Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning's market.

Shouldn't be too long before the Cornishman in her new company colours takes to sea again...

as the light begins to fade the sardine fleet head away to sea, first away is the Mayflower...

followed by the Resolute...

then the Silver Dawn...

and the Lyonesse...

under a huge anvil Cumulonimbus cloud hanging over the Lizard...

it must be some twenty miles across the top as Dan the sardine man gets to enjoy the full majesty of the giant cloud...

the scalloper Manx Ranger...

time to refuel...

by the man who knows what it takes...

all-round red over white lights indicates a fishing vessel not engaged in trawling...

Wednesday morning's market was a mix of inshore trawl fish. a handful of cuttles...

the odd JD...

bass...

but plenty of ray...

especially blondes...

the odd brill...

more ray wings...

while the netter Ajax landed a few rare cod...

and a big shot of hake to finish off the tide...

Countryfile star Tom also managed a few whiting......

always good to see the boss man up bright and early...

Tom managed a good few JDs...

while squid are still very much a rarity...

the handliners often pick up the odd conger over rough ground...

visiting small scalloper, Cam Courageous there's not too many of these small inshore beam trawl vessels these days...

a hurricane-like cloud formation passed over Mounts Bay at first light this morning.

 

Talk to MP Derek Thomas in the Star Inn Newlyn on Thursday, November 4th.

 

L-R MP Derek Thomas, harbour commissioner Kevin Bennets and MP George Eustace.

With the future of Newlyn, which depends heavily on the income generated directly though fishing and associated trades this week's surgery being held in the Star Inn, Newlyn provides the perfect opportunity to question or put across your thoughts directly to local MP Derek Thomas.

The harbour is looking at a number of large scale concepts based on feedback from harbour users over the last few yeas to future-proof the port well into the 21st century - and some of these plans depend on the creation of an access road that connects the harbour and all the new developments planned for Sandy Cove and beyond.  

Private and commercial traffic passing through Newlyn currently causes chaos at peak times as as heavy goods vehicles, buses, holiday and local traffic negotiate the narrow streets adjacent to the port or, worse still, head up and down Chywoone (Paul ) Hill. 

Newlyn, like many areas is in desperate need for affordable housing in oder to meet the growing demands made by the expansion of local fishing and related businesses - a positive sign for the future of the town but one which is seriously hampered by the lack of sufficient and suitable accommodation.

Historically, the Star Inn has witnessed the making and enacting of many plans from the seeds of an idea - the most famous being when seven men talking over a pint in 1854 decided they would sail to Australia to make their fortune aboard the lugger Mystery. They set sail on the 18th of November that year and made the world's first trans-oceanic voyage in a yacht - the same journey was re-enacted by adventure sailor Pete Goss in 2008.

Derek Thomas will be at the bar of the Star ready to answer your questions from 6:15 until 7:15, so don't be late!

Check out the harbour's concept plans here.

Out with the old Francine Z91 and in with the new Francine Z90.

After 24 hours towing south west of Milford haven the all new 38m Belgian beam trawler Franson Z91, currently on her maiden voyage...

has boarded her gear and is heading for the Irish Sea...

she replaces the 30m Francine Z90, a regular visitor to Newlyn...

when she has overlanded her catch...

or mended her gear during bad weather...

the new boat Z90 Franson recently completed successful sea trials and the making of a promotional video.

 

Newlyn, it's fish and the centre of the Ordnance Survey universe.

Classic 'anvil' cumulonimbus cloud structure overhanging the harbour this morning - keep your eyes open for the odd heavy shower...

inside the fish market net caught fish makes ip the bulk of the fish up for auction like these superb hake form the Ygraine...

and a handful of fish that got a mention on last night's Countryfile, the very flavoursome scad or horse mackerel..

it seems tastes differ from country to country, coley are the preferred choice of many in Germany...

while smoothhounds have a niche market...

not for nothing are these named blue sharks...

the wholesome haddock sporting its tell-tale thumbprint needs no introduction...

as yet cuttlefish landings of any significant quantity have yet to materilise on the market in Newlyn...

spurdogs are still plentiful across the grounds...

while the only beam trawl fish on the market included the usual mix of flats like these lemons...

Dover sole...

brill...

and another fish now made familiar to UK customers, Cornish sole, previously known as megrim sole but as yet not recognised by the auction system...

delicious John Dory...

and of course the ever-poular monk fish tails...

a handful of boats braved a pretty windy weekend to put a few boxes of mackerel on the market...

these guys spend several months of every year in Canada...

but right now they muster first thing every morning outside a harbour staff office for breakfast - and later chase the guys down the quay at 10am for their tea beak - while the sun shines on them it doesn't look too clever for the Intuition bound away to haul pots off Lands End...

also featured on Countryfile last night, the Tidal Observatory at Newlyn from where we learned the height of every inch of every Ordnance Survey map is calculated - the hope is to give the public access to the site in due course as a key feature of Newlyn's heritage trail......

this broken mast might too become a feature soon, door probs for the Crystal Sea...

Intuition about to let go the ends and give the fisheries protection boat St Piran a clear berth...

basking in the morning sun, the lighthouse towers over the less-than-imposing tidal observatory door - take a glimpse inside when Through the Gaps was given a guided tour a few yeas ago..

 

Britain’s fishing industry Jim Portus exposes the government’s betrayal of the fishing industry

 

Britain’s fishing industry Jim Portus exposes the government’s betrayal of the fishing industry

The UK’s fishing industry was almost universally ecstatic about the referendum vote to leave the European Union in June 2016. Meanwhile, United Kingdom Independence Party leader Nigel Farage stated at the time that the way the UK would deal with its fisheries would be the acid test for the whole of Brexit.

The industry was under no illusion that the vote to leave the EU would be the start, not the end, of a process that could take a decade to complete. Many feared that the UK’s fisheries would yet again be used as a bargaining chip by the government, with EU access to Britain’s waters traded away for a favourable deal on trade, exports, finance or access to EU markets.

The Fisheries Bill, however, included the welcome announcement that once the UK had withdrawn from the European Union we would proceed with plans to take back control of our own waters and set our own quotas for fisheries. This reassurance was reinforced by the announcement that the UK would also be withdrawing from the London Fisheries Convention, the legislation that allows foreign vessels to operate inside the 12-mile zone.

The Fisheries Bill received Royal Assent in November 2020. For the fishing industry, very little changed legalistically between June 2016 and December 2020, when the Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement was announced. The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020, and the final transition period ended on 31 December that year.

But 2020 had proved to be a very frustrating year for the fishing industry. The Covid-19 pandemic meant that travel was curtailed from early March, so Zoom and Teams became the norms of communication. David Frost, appointed as the UK’s chief negotiator, began formal face-to-face negotiations with EU officials in April. Within weeks, however, the scale and severity of the Covid-19 pandemic became clear, and the planned negotiations could not continue. The talks were therefore placed on hold and the agreement on fisheries was pushed back from July to December, to align with the wider trade deal. Although DEFRA kept the fishing industry updated as Lord Frost negotiated, fears were rife of a sell-out repeating that by Prime Minister Edward Heath in the 1970s.

At last, on Christmas Eve 2020, the fishing industry saw the details of the withdrawal terms. The industry had been given assurances by the top levels of government – the Prime Minister, senior cabinet ministers and the chief negotiator – that the industry would not be sold out in negotiations with the European Union. But in the event, any trust our industry’s members might have had in the government was shattered. UK fishing rights had indeed been sacrificed to secure the trade deal. The UK gained only a very modest increase in quotas for our fishing boats over a five-and-a-half-year adjustment period; the increase was equivalent to around 25 per cent of the value of fish previously caught by the EU fleet from UK waters. In the first year, just 15 per cent would be added.

In the end, our industry was duped.

The question is whether or not fishing, having exhausted its status as the Brexit poster-child, had become an embarrassment for the government – to become a lasting symbol of political failure to secure for the UK what is considered by many to be our finest national asset.

The first eight months of 2021 were as testing as most of 2020, because of Covid-19. As infections increased and restrictions remained, it was a period of uncertainty and volatility for many UK seafood businesses. New requirements to trade with the EU came into effect. Many exporting businesses experienced major disruptions early in the year, with increased transit times and costs still being an issue at the end of March.

Resilience

But by summer 2021 the situation for the catching sector had become much calmer. As hospitality businesses re-opened, the trade in fresh fish products improved markedly with prices rising to levels last seen in 2019. All the saleable fish that was caught went at good prices. However, nothing could replace the income lost throughout 2020 due to Covid-19, and many smaller businesses were on the brink of collapse.

Nobody would have wished for a combination of Covid-19 and Brexit impacting the fishing and processing sectors at the same time, but it happened. The resilience of the industry has been tested and its survival is proof that seafood is a much-valued commodity.

The UK has some of the best fishing grounds in its Exclusive Economic Zone, but sadly far too much is taken away from it by foreign fishing boats. Even so, fish stocks have been steadily recovering and rising in biomass since about 2008, when the last decommissioning took place. There is optimism for the future of the stocks and therefore for the UK fleet prospects post-Brexit.

As the UK is about to enter negotiations for 2022, all of these factors will be in play, along with the mother of all headaches on how to manage non-quota species. The Specialised Committee for Fisheries and associated annual negotiations will be of central importance, but we have yet to see how this novel process will function in practice.

Some doubt that the UK industry will ever get back what was ceded by Edward Heath when he signed the Treaty of Accession to join the European Economic Community (EEC) in January 1972, but access rights probably go back to 1964 and the London Fisheries Convention, so we cannot blame all the wrongs of the Common Fisheries Policy on the EEC / EU. The UK government has had its eyes open all the time, even while it has shrouded the facts from the eyes of the fishing industry.

Fraudulent flagging 

Another scandal has always been the abuse of the Red Ensign by foreign-owned fishing companies masquerading as British to reap our fish resources for their reward. There have been attempts, such as the Merchant Shipping Act 1988, to rid the UK Register of flags of convenience and quota-hoppers. But this is the realm of the Department for Transport, which has bigger fish to fry in the form of the commercial shipping register. The Fishing Vessel Register should have different rules of establishment and much stronger economic links to the flag state. Now that the UK is no longer subservient to the rulings of the European Court of Justice, a government is needed that is willing to tackle this thorny issue head on, and ensure that British fish is caught by British fishermen on vessels proudly and legitimately flying the Red Ensign.

In 2016, Nigel Farage happily associated himself with Fishing for Leave, a campaign group that became the public face of the fishing industry when Save Britain’s Fish, which had tried to unite the industry to force change, was disbanded. When, a week before the Referendum, I stood on the bridge of the Atlantic Challenge PD197 with her owner-skipper, John Buchan, in the Pool of London, eating grilled kippers with Mr Farage, none of us had any idea that history would be made.

And no idea how frustrated the industry would feel five years later.

Full story and others in the 2021 Maritime Foundation online magazine.

Seven new industry experts have been appointed to the Fishing into the Future (FITF) board of trustees.

 

Seven new industry experts have been appointed to the Fishing into the Future (FITF) board of trustees, expanding the geographical reach of the Trusteeship and enriching the expertise available to guide its charitable activities.

Fishing into the Future is an independent UK charity with a mission to deliver long term, sustainable and prosperous fisheries through collaboration, effective dialogue, and mutual understanding between fisheries management, science and industry stakeholders. Their unique approach ensures that charitable activities are relevant and guided by industry, maintaining minimum of 2/3rds of the Trusteeship as active industry representatives.

Stories from FITF trustees.

As of October 2021, seven new Trustees have joined the FITF board of Trustees, creating renewed momentum and new perspectives to guide future projects. The new Trustees are currently getting involved in ongoing work to develop community learning resources that will support the transition towards co-management and more collaborative science, as well as preparing the launch of a new website “the Fishing Porthole” that will provide a one-stop-shop for learning, sharing & working together.

Emma Plotnek, FITF Executive Director said:

“We are already supported by a wealth of experienced, forward-thinking people and by growing our Trusteeship it shows people in the industry believe in our core values and potential as a charity. We are injecting new ideas and energy into the charity and are striving to ensure we represent the different scales and geographies within the industry, as well as include more women and young voices.”

The new trustees include:

• David Anderson, CEO of the Aberdeen Fish Producers Organisation Ltd.; 
• Orkney based Hannah Fennell, Head of Orkney Fisheries Association and Researcher; 
• Trevor Jones, fisherman, fish farmer and expert in fishing safety based out of North Wales; 
• Northern Irish fisherman Jimmy Kelly, based out of Portavogie; 
• Norfolk-based vessel owner Ashley Mullenger, better known on social media as the “the Female Fisherman”; 
• Mike Park, CEO of the Scottish White Fish Producer Organisation; 
• Neil Witney, owner and skipper of About Time NN8 based out of Newhaven in East Sussex.

Newly inducted Trustee, Ashley Mullenger, said:

“It’s both an honour and a responsibility to be inducted onto the board of Trustees, despite being relatively fresh in my career as a fisherman, it's clear how important it is to understand the science that drives our management policies, whilst also engaging the fishing community in our various upcoming projects, which will help us to play a clear role in the future of the industry"

If you would like to get involved with the charity you can visit the website, follow them on social media or contact the FITF Executive Director, Emma Plotnek, for more information.

Read about the FITF Board of Trustees on the FITF Website. Contact: emma@fitf.co.uk

Working document on the implementation of Article 17 of the Common Fisheries Policy Regulation.

 

Current discussion document appertaining to the CFP - which will impact on the UK even tough were are no longe a member of the EU and subject to the CFP.