In and around Newlyn this morning.

The south west's newest crabber, Nichola of Ladram heads back into Newlyn...

under tow by the Danmark...

with gearbox troubles...

AIS courtesy of VesselTracker

the red AIS tracks plots where she has been hauling and shooting her new fleet of pots - hopefully the fleet of local and French trawlers will steer clear of them while she is in port...

with the tides falling the netter Joy of Ladram heads away from the gaps...

leaving the Admiral Gordon up on the slip for under the waterline work...

the new boat is based on a broad-beam trawler hull...

the crew on the Sapphire II get her beam trawls ready for the next trip...

under outboard power...

Peggy, built in 1902, the unmistakable lines of a Bristol Channel pilot cutter, reputed to be the finest compromise of any vessel in a sailing hull between speed, carrying capacity, seagoing and sail-ability...

she (if I'm allowed to refer to her as she without causing too much angst) underwent a big refit around 20 years ago when her hull and decks were re-planked...

today she has been put up ahead...

and made ready...

to have her bottom scrubbed before heading off to the Scillys.

First fish auction after Easter - strong prices!

Beam trawler St Georges, 'By the light of the silvery moon'...

early scallop season visitor, Aquinis BM519...

some of the inshore trawler fleet took advantage of fine weather over the Easter weekend...

and boats like the Shiralee picked up good hauls of top drawer fish like red mullet...

along with John Dory...

as did Tom on the Harvest Reaper...

along with a few less well-known species like this black bream, greater weaver fish...

and very different coloured examples of sand soles...

and a couple of bass... 

looks like the cuttlefish season has well and truly run its course for this year in the south west, which means the harbour staff will find washing down the fish market floor less of a chore...

plenty of ray and haddock with Tom...

while the three beam trawlers that landed stuck to good landings of traditional beam trawler fayre of megrim sole...

Dover soles...

and monk tails...

along with a few boxes of plaice...

while some of the handliners found good marks of mackerel...

others used their skills...

to fish for quality pollack for which when tagged buyers can even identify the individual boat and fisherman that caught the fish, in this case, tag number 52, Mark Clancey...

who helped make up big landings of these superb fish...

a heavy haze greeted the bay this morning...

how to use the eye of a mooring rope and a ring...

flying the flag, happy St Georges day from Cornwall...

another repair job for the harbour staff...

despite her small size compared to some scallopers, the visiting Aquinis has a conveyor system to help making sort live scallop shells form the rest of the catch...

the Fishermen's Arms is now under wraps...

a smaller visiting scalloper, Zaranathax from Weymouth...

the wood exterior of the new lifeboat house is nearly complete, all hands will be wondering who will be asked to open the new building when the time comes later this year...

sun's almost up this morning...

in the Star Inn, Debbie adds her landlady's take on the Brexit situation.

Through the gaps, Aberystwyth style.

After a day on the pots, waiting for the tide to make...

now heading in through the gaps of Aberystwyth...

local crabber Pen Dinas heads in for the night.

NFFO CALLS FOR A RETHINK ON CATCH REPORTING FOR UNDER-10 METRE VESSELS

The NFFO backs the need for improved catch reporting but says the Government’s proposed approach has not been well-though through.

Consultation on the Introduction of Catch Recording for licenced fishing vessels in boats under 10 metres in length.

Response by the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations

New Requirements

Defra, Welsh Government and the Marine Management Organisation are consulting on a new requirement for mandatory catch reporting for the under-10 metre commercial sea fishing fleet in England and Wales.

If enacted, the new requirement would oblige all under-10m vessels to provide catch information on species subject to quotas, catch limits or effort restrictions, via a mobile device (a smart phone or tablet), prior to the fish leaving the vessel. Vessels which only catch non-quota species would be required to record their catches via a smart phone or lap-top within 24 hours.

In addition, for all catches, (quota and non-quota), a declaration would be required within 48 hours providing accurate weights of all species landed.

Purpose and Intention

We agree that the under-10m sector continues to be disadvantaged by patchy and incomplete collection of catch data. Stocks such as skates and rays, which are important for many small-scale vessels, when categorised as data-limited or data-poor, have been subject to a fundamentalist interpretation of the precautionary approach, triggering 20% annual reductions in TACs over successive years. The consequence has been a severe reduction in fishing opportunities and loss of earnings for the fleets concerned. The EU landings obligation has increased the risks associated with data gaps exponentially. The skates and ray fishery illustrates the type of circumstances where improved catch data could be used to channel policy and management decisions into a more constructive direction for the small scale fleets.

Accurate catch data is likely to become more important in the future. In addition to choke risks, the design of light touch management measures for genuine low impact vessels is likely to require better catch data from the small-scale fleets than has been the case to date. Understanding the individual vessel and aggregate fleet exploitation rates are central to the design and application of management measures appropriate to the stocks and fleets concerned.

We also agree that modern technology (smart phones, tablets and lap-tops) can play an important role in collecting and transmitting data in ways that are more efficient than paper log-books. There are advantages associated with technology that can minimise reporting requirements by eliminating duplication. Systems can be updated quite simply through software updates.

Caveats and Concerns

Having made these points, we consider that the consultation reflects a regulatory approach that:

Is insufficiently grounded in an understanding of the practicalities involved, or the specificities of the fisheries concerned
Has made little attempt to establish a meaningful dialogue about the practical implementations issues with those who will be affected
Pays insufficient attention to the range of fishing operations, type of vessel, and patterns of landing in the under-10m sector
Suggests a blanket bulldozer approach, when a more discriminating application would deliver better results
Potentially threatens to criminalise small-vessel operators for non-compliance, when the ability to comply is outwith their hands.
Potentially risks not catering for those who are not literate in the use of computers or electronic smart-phone technology
A good idea can be spoiled by poor implementation and this consultation carries the hallmarks of a recipe for, if not wholesale failure, then sub-optimal outcomes.

Our advice is to avoid the arbitrary timetable proposed and move away from a blanket approach. Instead, begin a national conversation with the different small scale fisheries in the ports and creeks about the pros and cons of improved data and the means available to secure it. This will certainly involve effort and delay but our considered view is that in the long run it will deliver better outcomes.

The list below provides a sample of the concerns raised by our members in response to the consultation. At the very least, they give a flavour of the gulf between the consultative proposals and the real world concerns which have arisen in response from very diverse fisheries.

Members’ Specific Concerns

• A requirement to submit a catch report before the boat land is impractical and in some circumstances is unsafe from a navigation and safety at sea perspective. Submission within 24 hours would make more sense
• There are practicality issues associated with the use of mobile phones in an open boat. There should be some recognition of this.
• In some instances, individual fishermen will be landing a significant number of different species – e.g. up to 30. The amount of time that the fishermen will then be required to spend entering data on a mobile app before disembarking and landing fish could be considerably above the estimates provided by Defra.
• In addition, the risk of mistakes was underlined given the requirement to complete declarations before disembarking when fishermen were often tired after long hours at sea.
• As presented, there is no mention in the Consultation document of recording discards for non-quota species (and MCRS may vary around the country) – how are such requirements to be enforced?
• There is also the question of presentation and how weights are to be recorded – e.g., for gutted fish the conversion factors to be used (not all fishermen in small vessels will automatically have the conversion factors in their heads).
• Reservations were expressed about Data Protection and what information was to be transmitted, and to whom, post-Brexit.
• Questions were also raised as to how the iPads, etc. would feed into the International Catch Certificate requirements and the EU fish transport documents.
• Considerable scepticism was expressed about the amount of duplication, or worse, involved in the weighing process – weights on landing, weights on arrival at auction where sorted and graded and then weights again on sale (bureaucracy gone crazy?).
• At a practical level, concern was also expressed about possible losses of connection and how they were to be dealt with, as well as the usual reservations about service when there are communications problems or technical glitches.
• Is it intended to, at least for an interim period, continue with a back-up paper system – and if so, does it also have to be expanded to cover the additional fisheries?
• Particular concern was expressed by the shellfish sector where there are already considerable reporting requirements in place: MSAR monthly returns for crab and lobster; IFCA returns for cockles and mussels; whelk returns; Shellfish Registration Documents for cockles, mussels and whelks. The question arises as to how all these returns (and other similar returns) are to be integrated into the new system. At the present time, considerable additional data is recorded (e.g. cock and hen crabs) in much finer detail – is this to be lost? Or are further burdens to be placed upon fishermen?

British Film Institute salty classics.

Alfred Wallis - Artist and Mariner from St Ives

This film celebrates the life and work of one of Cornwall's best-loved artists, Alfred Wallis (1855-1942). We're invited to look afresh at his paintings in light of the land and seascapes that inspired him. Reminiscences by friends and relatives are the focus rather than appraisal of his work by an authoritative art critic - aptly enough for an artist who worked outside the 'establishment'.

Another film with a close up look at how the community in which the players hail from directly influences their being is this classic 60s TV programmes looking at the folk group, The Watersons.

The Watersons - Travelling for a Living

"These are the Watersons, a very important part of the revival of traditional British music. They live in Hull." A British road movie of sorts, this rich and vital film follows the group on the folk club circuit, at home and in studios. It's rewarding on several levels - whether your main interest is Hull, the folk revival or documentary filmmaking - and repays repeated viewings. Seminal and superb.

Though not entirely above romanticism (Humberside isn't quite Yorkshire's answer to the Mississippi Delta), nor occasional swipes at 'pop' folk (B. Dylan included), the film, and the group, are admirably clear-eyed about English folk music: not a 'living form', only its 'still warm ashes'. Heading his own small production company, director Derrick Knight was a significant and underrated filmmaker who played a part in modernising British documentary's style. Though not pure 'direct cinema' (it has a narrator), this film is influenced by innovative French and American techniques: shooting on location with a lightweight easily moveable 16mm camera, avoiding artificial lighting and capturing sound in synch with picture. His company also crossed the boundaries between film and TV - by independently producing films broadcast on the box it was well ahead of its time. This one was shown on BBC2 on 21 May 1966, at 8:50pm

You can see the full selection of BFI films and clips on the Arts here:

Do you recognise a place, building or location in this film?

Help us populate the Britain on Film map by spotting and plotting the street or location you know. This is a BFI project and anyone can help.


Go to our Britain on Film crowdsourcing site and contribute to our mapping mission – to identify locations within our archive films.

From Brussels: EU - Fisheries after Brexit

The United Kingdom submitted on 29 March 2017 the notification of its intention to withdraw from the Union pursuant to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. This means that, if the Withdrawal Agreement is not ratified, the Union’s primary and secondary law will cease to apply to the United Kingdom from 30 March 2019 (‘the withdrawal date’). The United Kingdom will then become a third country.

Brexit without agreement: half of Breton fishing threatened with bankruptcy?

Concerns among fishermen, 50% of the Breton fishery would be threatened in case of a Brexit without agreement. This represents 20% of the national fishery, or 14,000 tonnes of fish caught per year. More generally, what would be the consequences of a no-deal for French fishermen? At The Magnifier plunged into the subject.

Emmanuel Macron assured him at the European Council meeting in November 2018 to prepare the Brexit : "I want to reassure the fishermen: their daily life will not change [...] and we have obtained the support of the Twenty-Seven on this subject. " But who could have imagined that in November, the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union would be as calamitous, with the prospect of a no-deal. Certainly not the French fishermen who are wondering today how they can access the territorial waters of the Channel.

France would lose access to British waters

In case of Brexit without agreement, French fishermen will no longer be able to fish in British waters. All EU member countries have a right of access to the fish stocks of every other state. This pooling of fishing areas in territorial waters is the basis of the CFP, the Common Fisheries Policy, which is part of the Common Agricultural Policy.

Initially, the exit of the EU did not mean an exit from the CFP for the British. Among the 585 pages of the Brexit agreement, Theresa May had provisions establishing a status quo for access to British waters and a continuation of the United Kingdom in the Common Fisheries Policy until December 2020. But agreement was rejected by the parliamentarians, deputies refused in particular that the national fishing still depends on Brussels after the date of Brexit.

Does French fishing depend on 50% of British waters?

In case of "no deal", the consequences for the French fishing could be disastrous. But in what proportion? A figure, largely taken up and broadcast evokes "50% of French fishing" threatened. After verification, this figure of 50% corresponds to the specific case of Breton fishing. It comes from the report 'The stakes of Brexit for Brittany' published by the Regional Economic, Social and Environmental Council of Brittany. The outlook is not good for the region: "Breton vessels carry out 50% of their activities in the exclusive economic zone of the United Kingdom.Many have no possible substitution for these areas of work so little short-term alternatives. "

To establish this rate of dependence on the waters of the Channel, the report builds the activity zones of the Breton ships and has thus been able to establish a precise map. As can be seen above, many Breton fishermen catch in British waters, visible in dark purple.

Contacted by the teams of À la Loupe, Hubert Carré, Director General of the National Committee for Maritime Fisheries and Marine Farms, provides more details. "Breton ships make 42% of their catch in British waters, those of Hauts-de-France 31% and 20% for Norman fishermen." Brittany will therefore be the region most impacted by the lack of agreement to access the fishing zones of the United Kingdom. However, Hubert Carré draws our attention to an important point: this dependence on British waters differs according to species. For example, "92% of black spot catches take place in the UK EEZ and 74% for herring."

At the national level, this dependence of French fishermen in British waters is certainly important, but far from 50%. According to FranceAgriMer figures, 14% of French fishing is off the United Kingdom, or 14,000 tonnes of fish per year. After Ireland and its 65,000 tons, France is the second country that punctures the most fish in British waters. Then comes Denmark with 7,000 tons. The French fishing fleet is one of the largest in the EU, now second only to Spain. Fishing generates more than 13,500 seafarers jobs.

Brexit, good news for British fishermen?

On the British side, the consequences of an exit from the Common Fisheries Policy seem - a priori - more positive. In fact, according to official United Kingdom sea fishing statistics, British fishermen make 80% of their catch in their national waters, or 581,000 tonnes a year. Only 13% of their catches are made in the waters of the countries of the European Union. Thus, without the EU, the British would lose only 13% of their current fishing volume. In a country with 12,000 fishermen for 6,000 vessels, Brexit is very popular: according to a survey, reported by The Guardian, 92% of fishermen voted for the leave .

On the other hand, a very large part of the British fishery lands directly in the ports of other countries of the European Union. According to FranceAgriMer, 41% of British fisheries and aquaculture are imported to France. About the shells, more than 1,000 tons land in France each year. Leaving the EU without a specific fishing agreement, UK vessels will not be able to bring their fishery directly to a Union port because they are excluded from the common market. French fishermen will no longer be able to sell their catches on British soil.

Published 07/04/2019 by