Historic #FishyFriday in Newlyn.

Thursday evening and it's another stunning Sennen sunset...

as the lifeboat rests for a few moments at the top of the slipway before heading out for a night time training exercise...

the lifeboat house now lit in anticipation of her return...

a sight enjoyed by those enjoying beach BBQs on this stunning surfers paradise in the far west of Cornwall...

back to reality on #FishyFriday morning and the final fish market for the week is underway with a solid shot of squid in the Imogen III's landing...

along with these little chaps known locally as Zulus...

mackerel, abundant in all the waters around Cornwall at the moment...

not so this gilt nosed bream and his John Dory pal...

to go with the other box of large JDs...

squid and bass seam to go together at this time of year over the rocky grounds...

along with the inshore boats there were plenty of small landings from the beam trawl fleet...

including fish form the AA...

with one lucky enough buyer to snap up these line caught red mullet in pristine condition...

with the weather as it is both sunset and sunrise have been up there with the best of them this week...

looks like there's a few big jobs underway on the Stelissa with much of her gear on the quay

likewise Rowse's latest addition to the fleet has taken on several new strings of pots...

and there are more to follow - when they have been made up

most of the Galilee's new aluminium shelterdeck has been complete, just the wheelhouse to go...

the lugger Ripple sits quietly alongside the Ivan Ellen...

as the auction draws to a close there is a small celebration about to take place...

for a certain Dick James, whose family have been buying fish on the market since 1914...

centre stage in this photo from 1980 and instantly recognisable by his stance and hat is Dick's father Laurry James from whom Dick took over...

wind the clock forward 38 years with Dick about to retire from the family firm...

he is in the process of bidding on the final fish of his career...

every sale being written up in his market book...

the buyers wondering who will get the next lot...

as auctioneer Ryan gets to auction the final fish sale of Dick's career...

down goes the final familiar James fish tally...

duly noted down...

and that's it...

the little black book pocketed for the last time...

and it's on to the celebration as current and old fish buyer friends assemble to acknowledge the passing of an era... 

along with a few bubbles...

ex-fish merchant Robin Turner says a few words...

to a delighted Dick...

enjoying his moment basking in the morning market sun...

all captured on film...

then it's time for the cake to be cut...

the bottles passed round...

the bubbles poured...

and a toast to the man...

all thanks to Godfrey (L) who organised the surprise.

Sketching at Botallack.

You never know what will pass by when sketching on the cliffs over looking the Crowns engine house at Botallack...

close to shore, the IFCA fisheries patrol, St Piran and away in the distance the Rowse crabber Harriet Eve...

a few moments later the St Piran framed by an arch in the old mine works - passing outside a container ship bound for Bristol and on the horizon the Scillys can clearly be seen.

Statistics show where UK vessels fish and what is landed from our waters

Today the Marine Management Organisation has published analysis showing where fish were caught before being landed. This includes activity by UK vessels and other EU Member States’ vessels in North East Atlantic waters.

The landings by Economic Exclusive Zone (EEZ) document is a supplementary report released alongside the main annual Sea Fisheries Statistics publication which can be found on the MMO website. The report covers 2012 to 2017.

Where does the UK fleet catch its fish?

In 2017, UK fishing vessels landed the majority of their catch from UK waters; 80 per cent by quantity and 83 per cent by value. The waters of other EU member states were the second most important region for the UK’s fleet; accounting for 13% by quantity and 9% by value of the UK’s total landings in 2017. Landings from third country waters (such as Norway) and international waters made up the remainder.

Out of the seven other EU Member States' waters that the UK landed fish from the most valuable for the UK fleet were (avg. 2012 – 2016):

• Ireland (65,000 tonnes, £66 million)
• France (14,000 tonnes, £17 million)
• Denmark (7,000 tonnes, £10 million)

The most valuable fish caught by UK vessels in other EU member state waters were: mackerel, plaice and monks/anglers.

How much do non-UK fishing boats land from the UK EEZ?

Of the fish landed by other member state vessels from North Atlantic waters, 35 per cent of the quantity and 23 per cent of the value originated in UK waters. The North Atlantic area includes all of the seas around the UK. 

The three other EU Member States landing the most value from UK waters were:

• France (120,000 tonnes, £171 million)
• Netherlands (177,000 tonnes, £92 million)
• Denmark (237,000 tonnes, £90 million)

The most valuable fish for other member states in UK waters were herring, mackerel and sole.

For context the UK fleet landed approximately 581,000 tonnes with a value of £811 million from UK waters in 2017. In the same year, UK vessels landed around 94,000 tonnes (£88 million) in total from other member state waters.

How much fish is landed from quota stocks in UK waters?

As part of this report we also introduced an estimate of the landings of quota stocks from UK waters for UK, non-UK EU and Norwegian vessels. This publication expands and updated the list of quota stocks that was included in the Government’s “Sustainable fisheries for future generations” white paperreleased earlier this year.

We show that the most valuable quota species landed from the UK’s EEZ was mackerel. Approximately 72% of the total landings of mackerel stocks by UK and OMS vessels in the north east Atlantic were landed from UK waters. After the high volume widely distributed pelagic quota stocks like mackerel, West Coast Nephrops, was the most valuable quota stock landed from UK waters (~£35 million per annum). From this new analysis we were able to estimate that 99.9% of all West Coast Nephrops landings were from UK waters.

How did we estimate these statistics?

To reach our conclusions we assigned landings of fish to different EEZs using the reported statistical rectangles, a spatial division of the NE Atlantic waters established by International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) for use in fisheries statistics.

We used UK data on vessel activity to produce detailed information on where fish were caught and landed. We also made use of publicly available data from the European Commission to produce the estimates of landings made by non-UK EU Member States in NE Atlantic waters. More detail on the methods is given in the report itself.

For further information

The full report is available on the MMO website. Detailed underlying data sets covering UK fleet landings by ICES Rectangle from 2012 to 2017 by EEZ of capture and the spatial factors used to assign landings between EEZs are available for download should you wish to look in more detail at these statistics.

Open welcome to see Newlyn Harbour Development Plans for the area known as Canners Slip.

From today until Saturday 29th September fishermen, harbour users and local residents can go along to the inshore lifeboat house and see a range of detailed plans and scale models for the area known as Canners Slip.

After the public consultations held two weeks ago in the harbour office boardroom NPHC are keen to hear more input from the fishing community - from fishermen to residents.

The full range of plans and a number of models have been made to facilitate further discussion on this important development.

The scale models include one based on the outline plans submitted as detailed in the submission to the MMO...

and another that will allow visitors to the consultation to put make known their own ideas and thoughts.

The Inshore Lifeboat building can be accessed from the Canners Slip end of the harbour opposite Trelawney Fish.