Gales early on Sunday not on Monday.

Sunday sunshine as Ivan Ellen heads back to her berth after a Sunday morning exercise...

thats half a tier less for one netter to haul...

TV and movie star Phoenix finds shelter in Newlyn...

refit time for the Semper Fidelis...

not sure what the collective noun for crabbers is - a dose maybe?...

work in progress on the Berwick registered Voyager...

the buff club...

"maintain a watch at all times" it says in the Collision Regs - you can never be sure what lies ahead...

the netters Stelissa...

and Ygraine are about to sail...

as the next neap tide sweeps in...

seems there's a yacht in need of a mast... 

and so to Monday morning with two boats laying alongside the fish market...

where the bulk of the fish up for auction was provided by the port's biggest beam trawler Enterprise...

with plenty of flats like these megrim...

soles...

and monk tails...

squid are proving hard to find even for two 12m beams...

while a photo does not do justice as to the size of this bluefin tuna...

the tally says 192kg, nearly a fifth of a ton, which will no doubt require some smart thinking just to get it loaded onto the van before it is turned into several thousand tuna steaks...

normally, poor weather sees an increase in bass landings as these fish hunt voraciously in heavy seas...

mackerel make themselves available for those willing to put in the time searching them out...

the Immy is still picking away at the end-of-season Dory population...

and hit lucky with this little haul of bass...

along with an excellent shot of ray...

mainly big blondes...

while the odd undulated ray...

big tub gurnards...

brill and butt made up the rest of the Enterprise's trip...

along with a good landing of bait to keep the crabbers at sea...

just a few boxes of hake made it ashore...

sailing time for the Girl Pamela...

landing time for the Steph of Ladram...

while down the May Williams pier the twin rigger...

 Northern Eagle...

has just landed...

back in 2019 she was towed in by the Fraserburgh lifeboat, video courtesy of RNLI/Martyn Runcie...

big boats need big fuel...

another landing of live shellfish destined for the EU...

as the sun comes up over some of the Pascoe fleet...

SRC Marine engineers and the Argoe restaurant enjoy the warm morning rays...

you cant help but admire the simplicity of the stonework involved in the construction of the Old Harbour quay in Newlyn, stones in the seaward facing wall cut at an angle to increase resistance that withstood crashing south easterly storms for hundreds of years before the South Pier was built in the 1890s.

Fine #FishyFriday morning in Newlyn.

Big shift in the weather this morning as strong winds and heavy skies give way to patches of blue and light winds...

don't forget the box...

seems the start of the cuttle season is some way off as compared to other yeas...

though bass fishing is on the go for some..

nine and a half tons of beam trawl fish filled the market this morning with plaice...

Dover soles..

megrim sole...

and monk from the St Georges.

while the Billy Rowney added to the sole...

and lemon sole count...

with the odd ling thrown in for good measure...

giving the gulls a headache looking for breakfast scraps...

wanted, six reindeer...

this morning the colours in the fleet are mainly blue...

green...

and red...

one yacht missing its mast...

the shellfish boat Kelly Of Ladram is in Newlyn for the first time...

and a certain Mr Clark won't have any trouble spotting the provenance with her original hull colour showing through - she was the former Reliance II and was replaced with Reliance III last year...

CCTV cameras fitted aboard the Reliance III recoded the moment the wave hit, the camera on the aft mast is 30ft above sea level.

which was hit by a rogue wave two days ago while hauling 80 miles NW of the Orkneys, exemplifying the need to take every precaution possible when working in poor weather - John's and his crew have played a key role in helping to promote the Home and Dry campaign led by the Fishing Industry Safety Group...

alongside the Kelly the Spanish flagged Monte Mazanteu has a lory backed up to her...

as the skipper overseas the landing

of his 14 day trip SW of Ireland...

the Kelly of Ladram's stern is filled with lightweight plastic pots...

but the graphic is a sure giveaway as to the shellfish she is targeting...

though she may now be green she does sport the same 800 numbers of the original boat...

looks like yet another story of the one that got away...

as the sun breaks through...

over the harbour...

the Thee Jays heads away for a day on the pots...

hoping that the ground sea will have diminished by the time she gets to the grounds NW of the Longships...

the sign says turn left...

for the Sandy Cove Boatyard where you will be well looked after by Brad and his team.

 

Japanese long-liner Kinsai Maru No1 Rockall bound again - the security of AIS tracking.

Wind the clock back to July 2020 and the Japanese long-line boat Kinsai Maru No1 was on the last leg of her maiden voyage from Japan where she had left in the July of 2019 - a year-long maiden voyage...

today Vesseltracker's AIS finds her almost at her intended destination fishing alongside the fleet of similar Japanese... 

vessels working the west of Rockall longlining for bluefin tuna after they have left the Irish 200 mile limit. It seems the recent rise in bluefin tuna shoals feeding on pilchard and mackerel in the south western approaches has not gone unnoticed!

For fishing and all things seagoing you can join Vesseltracker and create your own tracking station for free - they provide the antennae, AIS receiver and mini-PC.

As an antenna host, Vesseltracker will provide you with: 

• a free Vesseltracker AIS receiving station 
• a free Coastal Account, with access to all data from our worldwide AIS antenna network and the Ship database of ship owners, managers and technical specifications 
• a local view to see your AIS antenna's local data in your browser 
• full technical support from our antenna team to help you maintain your antenna

Click here for more Vessel Partner information - mention Through the Gaps when you contact Veseeltracker. 

MMO: FIXED AND DRIFT NETS (SALMONID PROTECTION) BYELAW 2021 FORMAL CONSULTATION

The proposed new byelaw will restrict, and in some cases, prohibit the use of fixed and drift nets in specific areas around the Cornish coastline.

FIXED AND DRIFT NETS (SALMONID PROTECTION) BYELAW 2021 FORMAL CONSULTATION

MARINE AND COASTAL ACCESS ACT 2009

Notice is hereby given: Cornwall Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA) intends to apply to the Minister for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for the confirmation of the Fixed and Drift Nets (Salmonid Protection) Byelaw 2021.

The Fixed and Drift Nets (Salmonid Protection) Byelaw 2021 has been proposed to provide protection to salmon and sea trout from accidental bycatch in both fixed and drift nets which are used in coastal waters to target sea fish species. The new byelaw will restrict, and in some cases, prohibit the use of fixed and drift nets in specific areas around the Cornish coastline.

 

See here to view the full text of the new byelaw.

 

See here to view illustrative charts accompanying this byelaw

Click here to view the Impact Assessment


Any person wishing to object to or comment on the above byelaws must make representations in writing by 23:59 on 11 November 2021, to both the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and Cornwall IFCA at the following addresses:

MMO: Marine Conservation and Enforcement Team, Marine Management Organisation, Lancaster House, Hampshire Court, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE4 7YH

or, ifcabyelaws@marinemanagement.org.uk

Cornwall IFCA: Office 2, Chi Gallos, Hayle Marine Renewables Business Park, North Quay, Hayle, TR27 4DD or, enquiries@cornwall-ifca.gov.uk 

Spanish fishing effort in the NE Atlantic - ahead of the Gran Sol TAC negotiations.

 

As the UK flagged Spanish stern trawler Manuel Laura...

currently makes good safety signage...

and carries out a fire drill

after landing in Newlyn the Secretary General for Fisheries, Alicia Villauriz, met with the Spanish Fisheries Confederation (CEPESCA) and representatives of the owners of Gran Sol vessels that operate in the waters of the Northeast Atlantic, with whom she has addressed some of the issues that most interest the fleet at the moment, mainly the preparation of the Council of Ministers of the European Union in December, in which the fishing quotas for next year will have to be decided. 

These quotas will be determined to a large extent by the negotiations that will begin shortly to set the Total Allowable Catches (TAC) of the stocks that the European Union (EU) shares with the United Kingdom, which involves species The target of this fleet are hake, monkfish and sole. After 10 months of the application of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the United Kingdom, Villauriz has shown his satisfaction because this fleet has not seen its operations altered in terms of access to the waters of that country and has had sufficient quotas to carry out your activity. It has also expressed its confidence that the negotiations to set the TACs may be closed before the end of the year, since it is based on the experience of the first year of application of the agreement. 

Another issue discussed has been the problem of generational change and the shortage of crew. In this regard, the Secretary General has reported the forthcoming publication of the order that develops Royal Decree 36/2014, which regulates professional titles in the fishing sector,

Decarbonisation: Climate Emergency.

 

The UN Climate Change Summit in Glasgow this coming October and November, will bring world attention to the link between greenhouse gasses and climate change. The UK Government will want to earn the prestige associated with hosting a successful summit. A successful summit will include commitments to new ambitious targets for the reduction of greenhouse gasses - in particular carbon dioxide.

What are the implications of these political commitments for the fishing industry?

It is certain that our industry will have to make its own efforts to decarbonise, but at the same time we will also face a huge challenge as the massive expansion of offshore windfarms and other marine renewables, swallow large areas to date used for fishing.

Fishing and Climate Change

A climate emergency is under way, and it is inconceivable that the fishing industry will be exempt from finding ways to reduce dependence on fossil fuels – especially diesel. Although modern fuel-efficient engines are available on the market, we remain far away from an off-the-shelf solution consistent with carbon net-zero targets. As these obligations are likely to become more stringent following the COP summit, locating solutions will become an urgent overriding imperative.

In addition to pressures on the fishing industry to make its contribution to reach net zero, climate change already carries multiple implications for fishing. These include observable distributional shifts in species, acidification of the oceans and displacement pressures arising from marine protected areas and the rapidly expanding offshore renewables industry.

Then there are two factors which work in opposite directions.

The emerging but so far less than definitive science which suggests that seabed disturbance releases stored carbon. The significance and scale of this factor has yet to be determined by scientists. Global demand for high quality protein from wild fish, and the recognition that substituting fish to meet calls for a large-scale shift to a vegan diet, would inevitably result in an increase in agriculture-based food production systems. Many of these carry a much higher carbon footprint than fishing.

Against this background, apart from our desire to do the right thing within a complex and politically charged atmosphere, there is clearly going to be huge political pressure on the fishing industry to minimise its carbon footprint. The Fisheries Act (2020) explicitly contains climate change as one of its eight core objectives – all future fisheries legislation made under the Act will have to address the implications for climate change.

Partnership

The specific challenge that we face is to find ways of adapting to reduce reliance on fossil fuels that are compatible with an economically viable fishing industry.

Given the time pressures generated by the climate emergency, we suggest that decarbonisation will be most effectively done through a partnership between the fishing industry and government. The EU has already prioritised decarbonisation in its new funding instrument, the EMFAF with a budget of 6.1 billion euros for the next six years.

As an independent coastal state, outside the EU, the UK will not be contributing to that particular budget, but the question of public finance, how much and where it is directed, is likely to be central to the success of any decarbonisation strategy in the UK.

Stewardship

Directing funding into environmental stewardship, is one model for change that has successfully been used in other sectors, by creating economic incentives that are aligned with the desired objectives. The use of incentivised stewardship has an established history in agriculture. Agriculture in the UK is now largely organised around public subsidies which underpin concrete practises that benefit the environment. Essentially, farmers are paid to depart from a pure economic model of efficiency to build in environmentally desirable agricultural practice.

No such equivalent applies to fishing and, in general, the fishing industry historically has had little interest in a bureaucratic, politically vulnerable, system of monetary subsidies. The time may have arrived, however, to review that position. If fishing businesses can’t make the transition to net zero whist maintaining economic viability, it may be time to look at some form of government support scheme.

A recent report by WWF/ RSPB and the Marine Conservation Society makes clear that there are no off-the-shelf solutions. Hydrogen engines, wind-assisted propulsion and a range of other developments show promise – but the technology is not at a stage that it could simply be transferred into existing fleets. From this, it is clear that research, development and practical trials, will be an urgent priority, as will learning from experience in other countries. Funding, whether from the famous £100 million promised on the hoof by the Prime Minister in the wake of the TCA, or made available from other Treasury pots, could play a pivotal role in putting such initiatives into fast-forward mode. The initial challenge will be how to develop workable solutions (that may involve a reduction in catch, or additional costs) whist maintaining an economically viable fishing business. In this context, financially supported structured scheme to facilitate this type of initiative would ensure volunteer vessels to trial new approaches and overcome short-term financial obstacles to trialling new gears and approaches.

Interim Steps

There are, however, steps that can be taken, even as new technologies and approaches are being developed.

Equipping the current fleet with the most fuel-efficient engines presently available would make sense as an interim step towards net zero. A more coherent and muscular approach to subsidising engine replacement would bring immediate reductions in fuel consumption and should be considered as an urgent interim step. In the longer term, government, science and the fishing industry itself will have to work on solutions, preferably in partnership.

Fisheries Science Partnerships

Fisheries Science Partnerships involving industry participation, government funding and scientific expertise, have been an established and successful model since the NFFO, Defra and Cefas developed the concept in 1994. The time may be ripe to adapt this model to the decarbonisation challenge. A refreshed Fisheries Science Partnership could:

• Investigate promising methods of reducing or eliminating fossil fuels, or minimising seabed impacts 

• Employ some of the recently announced £24 million government funding to develop fuel reduction concepts to trial level Use chartered fishing vessels to trial new gears

• Use government financial support to cover costs and economic loss in catch attributable to the new method during the development phase 

• If the method involves a permanent reduction in catch (and to ensure the effort is not diverted into other fisheries) any vessel adopting the new gear would receive financial support – in effect an equivalent system to that which applies in agriculture 

• The core of this new approach would be to harness the fisheries science partnership approach, first to develop carbon neutral methods of fishing and then to use stewardship finance to encourage its adoption across the fleets.

Displacement

Apart from decarbonising its own activities, the fishing industry faces a huge displacement challenge from the expansion of offshore renewables and marine protected areas. The NFFO has already expressed itself in strong terms about the failure of the marine planning system to protect the most important fishing grounds.

The failure to address displacement at the planning stage carries many potential unintended adverse consequences. One of them is to increase steaming time to available fishing grounds. Much more coherent, joined-up government policies are required to minimise displacement effects.

Unintended Consequences

Those familiar with fisheries management are acutely aware that management measures can often generate unintended consequences, which can undermine the objective sought. Decarbonisation is no less tricky. Displacement from customary fishing grounds can mean longer steaming times to other grounds. Less productive grounds can require longer periods fishing to generate the same catch. All this leads to higher emissions. To point this out is not to make a facile argument against marine protected areas or windfarms but it is a plea to understand the complex of issues in the round. Necessary trade-offs between different objectives are part and parcel of dealing with real-world complexity.

Summary

A climate emergency is upon us. Fishing will be expected to play its part. The most effective solutions will be found where there is a partnership between the fishing industry and government. As an interim step, government should be incentivising the replacement of older engines with the most fuel-efficient engines available. As there are no off-the-shelf solutions that would deliver Net Zero in the fishing industry and research, development and practical trials are therefore urgently required. Fishing science partnerships – properly designed and implemented – have a proven track record and could be harnessed as pathfinders to decarbonise the fishing industry. Finally, if the conventional market economic model is incapable of delivering the widespread change necessary to meet the climate emergency, it may be time to consider a system of structures stewardship for the fishing industry that has been employed for several decade in the agriculture industry