First #FishyFriday of 2019!

Barely enough room to swing a catfish...

on the first #FishyFriday of 2019 in Newlyn...

with a big selection of hake from 2-3kg fish...

right through to 6kg [plus fish from...

the Charisma...

and the Govenek of Ladram...

along with over 10 tons of line caught mackerel from the local handline fleet and boats like the Tegen Mor...

while other boats topped the quality league with cracking examples of John Dory...

red mullet, bream...

bass...

and some cracking tub gurnards...

that helped fill both auction halls and such was the amount landed this week that vessels were forced to use their own boxes as many of the harbour's own boxes were still in circulation with the local merchants......

the beam trawlers like the Lisa Jacqueline landed good shots of megrim sole...

Dovers...

and lemon soles...

after they found good fishing in the Channel...

as usual there were full landings of haddock...

landings of big flats like these turbot...

less common undulate ray...

and blonde ray will keep the restaurant chefs well supplied with perfect winter dishes over the weekend...

while big, but not big enough landings of crab bait for...

for skippers like Mario...

of the local crabber fleet...

and his skippers' chair in the wheelhouse overlooks...

the working deck of his boat...

not dissimilar to this video shot on another of the Real Cornish Crab Company's vessels, sistership Emma Louise a couple of year's ago in poor weather...

astern of her the much smaller inshore crabber puts a tub of backing ropes aboard...

while merchant's forklifts vie for position to pick up the morning's fish...

after porters have dragged them by hand outside, long-gone but not forgotten trawler skipper Freddie Howis used to say, "hundred years ago boy they had donkeys to pull fish about"...

cephalopods, ugly they may be but they make great eating...

first light in Newlyn...

time to take fuel for the next trip...

or repair your net - such is the risk you take when shooting in 6m (2 fathoms) of water with a net over 20 fathom deep...

and it needs to be hauled ashore...

talks are underway to set the quota for the fifteen vessels registered to land MSC Certified Cornish Sardines in this year's sardine fishery.

Facing up to the Landing Obligation

With the full implementation of the Landing obligation in force from January 2019, fishers face a huge challenge to adapt. Promoting the adoption of affordable, more selective fishing gears would be a huge step in the right direction.

THE LANDING OBLIGATION - A HUGE CHANGE IN EUROPEAN FISHERIES

Introduced under EU legislation as part of the reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP, EU Reg. 1983/2013) The Landing Obligation has been described as ‘the biggest change in European fisheries since the introduction of quotas in 1983’.

With up to half a million tonnes of fish estimated to be thrown overboard in Europe each year, the so-called ‘discard ban’ is designed to end the practice by fishers of throwing non-target and undersized species back in the sea. From now on, all catches of regulated species will need to be landed in port.

Its introduction represents a huge change in fishing practices for fishers across Europe, and full implementation and compliance represents a major challenge.




THE FISHING INDUSTRY IS NOT PREPARED TO MEET THIS CHALLENGE
Despite the incremental introduction of the Landing Obligation over the last four years, the fisheries industry remains woefully underprepared for its implementation, and complying fully will cause real difficulty for fishers both economically and logistically.

The requirement to land all catches of regulated species will have a real financial impact, with increased handling costs both at sea (sorting, storage) and in port.

These costs are not the only issue; dealing with the landings itself will be problematic. As fish that would have been discarded cannot be sold for human consumption, they must be disposed of in other ways - for example as food for pets or aquaculture - but the facilities, logistics and markets for dealing with this are not in place. Fishers could find themselves having to pay for the destruction of these fish, as special waste of animal origin.

In addition, as of January 1st 2019, any fishers not complying with the landing obligations could be considered as acting illegally, with the EU Commission coming under increasing pressure to ensure the rules of the CFP are enforced.

BETTER SELECTIVITY IS THE BEST APPROACH - ELIMINATE DISCARDS AT SOURCE

Faced with this situation, we need to find a practical and constructive approach to the implementation of the Landing Obligation that helps fishers to adapt.

Firstly, we should encourage fishers to face reality: ultimately they will have to abide by the landing obligation. Secondly, we should provide the tools, information and funding that helps them do so.

Through our work over the last two years we have seen the willingness of fishers to collaborate and look for solutions to the discard problem. Our experience has been that they were quick to see that greater selectivity - and eliminating the problem of discards and bycatch at source - was the best way to comply with the new rules.

“It’s interesting to see the willingness of fishermen to collaborate in finding solutions to discards as they are now feeling the pressure of the landing obligation”
Sergio Vitale, CNR (MINOUW)

More selective fishing gear can bring many additional benefits to fishers, and is an affordable, practical and effective action for fishers to consider. Information about more selective gears, where and how they can be used, and funding to help fishers switch to using them will be key to a successful implementation of the landing obligation.

Research at the University of York (UK) found that the introduction of a discard ban in Norwegian cod and haddock fisheries in 1987 ultimately encouraged fishers to install more selective fishing gear. Despite some short-term economic costs, the Norwegian and Barents Sea fisheries are today among some of the most prosperous in the world.




WHAT ACTIONS SHOULD POLICY MAKERS TAKE?

1. Make selectivity the priority

The best option to eliminate discards is to avoid unwanted catches in the first place, by increasing the selectivity of fishing gears. Additionally, when unwanted catches do occur, the survival rates of the discarded fish can be improved by adapting techniques.

2. Provide funding

The more selective fishing gears successfully tested by MINOUW are inexpensive, and the use of European Maritime Fishery Funds (EMFF) could help scale up the adoption of more selective gears at regional scale, e.g. in the Mediterranean.

For more details visit our policy recommendation page.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
https://thefishsite.com/articles/europes-smallscale-fisheries-and-the-landing-obligation
https://www.seafoodsource.com/features/will-the-landing-obligation-change-eu-fisheries
https://gearingup.eu/resources/
http://theconversation.com/discard-ban-can-benefit-fish-and-fishers-but-sustainability-must-come-first-26769
https://www.slu.se/en/departments/aquatic-resources1/selective-fishing/

Newlyn's first fish auction for 2019.

Resting alongside the fish market while the guys enjoy a big cooked breakfast after landing in the early hours...

the netter, Joy of Ladram then returns back out to sea again to fish some fifty-odd miles south of Newlyn...

meanwhile, with the market stacked out with fish after a weekend of fine weather...

the buyers are ushered into the smallest chillroom of the market for the first time...

it must have been a long night sorting and grading...

but there's no mistaking this Dover sole...

or monk tail...

or pollack...

but name this big flatfish...

there's plenty of ray on the grounds for the boats at this time of year...

as is the case with haddock - the big danger fish for boats now having to comply fully with the Landing Obligation that came into force as of yesterday...

as discussed on Radio Cornwall's breakfast show by Lord Krebs talking to James Churchfield about the findings of the Lord's Environmental Committee hearing in which Lord Krebs said there had been much "sitting on hands" by those involved - despite fishermen making it very clear over the last five years since the discards ban was proposed that it would be totally impracticable in mixed fisheries of the kind the majority of boats in the South West work in...

stacked up to ten high the first market of 2019 is awash with fish...

like these ray wings from the inshore trawler Elisabeth Veronique...

or pollack from the mighty Girl Pamela...

Roger on the Imogen III took full advantage of the fine weather to land a bumper trip of trawl fish...

while some of the small inshore boats got lucky with mixed hauls of bass and bream in with their mackerel...

with a few gilt-nosed bream being landed too...

line caught mackerel filled half the market this morning...

to compete with the inshore trawl fish...

while the buyers concentrated their minds on 200 boxes

of hake from the netter, Ajax...

and with so much fish on the market the boat used its own boxes such was the demand...

a good mix of inshore trawl fish...

filled the rest of the market floor...

and fish like these cracking red bream...

spider crab...

and thornback ray just added to the list of over 40 different species of fish that were due to be auctioned...

including these totally tropical looking cuckoo wrasse...

hopefully it won't be long before phase II of the market refurbishment is completed.