It's a sunny #FishyFriday here in Newlyn - perfect day for slapping on some paint.

Newlyn's incredibly diverse landings are on show this #FishyFriday,  these mussels are just one of 48 different species of fish on the market for auction this morning...

2 - monk cheeks...

3 - haddock...

4 - Dover sole...

5 - megrim sole...

6 - mackerel...

7 - large roe...

8 - spider crab legs...

9 - herring...

10 - scallops...

11 - John Dory...

12 - brill...

12a - turbot...

sepia from a few boxes of cuttlefish is not the only black on the market...

14 - black bream...

15 - spotted smoothounds, known as 'pissers' locally as they smell of urine due to the ammonia smell they give off... 

16 - ling...

17 - hake...

18 - whiting...

20 - tub gurnards...

21 - pollack...

22 - pouting...

23 - tope...

24 - brown crab claws...

25 - cod...

26 - lemon sole...

27 - lesser spotted dogfish, or morki (from the Cornish, sea dog) pronounced 'mergy'...

28 - cuckoo ray...

29 - octopus...

30 - cuttlefish...

31 - red mullet...

32 - squid...

33 - star ray...

34 - monk tails...

35 - small-eyed ray...

36 - spotted ray - larger spots that do not appear at the edge of the fish unlike...

37 - blonde rays that do have spots right to the edge of their wings...

38 - plaice...

39 - owl ray...

40 - witch...

41 - sand sole...

42 - bass...

celebrating the the joy of fishing...

43 - baby thornback ray...

perfect example of the spotted ray...
  

44 - sand ray...

45 - red gurnard, 46 - streaked gurnard, 47 - grey gurnard...

48 - smoothhound next to his spotted cousin - missing, but often landed the market, were coley, lobster, crawfish, sardines, greater weaver, scad, dab and grey mullet...

there were a few boxes of small fish landed under the new Landing Obligation rules that came into force on January 1st this year...

every morning these little chaps come for a feed in front of the blue harbour staffroom door - turnstones fly in from the far north of Canada every year though it seems their stays here are getting longer and longer!..

it's not only divers fish, Newlyn plays hosts to all kinds of creative events, Transition 2019 starts at the Exchange Gallery in Penzance this month...

as does four weeks Four Weeks of work at the Newlyn Gallery...

or you could learn to play the guitar under the tutelage of Karl Svare...

and make sure you catch the mobile post office van on Tuesdays and Thursdays...

sun's up over the harbour...

which is almost devoid of  the fleet most of whom are at sea...

just a heavy dew decorates the pier...

though it will soon be burnt off as the sun rises...

the Falmouth registered scalloper, Debbie-V is up on the slip...

as work on the Fisherman's rest gets underway to restore it for community use...

as does work on the new lifeboat house...

over in Penzance the Dartmouth crabber's refit is coming along...

with her new pot hauling gear now fitted.

Towards deliberative and pragmatic co-management: a comparison between inshore fisheries authorities in England and Scotland

An interesting paper written by Margherita Pieraccini and Emma Cardwell looking at the question of who should be included in the management of inshore fisheries:

In seeking to answer the question ‘who should be included in fisheries co-management?’, a constructive critique of the existing co-management literature is provided by filling the gaps of Habermas’s deliberative theory of democracy with Dewey’s pragmatism. Three conditions for ensuring democratic co-management are extrapolated from the theories: actors’ authority
over decision making (empowerment), actors’ diversity (membership), and the right to self-nomination (procedures for external inclusion). The theoretical insights developed are supported with two examples of co-management institutions for inshore fisheries in the UK: Scottish Inshore Fisheries Groups (IFGs) and English Inshore Fisheries Conservation Authorities (IFCAs).

Margherita Pieraccini & Emma Cardwell (2016) Towards deliberative and
pragmatic co-management: a comparison between inshore fisheries authorities in England and Scotland, Environmental Politics, 25:4, 729-748,
DOI: 10.1080/09644016.2015.1090372

After the gales, the first flourish of fish on Newlyn fish market this morning.

The eyes have it...

as hundreds of kilos of hake from the netter Britannia V wait to be distributed...

along with shots of mainly pollack from the inshore netters Lamorna...

and Girl Pamela...

and a sure sign that Spring is on the way as more and more of the bigger whitefish landed give up their roes...

along with landings of ling...

and a few additional fish like John Dory, tails...

and whole monk...

to go with the hake...

while in the middle fridge...

boxes stacked six or seven high...

of mackerel from the local handline fleets...

their trips also including a few kilos of herring...

newly installed, the very first mackerel grading machine in the South West some forty years after mackerel fishing became a major feature of the Cornish industry...

the machine simply flips off mackerel according to weight into waiting boxes thereby guaranteeing the grading quality of the fish they buy - progress indeed.

Exploring the role of women in fishing families

We want to hear about your experiences of life in a fishing family.
If you'd like to participate in this study you must be over the age of 18 and be or have been part of a small-scale fishing family (using boats under 10 metres).

We’d like to hear from a broad range of people who hold different roles in fishing families, communities and the fishing industry.

We conducted interviews in Newfoundland in the summer of 2018 and we’re currently looking for participants in the UK. Conversations are strictly confidential and we can come to you at a time that suits you best

If you'd like to take part, please get in touch by emailing M.C.Gustavsson@exeter.ac.uk or filling in the form below.

Please help the team by completing the short on-line survey here:

Monday morning's fish auction in Newlyn.

Weekend gales kept the fleet in port save for a single netter, the Karen of Ladram...

who landed to the fish market yesterday afternoon a trip hake...

in pristine condition for the benefit of the Monday morning buyers...

along with a box of monk tails...

plus-four and tub gurnard...

haddock...

a solitary conger...

two boxes of roes...

a few kilos of  bright-eyed pollack....

to go with the hake...

just some of the mix of fish typically landed by a netter...

the only other fish on the market was a few boxers of mackerel from the Bay...

the Newry registered. Northern Osprey moored outside of a tier of local beam trawlers this morning.

What does a no deal Brexit look like for fishing?

Despite its small size relative to the rest of the UK’s economy, fishing has dominated the Brexit debate. Many in the fishing industry have long been critical of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and opinion polling before the referendum shows that fishers intended to overwhelmingly vote Leave.

93% of them felt that leaving the EU would increase the fortunes of their industry, with 77% believing that Brexit would be an opportunity to catch more fish. In terms of trade, the perception in 2016 was that Brexit would have little impact on seafood trade, with 77% believing it would have no impact at all.

Since the referendum attention has increasingly focused on the complexity and diversity of the fishing industry and how this might be reflected in the eventual Brexit deal with the EU.

Given differences in the nature of fishing across the UK’s four nations, as well as wider debates about the ownership of fishing rights coupled with the UK government’s commitments to a ‘green Brexit’, reaching a deal which pleases everyone across fishing sectors is akin to finding the holy grail.

However, following the rejection of the Withdrawal Agreement by MPs in January, the prospect of a ‘no deal’ Brexit has risen up the agenda. It has been highlighted that such a scenario will lead to short-term disruption and uncertainty.

Fishing wouldn’t be excluded from this. Indeed, the instability of no deal is acknowledged by some in the fishing industry itself. For example, Bertie Armstrong of the Scottish Fishermen’s Association suggests that, in the event of a no deal, UK vessels could just tie up and “temporarily fish less” until either governance and policy process catch up, or the UK and EU come to agreement at some point after 29 March.

But a closer inspection of what a no deal Brexit means for fishing suggest its impact goes beyond just sitting back and weathering the storm.

Firstly, even in a no deal scenario, the UK doesn’t get to go it alone in fisheries policy. The much banded about phrase ‘independent coastal state’ suggests the UK will have unprecedented freedom, but this comes with significant obligations. Many of the fish stocks in the UK’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) are shared.

This means the UK would still have to cooperate with the EU, and other coastal states (such as Norway and the Faroe Islands) in managing those stocks.

Also, given that the UK fishing fleet currently lacks the necessary capacity to catch all the fish in the UK EEZ, it would still likely have to permit foreign vessels access to catch any surplus fish stocks.

Secondly, there is the question of what fisheries policy would look like under no deal. The UK doesn’t have a new fisheries policy ready to go at the push of a button in the event of no deal: the fisheries white paper, published last year, contained many laudable aims but remained light on detail.

The Fisheries Bill only provides a legislative framework, and is still the subject of ongoing parliamentary deliberation.

One provision in the Withdrawal Agreement sees the UK effectively remaining in the CFP until the end of 2020. This faced much criticism at the time it was announced, but one of the reasons for this transition period is because it gives the UK and its devolved administrations time and space to develop their own approach to fisheries policy which meet the diverse needs of the fishing industry.

It also provides administrations across the UK, who already have devolved responsibility for fisheries management, to evaluate their capacities for engaging in more activities that were previously done for them via the CFP (including the potential to engage more in international negotiations).

A no deal Brexit means no transition arrangement, and this brings one of two risks. On the one hand the absence of any alternative approach to fisheries policy will simply mean the status quo will continue.

All the rules and regulations of the CFP will effectively remain in place (having been rolled over by the EU Withdrawal Act), while the government remains distracted dealing with the day-to-day fallout of a no deal.

On the other hand, the UK may choose to make sudden sweeping changes in order to signal its independent coastal state status. But this carries a risk too.

Such a rushed approach to policy design leaves little room for engagement with those working in the industry who will be affected, resulting in an approach which fails to work at sea.

This also comes at a time when trust between fishers and the government is low. Moreover, any sudden changes to access are likely to affect the UK’s standing on the international stage too.

The third significant issue with a no deal Brexit relates to trade. The majority of what the UK catches is exported, with most of that going to the EU. Tariffs aren’t the main concern though.

Rather it is non-tariff barriers, such as customs checks, which represent the largest risk, particularly as they threaten to cause delays to the transport of perishable seafood products.

The notion that vessels could simply “temporarily fish less” until such practicalities are sorted out will do little to reassure skippers of smaller vessels. They make up 78% of the UK’s fishing fleet, have tighter profit margins, and are most exposed to the effects of trade disruptions.

This is especially the case for shellfishing (the largest of the UK’s catching sectors), which a recent report commissioned by the Shellfish Association, National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations and the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation found would be significantly impacted under a no deal scenario.

On top of all of this are several more ‘practical’ issues. A recent report by the National Audit Office found Defra doesn’t yet have the necessary capacity to enforce fisheries regulations out at sea, and most fish will require catch certificates for importing and exporting.

This process may lead to delays and capacity challenges for authorities who will have to approve them, while also placing a significant administrative burden placed on skippers and seafood exporters. The necessary IT systems to facilitate this are still in development.

Finally, a no deal Brexit would mean that British fishing vessels would have no automatic right to access to the EEZs of other EU member states, where 94,000 tonnes of fish worth £88 million were caught in 2017.

For many fishers, EU membership and the CFP have been detrimental to the fortunes of their industry. Some of the issues raised in the debate (such as quota distribution across the UK’s fleet) have always been within the UK government’s gift to address.

Nevertheless, Brexit arguably presents an opportunity for the UK to rethink its approach to fisheries policy.

However, a no deal outcome does little to address the concerns that led many fishers and coastal communities to vote for Brexit in the first place and, if anything, it could make things worse.

Full article by Dr Christopher Huggins, University of Suffolk, and Drs Arno van der Zwet, John Connolly and Craig McAngus, University of the West of Scotland published by the UK in a Changing Europe.  
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this analysis post are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the UK in a Changing Europe initiative