Welcome to Through the Gaps, the UK fishing industry's most comprehensive information and image resource. Newlyn is England's largest fish market and where over 50 species are regularly landed from handline, trawl, net, ring net and pot vessels including #MSC Certified #Hake, #Cornish Sardine, handlined bass, pollack and mackerel. Art work, graphics and digital fishing industry images available from stock or on commission.
- a far cry from the ultra-modern Dutch fly-shooters that were operating off to the southar'd last month
the classic lugger Barnabas has had her masts restored to their rightful position...
the ever-changing scene in the harbour provides local and visiting artists like Lizzie Black and Clare Bowen with a wealth of views from which to take inspiration and capture on canvas...
be it close-up studies of fishing boats...
or a wider view of the gaps with the Mount in the distance.
Following their relaunch event, the industry-led charity Fishing into the Future (FITF) has published an event summary that encourages a commitment to the language of co-management in future fishing policy.
The ground-breaking ‘Cast Your Voice – The Future of Fisheries Management’ event on 1st April 2021 focused on creating a dialogue around fishing, science and policy, and was well-attended by a variety of people within the UK the fishing sector. It provided an opportunity for people working in fisheries to explore the concept of co-management, share their experiences and diverse approaches to management and science, and discuss their ideas for the future of UK fisheries management.
The highlight of the event came from within intimate, thought-provoking group discussions, led by FITF fishing industry Trustees, David Stevens, Adrian Bartlett, Peter Bruce, and Jimmy Buchan. Conversations emphasized the importance of true collaboration between industry members in policy and science, and ensuring well-structured and transparent management processes while trialling new approaches of working together. During the discussions there was a desire to move towards long-term commitments, with ideas put forward on what this might look like, how they could be funded, and how existing initiatives could be brought together effectively, with an appetite to see these approaches incorporated into policy.
Emma Plotnek, FITF Programme Manager said:
“We already know of so many forward-thinking initiatives that have the attributes of effective co-management and industry-led data collection – however, we must also remember we are still figuring out what co-management and collaborative science will look like in the UK. Looking to the future, we hope to see people from the industry engaged in the development of policies that tie these efforts all together.”
The event brought together a number of renowned, multi-disciplinary contributors, including
Alexa Dayton, Scientist at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, who explained the US approach to fisheries management;
Gus Caslake, Independent Chair of the Cornish Sardine Management Association, who spoke of collaboration and data collection within the organisation;
Alan Steer, Vice-Chair of the South Devon and Channel Fishermen, who gave an insight into the history of the Inshore Potting Agreement in South Devon; and
Jim Evans, Chair of the Welsh Fishermen’s Association (WFA), who presented on the effective relationship between the WFA and marine scientists to obtain data for better management decisions.
These insights were followed up with some perceptions from within Government, with key messages shared by Robbie Fisher of DEFRA and Jim Watson of Marine Scotland.
It was highlighted during the event that the Scottish Fisheries Management Strategy 2020-2030 already uses clear language that is committed to co-management. During the event, Jim Watson of Marine Scotland reaffirmed that a commitment to co-management needs to be built into each part of the management process - established during the initial stages of development right through to delivery. Drawing on this valuable insight, FITF have drafted a summary of the event, in which one of the take-home messages encourages the adoption of this approach more broadly into policy.
David Stevens, Chair of Fishing into the Future, said:
“A positive reception from government provided us with much reassurance, the next leap forward will be seeing specific wording in policy that commits all of us to these processes. We need to keep this at the forefront of our agenda as the Joint Fisheries Statement is being written throughout this year and next.”
FITF’s approach is unique and truly collaborative, as the charity is led predominantly by fishermen and those working in the fishing industry, who give their time voluntarily to support the charity whilst also running fishing businesses and working directly with the sector. FITF focuses on creating learning opportunities, encouraging collaboration, and providing a platform to enable effective dialogue and mutual understanding between the diverse set of people working across the fishing industry, science, and government. The short and clearly written event summary is available on the Fishing into the Future website and the event is available to re-watch in full on the FITF Facebook Page.
Silver Dawn at dawn heads in through the gaps for the fish market...
she will pass a bevvy of the port's biggest crabbers, five of them currently between trips...
tyre fenders in the making...
they could come in handy...
the weekend saw a number of landings from boats large and small including these top quality red mullet from the Harvest Reaper...
and signs that the good fishing on ray has come to an end...
things are still pretty slack on the squid front...
though haddocks - which famously 30 years ago when one was landed in Looe had to be identified when it was landed - now they are caught and landed in every port landing fish from the Western Approaches...
with no netters landing hake supplies came courtesy of the big Sottish prawn boat Vision IV currently fishing on the banks west of the Scillys.......
traditionally, Scottish boats land their monk whole...
simply gutted through the belly rather than headed as is the practice for most local boats...
the boat also landed a few boxes of red mullet and ray...
along with a bigger run of megrims sole...
the buyers may not be present on the market in person any more but their fish tallies are everywhere...
just the remnants remain of life before the internet auction went live...
reds don't come much better quality than these koi carp-like fish...
or these big JDs...
the big Irish trawler Unity made a good landing of reds...
JDs...
monk...
and haddock...
while the one beam trawler made do with megrims...
and monk as the bulk of its trip...
and just the one box of cod with the monthly quota barely workable...
the inshore guys landed their usual mix of top quality fish, some lucky enough to ht on a good shot of bass...
while others had to make do with pollack...
or cuttles...
meanwhile alongside the market the Silver Dawn was busy landing her first day's fishing of hake...
forced to head back to Newlyn with damage to the main net guide on the hauler...
with her nets still in the water the boat needs to get the repairs completed asap...
so she can get back to sea and continue fishing...
meanwhile, skipper Richard Carrol brings the crabber Nicola of Ladram alongside to take on spare gear and bait....
Just some of the boats coming and gong from Newlyn in recent days.
The new engineering workshop on the Canners slip is being kept busy and ideally suited to working on the plethora of small boats that Newlyn is home to...
the boys on the Unity will be dodging showers all day as they repair a spare trawl...
looks like the 100+ year old St Ives lugger Barnabas is about to have her masts put back in place...
four of the Rowse crabber fleet have a day off...
another member of the Scottish prawn fleet, Revival from Fraserburgh is in port...
come Monday all of Newlyn's pubs will be in action again and I'm sure Debbie will be in full-on bonhomie mode when she throws open the doors of the Star once more to thirsty guests...
who can now choose to socialise either there, the Swordfish...
eat at the Tolcarne, owner Ben Tunnicliffe has also taken on the Falmouth Packet at Rosudgeon...
or one of those delicious crab sandwiches at the Red Lion...
while heading towards Mousehole it doesn't look like any pints will be pulled in the Fishermens Arms just yet!..
this was the picture puzzle earlier in the week, looking closely at the far left can be seen two slip paths down to the beach...
which are still there today - thought the beach was reclaimed and built on over 100 years ago...
looking at the point at which the extent of the buildings in the painting as they are today - the iceworks did not exist at the time.
