Monday morning fish market in Newlyn

There seems to be as many beam trawlers in as out this morning...

as both auctioneers get Monday morning's market started...

and with a mix of day, beam trawl, line caught and netted fish there is Newlyn's massive range of species for the buyers to bid on like these cracking John Dory...

handsome hake from the Karen of Ladram...

the odd blue...

line caught pollack...

get noticed in these superb quality boots from Comfish based in Newquay...

cod from the beam trawler Algrie

lovely lemons...

and plenty of megrim soles...

not to be confused with these witches...

a brace of big monk tails...

and some, 'ansum 'addock as they would say in Poldark...

young Mr Smith had a bumper weekend with the handlines with a big landing of blackjacks...

ling...

and the staple of his fishing diet, pollack...

tip-top monk tail for Trelawney Fish...

while summer has brought on plenty of sightings of blue-fin tuna all round the coast it is the John Dory that some of the inshore fleet look to to boost their summertime fishing...

making a relatively rare appearance on the market - good sized scad - a member of the oily fish family like mackerel and sardines and to try at least once - sprinkled with a little salt beforehand, filleted or split like a kipper - grill or fry with plenty of butter and lemon juice to season...

an immaculate whiting - the perfect fish-supper fish...

ray, bit of a Marmite fish, gorgeous if you like them...

Cap'n Cod spent hours at sea for two boxes of these beauties - he's tag No2 if you ever buy a tagged bass in your local wet fish shop...

good to see this boat looking after his immaculate line caught squid - reflected in the high price paid for them to be in this condition - chefs love to get fresh squid with the brown membrane still intact...

just the one big monk tail in this box...

turbot, top-table fish from the Algrie...

aerial border patrol...

snapped up close after ten years of trying, one of two pairs of ravens that frequent Newlyn harbour from their base in nearby (disused) Penlee Quarry now owned by MDL Marinas who hope to develop the site with a marina and housing... 

he (or she) had been usurped by this young black-backed gull from devouring the contents of a yoghurt pot...

the port's latest crabber, Asteria...

recently began fishing from Newlyn after a huge refit converted her from a previous life as a prawn trawler...

as seen her in Newlyn two years ago...

the hydraulic crane and powerblock were left fitted to make it easy for the crew to load and unload gear from her...

down and out, another lamp post down the quay bites the dust.

Misty weekend.

As has become tradition on the eve of the August Bank Holiday, wreaths were lain by the Fish Festival Committee as a mark of respect to friends and family lost at sea...

not a happy man, Barry has had a hard week trying to find enough mackerel to earn a week's wages...

the St Georges heads for the ice berth...

as Barry heads back out to sea...

next big job after the arrival of the blue dye...

and the last, is to coat the floor of the market and complete Phase II of the £1.7 million refurbishment...

all set to take ice...

via the huge flexible hose...

that delivers around a ton every two minutes...

all getting the thumbs up from mate and relief skipper Julian 'Juicy' James...

aaaahhh that Condor moment...

more boxes go aboard for the trip...

heading in to land the wreck netter Annie-May

the market floor has been readied for the new protective blue coat of cement...

just one of the external fish market panels waiting to be decorated...

sun's up, somewhere.

Some wise words from Barrie Deas on the Baie de Seine scallop dispute and its Brexit implications.

The recent clashes in the Channel between UK and French fishing vessels over scallop grounds highlight a number of important issues. The most important of these is that, whatever the rights and wrongs of disputes over fishing rights, it is never permissible to resort to intimidation and violence. There have been many fishing disputes in the past and doubtless there will be many in the future. French and British boats clashed earlier this week in video captured by France 3.

The correct place to resolve these is around the table, not on the high seas using flares, bottles stones and shackles to intimidate crews. Our vessels were forced to withdraw from the disputed area as skippers feared for the welfare of their crews. The issues this week led us to raise the matter with the British government. 

We asked for protection for our vessels, which were fishing legitimately as part of their work in the UK scallop industry, which is worth £120m and supports 1,350 jobs. While the clashes off the coast of Normandy have made headlines around the world, it is worth noting that every day of the week many French fishing vessels fish within UK waters, sometimes as close as six miles from the coast, much to the annoyance of British fishermen.

On many occasions, UK fishermen have been tied up, quotas exhausted, as French vessels with their much more generous allocations have continued to fish in sight of land. The French share of Channel cod is 84 per cent. The UK share is nine per cent. This has been intensely frustrating but at no time have British fishermen resorted to intimidating or violent tactics. Only last week, French trawlers - not for the first time - towed away crab pots set Cornish fishermen only eight miles from the UK coast. This provocation was met with fury and protests by our fishermen but also restraint. 

The UK’s departure from the European Union, and therefore from the Common Fisheries Policy, will be a game changer. It is true, as the local French fishermen engaged in the Baie de Seine dispute claim, that after Brexit UK vessels will have no longer have an automatic right of access to fish in this area because it is located within the French Exclusive Economic Zone. Their French colleagues along the coast will not, however, miss the much bigger implication. 

As the UK will (automatically) become an independent coastal state when the UK leaves the EU, French vessels will no longer have an automatic right to fish in the UK Exclusive Economic Zone. As the European fleets currently catch around six times as much in UK waters as UK vessels catch in EU waters, they rightly understand that the writing is on the wall for the grossly asymmetrical arrangements that have existed under the Common Fisheries Policy. 

Under UN law of the sea, the coastal state has responsibility for managing the resources within its EEZ and to determine who will be allowed to fish in its waters and under what conditions. The EU will of course have the same rights to exclude or apply conditions to UK vessels fishing in French waters. But their pool of resources is much smaller and our effort in their waters by comparison is tiny. 

The attacks were carried out in international waters - outside the French 12 mile limit.

The scallop wars last week were a local spasm that will have embarrassed the Government in Paris. France, and all of the other EU fishing nations, are intent on keeping something as close as possible to the status quo on access to fish in UK waters and quota shares. Their cause is not helped by a bring it on attitude within parts of the French industry. 

Controlling access to our waters and rebalancing quota shares to more closely reflect the resources located within UK waters are a centrepiece within the Government’s White Paper of Fisheries. Doubtless there will be a period of adjustment with more or less turbulence, but things will settle down. There is a legal obligation on all countries which share transboundary fish stocks, to cooperate in their management and sustainable exploitation. 

The most likely future model for management of shared stocks is annual bilateral agreements – as currently happens between EU and Norway. Safe harvesting rates are agreed on the basis of scientific advice and levels of access to fish in each other’s waters, along with quota shares are agreed during autumn negotiations each 
year. 

The French authorities have primary responsibility for ensuring that there is no recurrence of the anarchic and troubling scenes witnessed last week. If such events were to take place in UK waters, doubtless a police investigation would be under way and there is no dearth of evidence, supplied on video by the perpetrators themselves. On the political front, a meeting is to be held in London next week involving Government officials and fishing representatives from both sides to try to resolve the dispute. 

Scallops are a valuable resource and it is vital that they are fished only at sustainable levels. There is no fundamental reason why in a spirit of reconciliation and compromise, a deal acceptable to both sides cannot be reached. And in the meantime, the UK continues to head for the door, leaving the Common Fisheries Policy behind. This rather than the events of last week is the bigger game in play. Barrie Deas is Chief Executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations.

Read more at: https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/barrie-deas-scallop-wars-a-skirmish-compared-to-bigger-game-of-brexit-1-9329424

Newlyn Harbour regeneration public consultation - go along and check out the plans.

Marine & Coastal Access Act 2009 – Application for Newlyn Harbour Workspace Regeneration

For the 'Canner Slip' read as the 'Canners' Slip' - known as such because Shipphams used to can pilchards (before they became sardines) in the building that is now Trelawney Fish.

Two boats moored just off the Canners' Slip as it was in the 1950s.
(Photo courtesy of the Newlyn Archive)

Looking back towards the fish market and Newlyn Town.

Looking at the new works buildings frontage from the harbour

Next Friday and Saturday there will be an opportunity to view and discuss the proposed new workspace building and car parking plans for the area between the Canner's Slip and the new RNLI Lifeboat House (currently under construction).

Plans and harbour board members and a consultant will be in attendance on:

When?   - Friday 7th Sept 5-7pm and Saturday 8th Sept 9-12am.

Where?  - boardroom inside the new fish market office area.

The plans, photographs and artists impressions of the new buildings can be viewed in the document below:

MARINE AND COASTAL ACCESS ACT 2009

APPLICATION FOR NEWLYN HARBOUR WORKSPACE REGENERATION

Notice is hereby given that Newlyn Pier and Harbour Commissioners, Newlyn Harbour, The Strand, Newlyn, TR18 5HW has applied to the Marine Management Organisation under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, Part 4, for a marine licence to undertake regeneration works at Newlyn Harbour. Plans showing the position of the works may be inspected at Newlyn Harbour Office, The Strand, Newlyn, Penzance TR18 5HW.

Copies of the application and associated information may be viewed on line in the Public Register and Representations in respect of the application should ordinarily be made by visiting the MMO public register:

The application has been submitted to the MMO and can be viewed here:

All the relevant documents can be viewed here

However, we will also accept representations via the following formats:
– By email to marine.consents@marinemanagement.org.uk; or alternatively
– By letter addressed to Marine Management Organisation, Lancaster House, Hampshire Court, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 7YH

In all cases, correspondence must:
– Be received within 28 days of the date of the first notice (2);
– Quote the case reference; and
– include an address to which correspondence relating to the representation or objection may be sent.

The Marine Management Organisation will pass to the applicant a copy of any objection or representation we receive.

Thursday 23 August 2018

For the latest information check out the Newlyn Harbour website or make contact using the above details.