#FishyFriday in Newlyn.

Three beam trawlers helped fill a busy FishyFriday market in Newlyn this morning giving all the buyers a good selection of fish to choose from...

including both trawl and line caught pollack...

plenty of ray...

some already winged at sea...

a few bags of scallops - which were given a mention by Fisheries Minister George Eustace in the House yesterday...

top quality handline fish like these pristine pollack...

and bass made good money...

all caught on film by Luke continuing his work in putting together the forthcoming BBC2 documentary...

capturing things like the morning fish auction...

line caught fish commands a price premium for its quality and appearance...

like this stunning John dory...

more than enough to keep young Anthony Tonkin smiling...

at this time of year cod landings are slight...

a fine pair of blues...

and more of the best bass...

as usual the beam trawlers piled in with plenty of megrim soles...

and monk tails...

and something to keep a few chefs more than happy, superb monk livers that make such sweet paté..

giving auctioneer Olly every opportunity to squeeze the highest prices out of the buyers...

especially for such superb fish as these Dover soles...

and boxes and boxes...

of John Dory...

nose to tail ray...

and yet more bass...

monk...

and just the one solitary red mullet and a plate sized turbot...

name this flatfish...

young Roger found these JDs more than elusive this trip...

with all the other inshore trawlers grabbing a share of them too...

after an hour the auction was still in full swing...

while outside the Asthore was just landing the last of her six tons of sardines...

as dawn breaks...

the gulls pile in for breakfast...

and what looks like the start to another cracking day here in the far south west of Cornwall...

which in this light makes the job of capturing stunning images even easier...

two of the ports most powerful beam trawlers at rest...

as are the sardine fleet after their night's endeavours - though fruitless for some.

Fisheries MP George Eustace HoC statement on Baie de Seine scallop issue.

Yesterday, fisheries MP George Eustace made a statement to the House with regard to the Baie de Seine scallop issue between the UK and France.

NEW! Latest government report on Brexit

Fisheries: Brexit Negotiations

Published Thursday, September 6, 2018

Following Brexit, the UK will no longer be part of the EU Common Fisheries Policy. It will become an independent coastal state and be fully responsible for managing fisheries in the UK’s Exclusive Economic Zone of 200 miles.

Jump to full report

This will include setting total allowable catches (TACs), distributing quotas and determining who has access to fisheries.[1] However, access for EU vessels to UK waters and vice versa is likely to be part of any agreement reached with the EU, as part of a future relationship.The Fisheries White Paper Sustainable fisheries for future generations, published in July 2018, set out the Government’s intention to continue to co-operate closely with the EU and other coastal states on the sustainable management of fish stocks that cross borders, and states that “any decisions about giving access to our waters for vessels from the EU, or any other coastal states including Norway, will then be a matter for negotiation”.[2]

Brexit negotiations

As part of the Draft Withdrawal Agreement UK and EU have agreed there will be a transition or implementation period which will last from 30 March 2019 to 31 December 2020, during which the UK and EU have agreed that the UK will continue comply with the Common Fisheries Policy.

Beyond the transition period, the maintenance of current arrangements for sharing fisheries resources after Brexit was referred to in the European Council’s draft negotiating guidelines for a future trade deal. This linked continued existing reciprocal access to fisheries to the proposal for a zero-tariff trade agreement. However, the UK Government’s Fisheries White Paper rejected the EU’s position that access to fisheries should be linked to any trade agreement, referring to the latter as “a separate question”. There have been no detailed discussions to date between the UK and the EU on fisheries.[3]

No deal and fisheries

A no deal Brexit, in which there was no transitional agreement on fisheries until the end of 2020, would mean that the UK would become an independent coastal state from March 2019 taking over responsibility for its Exclusive Economic Zone. The UK would no longer be bound by the Common Fisheries Policy and could deny access to EU Member States’ fishing vessels.

UK exports in fish and related products to the EU were worth £1.3 billion and comprised 70% of all UK fish exports from the UK by value. Fish imports from the EU were worth £1.1 billion (34% of all fish imports to the UK by value).[4] The impact of a no deal Brexit on the fisheries industry’s ability to export and trade are likely to be felt across the sector. In addition to the impacts of any tariffs, fisheries products, as all perishable products, could be impacted by any increased delays at borders resulting from greater custom controls.

The EU Commission published a preparedness notice to stakeholders on Fisheries and Aquaculture in April 2018, setting out how UK withdrawal would impact both the UK and EU sectors in the absence of any kind of withdrawal agreement. The UK Government is also expected to publish a Technical Notice on fisheries in September.

[1]     Article 61(1) of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) states that: “The coastal State shall determine the allowable catch of the living resources in its exclusive economic zone.”

[2]     Defra, Fisheries White Paper Sustainable fisheries for future generations, published July 2018

[3]     EFRA Select Committee Evidence Session, 17 July 2018, Fisheries, Q403

[4]     UK Trade Info database, downloaded in April 2018, using product code SITC 03 – ‘Fish, crustaceans, molluscs & aq. inverts & preps thereof’

Commons Briefing papers CBP-8396

Author: Elena Ares

Topics: EU external relations, EU institutions, EU law and treaties, Fisheries, Food, Marine environment

England's only commercial fishing exhibition - Skipper Expo 2018

Welcome to Skipper Expo Int. Bristol

Established in 2013, Skipper Expo Int. Bristol is a specially created commercial fisheries show for the English and Welsh fishing industries.

The show was founded by Mara Media, a publishing and event management company based in Co. Donegal, Ireland.

Mara Media publishes the widely respected ‘The Skipper’ magazine, a monthly publication for the Irish and UK fishing industries. Mara Media had already established Skipper Expo Int. Galway in Ireland in 2005, and Skipper Expo Int. Aberdeen in 2011, and following the success of these events, decided that the English and Welsh fishing sectors would also benefit from an all-encompassing annual fisheries exhibition.

The Bristol expo, which is now being held annually at the Ashton Gate Stadium, has proved very popular with the industry and has been growing year-on-year, with there being around 80 exhibitors at the most recent event.

The success of the show can be attributed to the fact that the expo is a great place to do business, as well as being the ideal venue for the fishing industry to network and socialise.

Such success is confirmed by the universally positive testimonials from exhibitors and visitors alike. The team at Mara Media has the philosophy of continually consulting with exhibitors and visitors to ensure the show fully meets their requirements.

Entry is free but you can pre-register here - and be entered into a free prize draw!

Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning market in Newlyn.

Ladram Sisters in Newlyn...

nothing to see here - the Penlee lifeboat house is no more...

major aluminium work continues aboard the Galilee with the construction of a three-quarter length shelterdeck...

and wheelhouse...

a huge step up from young Mr Hosking's previous boat, Nazarene...

nothing that Julian and and Terry from J.T. Fabrications can't handle...

looks like there's a few more hours work on the Crystal Sea's trawls yet...

whereas the repairs on the harbour punt are almost complete...

after she was well under the waterline while escorting a boat off the slipway...

on a relatively quiet mid-week spring tide market the buyers are in competitive mood...

especially for top restaurant favourites like these line caught bass...

while fish from the only beam trawler to land, the Trevessa IV included some of Ben Tunnicliffe at the Tolcarne's favourite fish ray

and the inevitable handful of cod...

and some more of those more summery fish, witches...

with space still at a premium un til Phase II of the market refurb is complete the buyers have to work round closely stacked boxes...

and use pallets to move any quantity owing to the excellent non-slip properties of the new floor covering...

Dover soles are seldom off the menus of the best restaurants...

while mackerel can be cooked in so many ways...

 still one of the sea's most versatile fish and rated by many top chefs...

though most of these were caught by boats fishing out of St Ives and not in Mount's Bay...

sometimes the simplest way of doing things are best, who knows, once new fish market technology is installed there will be touch screens attached to the the electronic scales for fishermen to record their landings to a central database...

well iced fish...

like these scad...

and lemons have undoubtedly benefitted from a much colder working environment in the new building...

so fish is whisked off the market floor...

 like these plaice...

and brill still buried in ice...

and even at close to 7am there is precious little morning light in the sky...

beam trawlers' nets have very low headlines so the fact that they are catching a goods few John Dory, a fish that swims high off the seabed is a good sign that there are plenty still around...

though the bulk of beam trawler trips at this time of year are megrim sole of course, most bound for the plains of Spain...

Lionel's pressure washer is in action now that the new floor has been laid throughout the market building...

yet more good news to keep young Edwin who was a key member of the Fish Market Refurbishment Programme smiling...

unlike these perennially miserable looking Dover soles...

first light sees a flurry of boats like the inshore trawler, Shiralee heading for the ice-works to take ice on board

while the Dream Catcher has gear to take off...

Falmouth based photographer Ollie gets close to the sardine action...

as Aaron adds more ice to the heavily insulated tubs...

with the ever-present gull guard looking over their shoulders...

at what must be a painful sight to watch for them as...

ton after tone (six in all) of breakfast-mouthfull-sized-sardines are brailed ashore form the Asthore...

next up to the fish market is the very spruce looking Silvery Sea resplendent in her new all-black colour scheme...

as PJ brings her in to take fresh bait on board...

along with some key pieces of fishing gear...

it's a subtle silver sea as the Silvery Sea takes on her bait across from the netter Silver Dawn during a very silver dawn - the kind of light so often captured by many of the painters in the Newlyn School.