Women gone fishing .

Seems female fishermen are increasingly getting noticed in the media...

from the far north, Pittenweem's lady-trawlerman...

to Nicky Pascoe and her brother Jason working from Falmouth to...

Newlyn's latest recruit Amy who fishes aboard the Cornish sardine boat Golden Harvest, she's not keen on the term fisher, "sounds like some sort of wound"...

while across the Channel working from her home port of Landes, Marie Biarrot is 'patron de pêche' with her inshore gillnetter, Pont Barré.

Listen to the key features of the new Fisheries Act with Victoria Prentis MP and Anne Freeman, Deputy Defra Direcor.

 

The great team at Fathom podcasts end the year on their 30th (but, hopefully not final) episode, and it's a landmark moment that no doubt will go down in history: the UK Fisheries Bill has passed through parliament and received royal assent, becoming the UK Fisheries Act.

The Act will provide the legislative framework for future fisheries management in the UK, replacing the Common Fisheries Policy as we depart from the EU. It’s 133 pages long, and not that easy to read... the good news is, they’ve read it all - so you don’t have to!

In this unmissable episode, we talk to Fisheries Minister Victoria Prentis MP, and Defra Deputy Director Anne Freeman, to break down what the Act really means for the industry. You might be curious about why the phrase ‘framework Act’ is continually bashed about - we’ll explore what this means, along with how the key tagline of ‘taking back control of our waters’ will be achieved. 

We also ask our guests about the huge sticking point of sustainability, unearthing where the objective of sustainable fishing sits in the Act, as well as exploring the climate change, ecosystem and bycatch objectives. 

Tune in to learn about so much more: localised fisheries management plans, quotas, foreign vessel access. The changes embedded in the Act will be felt on water, so it really is one to get your head around.

Podcast hosts:

Paul Trebilcock Katrina Ryan

Podcast guests:

Victoria Prentis MP, Fisheries Minister Anne Freeman, Defra Deputy Director

Links UK Fisheries Act

Seafish sustainable management survey - a chance to get your message across!

New fisheries management groups for UK shellfish Fishing industry invited to engage with groups to support ongoing sustainable management of important commercial fisheries. Three management groups have been formed to focus on sustainability leadership for shellfish fisheries around the UK. The groups provide a forum for the shellfish industry, regulators and the research community to work together to improve the management of these important resources and to increase the value they provide.

Shellfish Industry Advisory Group The Shellfish Industry Advisory Group (SIAG) is focused on the strategic issues that impact all shellfish fisheries. This will cover trade issues, competition for marine space and the overarching management measures that need to be in place to ensure the sustainable management of individual species.

The group was formed in November 2019. It has met four times to define priority work areas for the group to focus on. A key priority is the development of a National Shellfish Fisheries Plan.

Barrie Deas, Chief Executive of the NFFO (National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations) and Chair of the SIAG said:

In 2019 over 137,000 tonnes of shellfish were landed in the UK, at a value of over £370 million. This made shellfish the UK’s most valuable fishery. While Covid-19 has significantly impacted the sector in 2020, much of the shellfish landed in the UK is exported and growing markets around the world have led to an increased demand for UK shellfish. This in turn has led to an increase in fishing pressure on some species and stocks.

The Shellfish Industry Advisory Group will look to tackle the challenges of managing these commercially important fisheries in a sustainable way. Our next step will be the development a National Shellfish Plan to establish a set of strategic objectives that will drive the management of all shellfish fisheries going forward. As well as the SIAG, two sub-groups will focus on specific species:

Whelk Management Group (WMG); and Crab and Lobster Management Group (CMG). 

The creation of these groups is an important step in bringing together members of the seafood industry, to work together to improve the sustainable management of commercially important shellfish fisheries.

Whelk Management Group Following the creation of the SIAG, the WMG was formed in February 2020 to focus solely on issues around whelk fisheries. Its membership is made up of representatives from across the supply chain. This includes active whelk fishermen and processors, fishermen’s associations and producer’s organisations alongside government and research institutes.

The main objective of the WMG is to focus on the effective management of whelk stocks to ensure their long-term sustainability. Key to this will be:

• implementing data collection and research programmes to improve understanding of whelk stocks. and identifying the management measures necessary for their long-term sustainability. Aoife Martin, Director of Operations at Seafish and Chair of the WMG said:

The UK whelk fishery has expanded significantly in recent years due to growing demand for whelks. Between 2015 and 2019 the value of whelks landed in the UK increased by 40% which has led to a greater number of vessels fishing for them. The seafood industry is concerned about the long-term sustainability of whelk fisheries and the creation of the WMG provides the opportunity for all parties to work collaboratively to provide solutions.

Our initial focus is on establishing a reliable baseline of information that covers everything from stock biology, the effectiveness of management measures, the interaction with other fisheries, and the economic value of the fishery. This baseline will help identify our knowledge gaps and highlight where we should focus next. Crab and Lobster Management Group As with whelks, displacement of fishing activity from other sectors and new markets for UK crab and lobster have increased interest in these fisheries in the last few years.

The CMG is the newest of the shellfish groups, and was formed in July 2020. It is focused on improving the operational management of our crab and lobster fisheries to ensure their long-term sustainability. The CMG has met twice so far and is now working on defining its objectives and its short-term work programme.

Claire Pescod, Head of Sustainability and Science at Macduff Shellfish, Chair of the CMG said:

Between 2015 and 2019 the value of UK crab and lobster landings increased by 78% and 43% respectively though there has been little change in the volume of landings. There are concerns from industry that market demand could increase fishing pressure to unsustainable levels.

It’s important that we address these concerns, so we’re starting with a review of the measures currently in place to manage crab and lobster fisheries. This review will be used to inform discussions on additional management measures for implementation so that we can be confident these species are on a sustainable footing. Further information The SIAG, WMG, and CMG meet on a quarterly basis with the next meetings to be held in early 2021.

To find out more visit the individual group pages on our website:

Shellfish Industry Advisory Group

Whelk Management Group

Crab and Lobster Management Group

Get in touch

If you have questions about the Crab Management Group contact: Lewis Tattersall Marine Sustainability Manager

CFPO members please help!

 

Cornish fishermen & CFPO members with vessels under-10m, make sure you complete this short food-hygiene questionnaire & send to porthealth@cornwall.gov.uk - many thanks!

Only 50% of questionnaires originally sent out have been returned so far, complete yours here Right pointing backhand index If you sell your fish or shellfish either directly (or indirectly through auction market/first buyer) outside the UK then this matter should be given your highest priority. This is because of the UK’s exit from the European Union (EU). 

Please be aware that catch that is landed from vessels that have filled out the questionnaire or been inspected by the Council will be able to be exported in compliance with the hygiene and traceability requirements that exporters will be subject to.

'Home and Dry' photo competition!

 This summer we saw fishing families from across the UK come together and spread the message of fishing safety. ⠀ ⠀

It was all thanks to you. It was your photos and personal stories that made the #HomeAndDry campaign so meaningful, hitting home for fishermen across the nation. ⠀

This Christmas, we are calling upon you - our fishermen and fishing families - to help make sure everyone gets #HomeAndDry for Christmas.⠀ ⠀

To enter: ⠀

Choose three high-quality photos which show what #HomeAndDry means to you: being with family and friends, having someone waiting for you, someone greeting you down on the quay, being reunited with your loved ones. ⠀

Send your photos to homeanddry01@gmail.com or @backhomeanddry on Instagram or Facbook by Friday 18th December and your name will be entered into a random draw to win a £100 gift voucher towards your festive celebrations. ⠀

Please note that people photographed on board fishing vessels must be wearing lifejackets. ⠀

Photos can be taken with a camera or mobile phone but must be high-resolution images (600X1067 minimum resolution) ⠀

Link to Home and Dry Instagram and Facebook accounts. ⠀

Henrietta Graham - Artist to the fishing community.

When Mousehole based artist Henrietta Graham moved studio from Mousehole to Newlyn she didn't quite expect to become so closely involved with the fishing industry...

Like Newlyn School artists of 100 years ago Henrietta soon found herself drawn to capturing the sights, sounds and smells of the fishing industry at ever closer quarters...

though she's no stranger to taking inspiration from the food industry having painted captured over fifty of the country's well-known chefs...

subsequently, several works were created after early morning visits to the fish auction...

followed by a week-long trip to sea aboard the netter Karen of Ladram armed with borrowed oilskins, boots and sketchbook with skipper Sid Porter and crew for company...

where she was treated to some right royal sunsets...

and, in between stints on deck sorting and washing fish as one of the crew, she sketched life on board for future reference...

the following months saw the seeds of an idea grow from the initial fish auction work when Newlyn Harbour Commissioners commissioned her to create six huge works...

to adorn the rather dull, grey cement exterior of the newly re-furbished fish market...

each of the work depicts a different aspect of England's largest fishing port...

from the shoreside engineer, fabricators and welders...

to the guys at the heart of the business, the fishermen at work themselves.

Each canvas has been photographed and is then being printed on aluminium for permanent display. This week saw local photographer Steve Tanner checking the test prints with harbourmaster Rob Parsons before signing off the final prints. 

Covid restrictions permitting the grand unveiling is scheduled for just after the Christmas period. Henrietta and her work will feature on BBC news today (Saturday), just as the hugely significant negotiations between the UK and the EU and the fishing industry come to a head as Michel Barnier arrives in London for what is hoped are the final stages to end the Brexit deadlock.

Volunteer skippers needed to support fisheries data collection.

Volunteer skippers are needed to contribute to the scientific data usually collected through the Observer Programme. Current Covid-19 restrictions mean that Cefas observers are not able to join commercial fishing vessels. 

 

We are planning, in partnership with industry, to set up a temporary programme, so that individual vessels bring back samples for our observers to process ashore. We are currently piloting this approach, before extending the programme to the wider fleet. The quality of these data is crucial, if it is to replicate our observer data and be useful. We will work with the industry to ensure that what we ask is practical, reasonable, avoids disruption and, importantly, produces effective data.

Which fleets will we be sampling? We will focus this sampling on around 800 of our UK registered vessels that predominantly target, demersal finfish, Nephrops and shrimps with trawls and nets based on catch data for 2019. So that the data is representative of all the activity in the fleet, we will randomly select vessels to approach for these samples. For this to be a success we need to work with at least 100 vessels to address this data gap.

The Covid crisis has disturbed the way in which scientists collect the data that provides the raw material for fish stock assessments.

NFFO Chief Executive, Barrie Deas said:

"The Covid crisis has disturbed the way in which scientists collect the data that provides the raw material for fish stock assessments. Without good data we cannot expect good management decisions and the risk of tighter restrictions through the application of a precautionary approach is increased.

There is potential, however, to turn this problem into an opportunity by increasing the industry’s direct involvement in the provision of data. The result could be greater industry confidence that they have had a part in undertaking."

What are the benefits of taking part? 

You will be contributing to the important pool of data that will be used for assessments that inform catch options and advice on fisheries management. You can be reassured your data will be protected. Information obtained about the activities of fishermen, either from fishermen themselves, or by Cefas staff in the course of their duties, will be retained and used for scientific purposes only. 

A report on the data collected will be provided to each skipper sampled. Cefas will report on our achievements in early 2021. We hope to develop a consistent manageable programme by the end of this year to continue into next year.

An inconvenience payment of £25 per haul sampled capped at £200 per trip will be paid.

How do we contact you? We are dependent on our contact list that has developed from regular contact with skippers and fleet managers. The list of vessels we work to are based on the official catch returns of the previous year. We can’t sample everyone, but if we have your permission to hold your contact details, we may select you to take part.

We would be very interested to hear from anyone who has not been sampled in the last three years to broaden the data available to us. For more information contact afstcosampling@cefas.co.uk or download the leaflet.