Fish-Mish shout out!

The Fishermen's Mission's Julian Waring on a call to Fisheries Consultant and Fisherman Nathan de Rozarieux, discussing the impact of COVID-19 on fishermen. The first in a series of videos that look into how the UK fishing industry is being impacted by this health crisis from the point of view of those who see it first hand. If you are a fisherman and want to know how to start selling direct to your local communities, read our selling direct flyer:

https://www.fishermensmission.org.uk/...

To donate £2 to help The Fishermen's Mission provide vital financial and emotional support for fishermen, text AFLOAT to 70085. To stay up to date with what we as a charity are doing for fishermen, follow us on social media:

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Covid19 - Thank you NHS from the crabber, Nimrod.

Mario Perry, skipper of the Rowse Fishing crabber Harriet Eve TO50 and his crew have been thanking the NHS every Thursday evening...

Back in February Mario's eldest son Ashley nearly lost his life in a serious accident, resulting in him being airlifted to hospital for emergency treatment that saved his life. 

"Ashley had to go back to Derriford this week with an infection in his leg. I know how well they look after him so I will be thinking of all those who helped save his life while clapping this week."

At times like this it's good to think of all those who continue to work for the benefit of all.

From the sea to the door: New grant scheme to support seafood businesses in England to sell catches

The law of unintended consequences may be activated if this scheme enables a large number of inshore vessels to sell fish more directly to the public - by-passing existing market/fish auction infrastructure.

New £1 million grant scheme opened today to increase supply of local seafood from the sea to the door new grant scheme to support seafood businesses in England to sell catches.

• New £1 million grant scheme opened to increase supply of local seafood
• Seafood businesses can bid for funds for assets and infrastructure to sell seafood
• Part of a £10 million fund for England’s fishing and aquaculture sectors

The government opened for applications a new Domestic Seafood Supply Scheme, which will fund projects that will help seafood businesses in England increase the supply of local seafood to domestic markets.

The £1 million scheme, first announced by Defra and HM Treasury on 17 April, is part of a £10 million fund for England’s fishing and aquaculture sectors that have been adversely impacted by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As well as this financial support, qualifying seafood businesses may also qualify for other Government support. MMO has produced a guide to what is available.

This scheme will help seafood businesses adapt to changes in their markets caused by COVID-19 by helping fund changes to businesses and/or infrastructure that will help them to sell their products domestically, and support projects that increase domestic consumption of seafood landed or processed in England.

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) will accept applications for projects that support domestic sales of locally-caught fish and shellfish from Wednesday 29 April to Monday 11 May.

Projects will be assessed by a panel including industry representatives. Successful applications will be announced from Friday 15 May.

The scheme will fund measures that assist the industry to set up local and regional distribution such as plant and equipment to help with local fish processing, or assets that can be shared at port such as storage and refrigerated vans.

Fisheries Minister, Victoria Prentis said:

This new grant scheme, part of a £10 million lifeline for our fisheries sector, will help our fishing industry find new markets for their catch during this challenging time which has seen falling prices and a downturn in restaurant and export sales.

With growing demand for meals at home we are also looking for innovative ways to help fishermen adapt and be equipped to sell direct to local consumers.

Applications are invited from groups of businesses in the fishing, aquaculture and fish processing industries or individual businesses engaged in activities which support the seafood supply chain.

Projects are invited that:

• Maintain the availability of fisheries products through innovative regional distribution.
• Support the development of infrastructure to sell fish landed into English ports, or fish processed in England, to domestic consumers.
• Help develop the infrastructure necessary for the catching and processing sectors to connect directly with consumers (e.g. either through online platforms or through facilitation on the ground).
• Have the potential to generate longer-term sustainable benefit to the seafood industry, creating supply chain resilience

To support fisheries, the MMO has expanded its grants team and increased its opening hours to administer the Fisheries Response Fund (FRF) which was announced at the same time as the Domestic Seafood Supply Scheme. In the first week, the MMO team has made FRF payments of over £2 million to over 500 fishing vessel owners so far.

Tom McCormack, Chief Executive Officer of the MMO said:

Our MMO team is highly experienced in supporting the fisheries industry and has mobilised to design and deliver the new FRF and now the Domestic Seafood Supply Scheme in the fastest possible time. With the support of the fishing industry we have set up a panel who will make the decisions to ensure that our industry gets the funds needed to be able to make the greatest difference in developing the domestic market.

To apply for the Domestic Seafood Supply Scheme visit www.gov.uk/mmo.

Development is also underway to provide other support for the aquaculture sector under the Fisheries Response Fund (FRF). An announcement is planned soon.

Published 29 April 2020

From:

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and Marine Management Organisation

Brittany: The fishing industry rebels against fish imports - a familiar story?

Olivier Le Nézet, president of the Brittany fisheries committee and of the Breizhmer association, calls for "responsible behavior" in large areas. He will ask the Minister of Agriculture.

€ 1 or € 1.50 per kilogram maximum, arrived in Lorient. This is the price of hake imported from Spain. Suffice to say that hake caught by local boats does not keep up with the price tide. The same goes for monkfish. When usually the fish is bought between 5 € and 6 € per kilo from the fisherman, imported monkfish was bought half the price, even squarely flush with the daisies. The situation applies to all Breton ports.

The fishers' rant

The fishermen's rage was not long in coming. They have been under this inflation for a week. No way it lasts, they say, angry. “Some buyers play the game of local fish and others do not. These are the ones we denounce, ” insists Éric Guygniec, coordinator of seven trawlers in Lorient.

The message is relayed by Olivier Le Nézet, president of the Brittany fisheries committee and of the Breizhmer association, which brings together the Breton fishing and aquaculture sectors.

“For the past few days, massive imports have brought prices down , notes Olivier le Nézet in a press release dated Monday, April 27, 2020. However, the consumer always pays the same price at the stall. A whiting sold for 40 euro cents per kilo under the Saint Quay-Portrieux auction will be paid € 13 by the customer of a large brand located a few kilometers from the port. "

Shellfish farming also concerned

And to add: “Some big box stores have given in to the old demons of profit while they continue to show their support for French producers. […] Inadmissible in the context of France. "

Shellfish farming draws the same observation as for fish. “The sale of products from other origins, such as Ireland, while the French and Breton product is available in quantity across all the basins is not bearable. It is also untenable to attend promotional actions on oysters in this period of crisis ” , indicates, in the same press release, Sylvain Cornée, first vice-president of the regional shellfish farming committee of North Brittany.

Minister of Agriculture to be seized

Olivier Le Nézet asks supermarkets to have "responsible behavior, particularly in terms of the purchase price to producers (for example by committing to buy at pre-containment prices) and traceability, because consumers have the right to know the origin of their purchases ” .

Professionals will contact the Minister of Agriculture and Food "to put an end to these practices" .

Also read a previous article:

Fishing in Lorient. Local fish barred by imports. Hake but also monkfish, skate, cardine, etc., are imported from Spain or Ireland at prices much lower than Breton fish. In Lorient, fishermen banged their fists on the table.

The hake fished by artisanal boats from Lorient competes with hake imported from Spain or Ireland.

Plenty of inshore fish on Monday morning's market in Newlyn.

The inshore trawlers like the Harvest Reaper always manage...

 to pick up a few Dover soles working south of Mounts Bay...

along with the usual mix of red gurnard, red mullet and the odd bass.

COVID19 and the fishing industry - same problems - different countries and different solutions: Bretons work together to sell their seafood.

The official organisations in the Brittany region of France swung into action to support producers and consumers across the region in the COROVID19 crisis. Brittany is home to the largest fleet of fishing vessels in France. The French industry enjoys huge support from their Committee for Fisheries (Commité de la Pêche) to which every vessel, merchant and processor pays a levy - they also help fund start-ups in business from boats to processing plants.

Click to see how the interactive fishing industry map works.

The Regional committee for fisheries, producers of fishing and shellfish farming, fishmongers and fishmongers: the whole Breton sector of seafood products has gathered around the Breizhmer association to launch the Allolamer.bzh directory.

"Already 49,130 ​​consumers and 1,395 producers, operators and artisans registered on the solidarity platform!"

Put online from Wednesday 22, this Breton directory of fresh seafood had around sixty professionals registered in less than 48 hours. "The idea is to bring Breton consumers and producers closer," says Olivier Le Nezet, president of the regional committee for fisheries and Breizhmer.

Free, this online directory is not a merchant site, no order can be placed there. But it allows consumers to locate fishermen selling live, shellfish farmers, fishmongers and fishmongers on an interactive map. With the hours and places of sale and the coordinates of the producers, if they make home delivery.

Accelerated implementation

The idea had been in the making for a few months, but its implementation, which cost some 15,000 euros, was accelerated by containment and the market crisis due to the coronavirus, which limits the movement of consumers and professionals. The site also wants to insist on proximity links. "There was a CCI campaign for years, on the theme of "our shopping is our jobs", specifies Jean-Yves Cadalen, fishmonger and fishmonger in Brest, president of Abapp (Breton Association of buyers of the products of fishing), which brings together buyers in the auctions of the region. We are of the same philosophy."

Supported by the Brittany region, this sectoral action is complementary to that of produits-locaux.bzh launched the previous week. It is also associated with the Enviedemer.com commercial site.

Last week it was the dilemma, exactly the same that afflicts UK fishmongers, of French fishmongers to be featured in Le Marin.

A “bloody” crisis threatens traditional fishmongers

The covid-19 crisis does not only affect the upstream side of the fishing industry. If, downstream, the GMS are doing generally well, the traditional fishmonger is reached.

"From 5 to 10% of fishmongers will file for bankruptcy," said Silvère Moreau, president of Opef , in an interview with PDM . According to him, the inventory of the profession is "catastrophic" . Silvère Moreau estimates that "200 companies will have closed down by July" .

The Organization of Fishmongers and Scalers of France, which since 2019 has brought together the National Union of Fishmongers of France (UNPF) and the National Confederation of Fishmongers and Scalers of France, is the employers' organization of the sector and represents 3,000 businesses and more 8,000 employees.


Story courtesy of Bernard Jegou, Editor of Le Marin.

Interestingly, Le Marin Editor, Bernard Jegou is the son of a Breton skipper, Bernard Jegou, who was a regular visitor to Newlyn when sheltering from westerly storms while fishing for langoustine in his boat Riquita seen here entering the gaps in Newlyn. 

When the tide turns.

You wouldn't want to be trying to head north around the Pointe De Raz with the tide ebbing like this - and this is a flat calm - during storms this is the most dangerous headland in France - at least one French fishing boat has been rolled through 360˚ while rounding the Point de Raz in a storm. At certain times and tides local handline fishermen fish for bass in this tide race. The lighthouse in the foreground is the La Vielle - not to be confused with the one further up the coast called La Jument which was made famous for one particular photograph by photographer Jean Guicard!

You can enjoy this wide-angle view everyday from the Point de Raz on Through the Gaps webcam page.