails...

that man Cod has been at the bass again...

though his arch rival Andrew struck a richer seam of these fantastic fish...

and also pulled in some pure gold cod, not often you see fish within hours of it being caught on the market..

it wasn't only the local handline guys on the bass, there were a few more pole and line fish from the Helford based, Boy James...

other inshore boats landing included the Harvest Reaper...

with some extra-large monk tails...

while the big beam trawler, Cornishman captured a few big turbot...

and some monster megs...

while the small gurnards were all boxed up and all went for bait...

the Ajax also put a big shot of haddock ashore...

while though the chilly interior of the fridge was full of quality handline fish the buyers crowded in to make their bids...

the other big boat to land was the beam trawler Trevessa IV with some cracking monk tails...

the Newlyn Harbour lights were better off to the tune of £100 when this box of donated haddock were sold for them...

the big plaice fishing might have dropped off but not the big plaice!..

a box of small eight-leggers...

yet again the netters landed dogs - hard to believe that the netting fleet have been dumping this amount of fish on a regular basis for years before an agreement was reached to land them...

no mistaking which fish market this is...

in one of the landing berths the Three Jays is all set for sea...

while the Little Pearl is in the process of landing her night's haul of ...

twelve tons of sardines.

Bart's Fish Tales with Sardines and Hake

Hot off the press is this new cook book from Dutch chef, Bart van Olphen.  Bart actively promotes cooking with sustainable seafood and has done so for many years. He was presented with the title of the world s most sustainable seafood entrepreneur in 2008, and travels the world looking for the stories behind the fish. Fishing communities all over the globe have inspired him to develop a range of fish products that tell their stories.  He is also about to start presenting on Jamie Oliver s Food Tube Network...

While researching for his latest book, Fish Tales, which saw him travel the world...

looking for sustainably caught fish to cook with, he happened upon Newlyn...

and as everyone knows...

and at this time of year when you need to keep up your Omega-3 input and what better way to do it than by making sure you get the freshest fish from Newlyn's fleet of Cornish sardine boats...

 seen her landing on Sunday...

  

it's nothing for 2-Kit to shift 3 tubs of sardines without breaking sweat...

and there are several sardine recipes to enjoy from the Newlyn chapter of the book...

as well as images of those who help put fish on the people's plates like auctioneer...

 and part-time fisherman, Ryan 'Wiffer' Ladd...

enjoying a little joshing on the quay...

while a familiar face from the past lends a hand...

for the punt men like father of the fleet, Dennis Pascoe aboard the Sprigs of Heather heading in to landing their fish ahead of the gill netter Ajax...

which sees young Aaron Williams happy in his work down the fishroom helping...

to pout ashore their last trip of hake for the year...

sans barb MSC Certified hake netter skipper Alan Dwan also stars in the Nelwyn section of Bart's book having provided the fish for some superb hake recipes... 

while Alan is just about to get his complimentary Fish Shop insulated fish frail...

crew member Matt is looking forward to the Christmas break after working through 8s, 9s and 10s this week...

as will all the guys aboard the port's top trawler, Crystal Sea.

Catching the humble mackerel the hard way, by hand.

Looks innocuous enough laying on ice in a fish box but a few hours before...

half a dozen hardy handling fishermen...

 ventured out into a squally St Ives Bay...

and with their handlines filled a few boxes of hard-won fish by hand...

then headed back to the safety of St Ives...

last one in...

was Gary on the Bethshan riding the heavy swell off Smeaton's Pier.

All photos courtesy of Chris Oates, St Ives wildlife photographer.