Mid-week market in Nelwyn.

Hake from two of the netters that landed to the market this morning is snapped up by buyers and snapped by visitor alike...

along with a good run of large haddock...

and a big shot of spurdogs...

by the Silver Dawn...

with her hake...

and that of the Govenek of Ladram...

bright-eyed and not even 24 hours old...

so too the line caught...

 mackerel...

while ray and other ground fish from the beam trawler Aaltje Adriaantje...

accompanied her haul of cuttles...

along with plaice...

monk fish tails...

John Dory...

and even a handful of bass...

buyers doing their best to avoid contact with the cuttle tubs that carry so much ink that stains permanently...

not often landed and usually found in deep water, a plus-four...

no mistaking these fish...

probably the best fish of the day...

although scad are more often than not used for bait they do make excellent eating when grilled like herring or sardines and choc-a-block full of Omega-3 for those seeking to bolster their diet with nutritious fish...

looking out to the harbour it is still dark enough at 6:30am...

as first light begins to fill the harbour a short while later...

good to see Bill Worth back in the wheelhouse of the St Georges once again as Roger lands his fish on the back of the lorry...

all set for the next trip...

the AA was one of the boats that landed this morning...

just a few pots from a full fleet for the crabbers...

with the sardines staying close inshore the ringnetter,  Lyonesse pumps aboard the last few fish from her early morning haul...

the new compounds for storing gear are now in service on Sandy Cove - an area of the harbour that will see many more businesses and services created over the next few years as the harbour seeks to expand in support of a successful fleet.

Evaluation of the European Maritime Fisheries Fund

EUROPEAN MARITIME AND FISHERIES FUND (EMFF)

Risk & Policy Analysts (RPA) Ltd have been commissioned by Defra to carry out work on the evaluation of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) and its implementation in England and the devolved administrations, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

The aim of this study is to evaluate grant delivery including enablers and barriers to grant funding and the initial impacts of the fund as a whole. The work shall consider why applications have or have not been made and what issues have arisen. It will focus on social impacts, complementing the mid-term evaluation of the EMFF to be commissioned by the MMO.

The approach to the evaluation will include engagement with relevant stakeholders to gather their views on the EMFF. This engagement will be undertaken over the next few months and will include focus groups and interviews. To this end, we have selected a number of locations where specific grants will be evaluated in greater depth. Agreed case study locations to date include Cornwall/Devon, East Riding and Grimsby, Norfolk/Suffolk and Northern Ireland.

RPA will be contacting a selection of grant recipients between November and February as part of our evaluation. However, we would also welcome your views of the Fund more generally. Please feel free to provide us with your opinions on the grant-making process, and how receiving a grant has helped you and your business. Equally, we would welcome views where you have chosen not to apply to the Fund.

If you would like more information about the project, or would like to tell RPA about your views on the EMFF, please contact Elizabeth Daly by email (Elizabeth.daly@rpaltd.co.uk).

Wooden boatbuilders are not dead - yet.

Commercial wooden boatbuilding yards are fast becoming a part of the maritime history of many coastal states. In Scotland alone, yards like Millers, MacDuff, Herd & McKenzie, Nobles, Irvin & Sons. Jones, Forbes and Alexander Noble of Girvan have all either ceased trading or moved on to build exclusively steel vessels.

Once upon a time, the design of every boat built reflected the personal preferences and foibles of the commissioning skipper but increasingly in the 1980s & 90s stringent safety regulations and changing fishing practices helped standardise the construction of fishing vessels.

Britannia IV leaving Newlyn.

In Cornwall, John Moores is the only wooden boatbuilders left - probably best known locally for building Freddie Turner's Britannia IV. Luckily, the craft and skills associated with wooden boats are still being taught locally at Falmouth Marine School.

In France, a number of boatbuilders (chantiers) continue to build wooden vessels incorporating modern techniques and styles for their large inshore fleets around the coast - especially in Brittany. 

One such yard is the Chantier Tanguy in Douarnenez who in this video re-build the bow section of the wooden trawler, the Gwenvidik. The carpenters' work with a very new approach to the modernisation and upgrading of wooden fishing vessels.

More recently the yard saw work on the Morlaix registered crabber Steren Va Bro completed...

a predecessor of hers fished from Newlyn for skipper Mike Rowse until she was damaged in a fire after which she was sold and her hull used to create a 60' yacht.

CFPO video number two - Cadgwith Cove's ever-smiling Danny Phillips tells all.

Danny Phillips is the second in the CFPO film series. Today, we make our way into the heart of Cadgwith cove where fishermen rely on each other to keep 16th century fishing traditions alive.  Cadgwith should figure on anyone's Lizard itinerary - an eclectic mix of centuries old cove working practices woven together by cliff paths, a boat-strewn beach and superbly run pub in the form of the Cadgwith Arms.

Sunday night into Monday morning's fish market in Newlyn.

The fish market's solar panels are now soaking up the November sun...

as Phase II of the fish market refurbishment nears completion...

there are sill signs around the harbour giving voice to the concerns of some over the impending decision on what kind of Brexit will be imposed on the industry...

in the meantime it's business as usual, another batch of pots are made ready on the quay...

fast forward 12 hours and the market is full of fish...

may of which are logged by Gary...

using the latest in data collection tools developed by Cefas...

with fish from six beam trawlers both market halls are full...

each of them landing...

varying quantities...

of that most prized...

and highly valued flatfish...

the Dover Sole...

while the other market hall is mainly filled with hake and other big white fish from the three netters to land...

like this turbot...

hake...

and haddock from the Ajax...

along with hake from the Karen of Ladram...

other white fish...

and a species not often seen in the fishes of Great Britain posters...

two pairs of hands are better than one, the ever-chivalrous Sam gives Edwin a lending hand...

hake from the Karen of Ladram...

gets a closer check from auctioneer Ian and long-time buyer Godfrey from Trelawney Fish...

there's still not enough cuttles being landed to warrant using the tubs brought in to handle them in bulk...

which means that with so much fish in over the weekend and the limited space on the market floor which sees boxes stacked up to eight high...

not so with these line caught pollack...

the odd conger...

and a good run of medium sized mackerel in from the Bay of St Ives...

along with a few boxes of line caught bass...

squid...

and more bass...

and the odd bream...

more than enough to keep the buyers busy bidding...

there's still plenty of ray being landed...

and spurdogs from the netters...

to accompany some pollack so fresh they are covered in slime as if they have just come aboard...

spot the plaice...

and the smiling face...

and another brace of conger...

is it possible to spot the deliberate mistake...

on young Mr Nowell's fine shot of late-season John Dory...

as Gary logs the final few fish for the morning.

What our fishing industry is up against.

PEW Charitable Trust is currently advertising for a  Senior Associate, Communications (Press Officer) to be based in their Brussels office liaising directly with their London Office. And they are not alone.

"Our Brussels office is #hiring - we're looking for a Senior Associate, Communications to support our Ending Overfishing in Northwestern Europe campaign."

Despite the overwhelming efforts of the UK fishing industry to fish sustainably - remember "there are only 100 adult cod in the North Sea"? - organisations (largely American) and NGOs continually lobby Brussels and elsewhere as if fishing was on the verge of collapse. They are able to spend millions of dollars lobbying European governments including in the UK.

Their own marketing material describes them as "independent nonprofit"founded by money from American oil...

yet when it comes to being transparent about how they are funded today you can see they are almost at the bottom of the 'Transparency League Table'.

In other words, 4,071 independent UK fishing vessels, the vast majority of whom are simply businesses trying to put food in people's mouths and paying off mortgages and bills are faced with the lobbying power of gigantic proportions.