Salty Cove - Mevagissey

Every page of Salty Cove is filled with a superb snapshot of a community every much with fishing at its heart - a community story told in words and pictures - a real treat!

“Salty Cove” is the title of the third in a trilogy of beautiful books celebrating the Cornish fishing industry. Due to be released in June 2022, Salty Cove follows the successful 2014 title “Salt of the Earth” by David and Jan Penprase which featured a moment in the history of the Newlyn fishing community. This was followed in 2017 by “Sea, Salt and Solitude” by Chris Hewitt and Deborah Richards which focussed on North Cornwall. 

Salty Cove is a collection of professional black and white portraits of those connected to the Mevagissey fishing industry and their accompanying life stories. It is a living piece of social history, dedicated to the unique, amazing and hard-working people from this beautiful part of Cornwall.

Our volunteer photographers Matt and Sally, along with writers Barbara and Jill, have spent many long days, come rain or shine, taking images and recording stories to create this unique coffee table book, bringing to life the fishing community of Mevagissey.

Volunteer writer Barbara Hocking said:

“This wonderful book will tell the story of the second largest harbour in Cornwall; it holds dear for one and all the many generations of fishing families in this close community. The personal social histories of families past and present will come to life off the pages, both written and photographically. It holds time still, speaking of what Cornwall prides itself on in being a welcome port in a storm to sailors and visitors alike and why it’s held worthy of preserving, just as it is, for the future. Kernow bys vyken!” (Cornwall for ever!)

Everyone has volunteered hundreds of hours to make this project a success. We are delighted to say Salty Cove will be printed in Cornwall and is a practical fundraiser for those we support as the charity, the Fishermen’s Mission.

Salty Cove is a creative fundraiser in aid of The Fishermen’s Mission. Julian Waring, Fundraising Manager for the charity says: “This book is three years in the making and reflects the energy of our dedicated volunteers in Mevagissey who have kept this project alive during the hard times of restrictions. It all started with a conversation with volunteer Lauren Brokenshire, a resident from Mevagissey.”

Our volunteer photographers Matt and Sally, along with writers Barbara and Jill, have spent many long days, come rain or shine, taking photographs and recording stories to create this unique coffee table book, bringing to life the fishing community of Mevagissey. Another volunteer, Mark has been working hard behind the scenes proof reading.

Everyone has volunteered hundreds of hours to make this project a success. We are delighted to say Salty Cove will be printed in Cornwall. The successful crowd fundraiser in March 2022 reached its target so the book could be printed.

If you are overseas and wish to purchase a copy, email our team on – SupporterCare@fishermensmission.org.uk and they will be able to provide postage cost relevant to your area.

All aboard for the future: new seafood sustainability projects receive government funding

The UK Seafood Innovation Fund (SIF) has awarded a further £1.29 million to 28 new projects in its most recent round of funding. The fund, which has supported a total of 94 projects since its inception, supports innovative proposals designed to advance resilience and sustainability in the UK seafood sector. 

The UK seafood sector is set to see an exciting influx of innovation, with a third round of projects funded by the UK Seafood Innovation Fund now underway. More than £1.29 million was awarded in the latest round of funding from the UK government programme, split across 28 feasibility studies. Each of these projects have been awarded between £13,600 and £50,000 to support cutting-edge ideas designed to improve the sustainability and resilience of the UK fishing, aquaculture, and seafood sectors. 

 

“SIF has enabled all sorts of innovations from right across Great Britain, looking to boost the UK’s blue foods, from prawns to trout, seaweed to salmon” said SIF Steering Group member Heather Jones. “The fund supports sustainable food production, with projects ranging from proving novel feed ingredients for farmed fish, to repurposing waste from shellfish production, to using renewable energy to run fish farms. I am excited to see what benefits are realised from the feasibility projects we have funded.”

The successful projects address diverse issues across the UK industry, with five focusing on sustainability, eight on aquaculture, and seven on seafood processing and the supply chain. The remaining projects are exploring innovative approaches to topics such as humane slaughter, challenges in the underdeveloped seaweed market, and improvements in vessel stability. 

“We were really pleased to receive such high quality applications to our third funding call. It is great to be able to support a range of innovative projects through this Fund, aiming to improve the sustainability and future resilience of the UK fishing, aquaculture and seafood sectors” said Fiona Lettice, Pro-Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation, University of East Anglia (UEA) and Chair of the SIF Steering Group.

 

One of the recently funded projects, Recycling Ocean Resources, aims to use chitin - a substance extracted from the shells of certain shellfish - to create carbon for battery storage technology. Another, The Cornish Seaweed Company, is developing a land-based cultivation system which could enable the expansion of the sustainable seaweed market, while a project led by Mimica Lab is adapting existing technology used to reduce waste in the meat industry for the seafood sector.  

 

“The SIF funding we have received has allowed us to further develop our Humane Stunner Universal (A-HSUTM) technology,” said Katie Patullo, Product Coordinator at Ace Aquatec. With support from SIF, the company is now developing a compact humane stunner for small-scale aquaculture set-ups. She added: “the impact that this new product will have on welfare in smaller scale farms is immeasurable, and is the right step for a future of sustaining and growing aquaculture humanely and ethically.”

Collectively, the SIF-funded projects will explore the potential to use new and emerging technology to improve the sustainability, profitability, and efficiency of the UK’s £987 million fishing industry.

Visit the UK Seafood Innovation Fund Website to learn more about these exciting projects: www.seafoodinnovation.fund/projects. 

Can you help create a Council for Newlyn, Mousehole and Paul?

Newlyn Association is carrying out a signature petition to show support for Cornwall Council to create a new parish council for the Ward of Newlyn, Mousehole and Paul.

Join Newlyn Association here

This new Parish Council could:

· Be separate from Penzance Town Council

· Better serve the interests of residents in Newlyn, Mousehole and Paul

· Give more priority and resources to Newlyn, Mousehole and Paul

 

Sign the petition to make this happen!

At the moment:

Newlyn, Mousehole and Paul is currently a ward of Penzance Council.

The Ward’s fishing industry brings in £30m annually, has a vibrant art and craft community, small businesses, and a growing leisure and tourism economy within a residential community of approximately 3,500 voters. It contributes an estimated £400k annually to Penzance Town Council’s precept of £1.75m but sees an estimated less than 10% of that spent on itself.

This spend is for grants for Christmas lights, plus costs for one public toilet and weedkilling. The Ward has 5 councillors who sit on Penzance Council which has a total of 20 councillors, so they are often outvoted when decisions affecting the Ward are being made.

What is proposed: - A new Parish Council to be set up for Newlyn, Mousehole and Paul separate from Penzance Council. It would have its own councillors, employ a clerk, decide its own budget, set its own precept, have decision making power and recognised status to speak on behalf of its own constituents. It would have an annual budget of approximately £400,000, be able to apply for loans and funding, make grants, have its own planning committee to make recommendations on applications within the Ward direct to Cornwall Council, have its own Neighbourhood Plan and plenty more that Parish Councils can do.

The argument for: - Change is needed to allow the communities of Newlyn, Mousehole and Paul to have self-government.

A new council would provide the organisation, status, money and resources to do this.

Anyone interested to find out more and wishing to show support will be able to do so at an Information Day to be held at The Newlyn Centre, Chywoone Hill

Wednesday 3 August

10am to 7pm - drop in anytime

If you want a council, show your support here or sign up at the Information Day.

Muggy Monday morning in Newlyn.

1st of August brought a mirror-like Monday morning to Newlyn...

wher once again the weekend saw a wide range of top quality fish landed...

including these lobsters, one of which may well be over fifty years old...

Tom on the Guardian touched on some good fishing south of the Bay...

while monk fish supplies were toped up from the beam trawler St Georges...

plenty of inshore fish filled the market from end-to-end...

with some good shots of line caught fish like these pollack...

and bass...

this brace of turbot were just two examples of these magnificent fish landed by the netter, Ocean Pride...

along with these superb large haddock...

pf course, no market would be complete without some seasonal summer sardines...

and MSC Certified hake...

boat news in the harbour sees the Trevssa IV with a long way to go before she is ready for sea...

a visiting survey vessel, Severn Sea...

the visiting inshore beam trawler Karen Marie..

and the Hosking fleet in reflective mood.

 

Steph of Ladram in collision south of the Scillys - all OK.

 

At around 1am on Sunday morning the Steph of Ladram (ex-Sapphire III) 

was fishing south of the Scillys...

when she was involved in a collision with a coaster, suffering damage to her port derrick...

and gantry. Luckily, none of the five crew were injured and the skipper was able to secure the trawls alongside before making way, at reduced speed, to Newlyn. Before arrival, three additional hands were taken on board from Penlee all-weather Lifeboat after which both beam trawls were dropped on the sea bed in Mounts Bay to be recovered at a later date. She is currently being prepared for repair.

Great news! Cornish fishing benefits from newly trained crew.

 

The improved and refined course to train new commercial fishing crew has successfully graduated all nine candidates last week. The trainees were not all sure about fishing or seafood as a career until they attended a taster event in May or June where they learned about the reality of working in fishing. To explode the myths and give an authentic view of opportunities these Taster Events included a harbour tour, vessel tours and dialogue with representatives from the fishing sector, including skippers from the Cornish Fish Producer Organisation.

The graduates spent 15 days training on the Introduction to Commercial Fishing course, delivered by Seafood Cornwall Training in Newlyn. The course was first created 12 years ago, and learning has been overhauled and updated by Seafish. New units joined the existing delivery and included financial management for self- employed fishermen, chilling and stowage of the catch on board, as well as net making and mending. 

These newly refreshed training units gave some of the trainees a chance to show their flair and discover aspirations to learn more. By adding these units, the completion of the 15 days gave all trainees a good grounding across the catching sector. They learned about topics such as fisheries management, vessel operation, caring for the catch, watchkeeping, navigation, fishing vessel engines and gear operation. Trainees also gained routes towards the type of fishing and working that would suit them.

In addition, the trainees have achieved their qualifications in the four mandatory sea safety training in Sea Survival, First Aid, Fire Fighting and Health & Safety which allows them to take a berth and work on board fishing vessels. The ICF course is currently fully funded for participants, thanks to grants secured by Seafish from the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).

Take a look at the training programme and talk to us about funding opportunities to support a wide range of training courses.

https://www.seafoodcornwalltraining.co.uk/course-dates/

UK needs Department of Maritime Affairs says leading Fisheries Consultan

Listen to this hugely important Fishing Daily podcast from Terri Portmann, fighting the corner for all inshore fishermen throughout the UK who are having to deal with a massive increase in legislation, monitoring and control like never before.

Terri Portmann is a Fisheries Consultant from Plymouth on the southwest coast of England. Terri has been a lifelong advocate for the fishing industry and has appeared to give evidence in front of Parliamentary Committees, and is actively involved in campaigning for a positive change in public and government attitudes towards fish and the industry.

In this podcast Terri tells Oliver of her upbringing in Looe, Cornwall that forever shaped her relationship with the fishing and seafood industries.

On Thursday 21 July 2022, Terri wrote an open letter to the Secretary of State for Defra, George Eustice, stressing the need for him to call for a root and branch review of the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), which she and many others in the industry feel is a state body no longer fit for purpose, and is currently wasting taxpayers’ money on endless consultations and reviews that are unnecessary if the correct procedures were carried out properly in the first place.

Terri gives the Inshore Vessel Monitoring System (I-VMS) rollout and the CatchApp (an app designed for submitting the estimated weight of fish before landing) as two examples where the MMO simply did not meet the standard required.

Another issue facing the industry is the weight of new legislation being foisted on small-scale inshore fishermen. After the CatchApp and I-VMS, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency are demanding that small boat owners increase the safety standards onboard their crafts. Because of this, the inshore fleet are facing an uncertain future, as the costs involved are above what many boat                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  owners can afford. Also misinterpreted enactment of regulations in relation to safety legislation have been recognised but, all in all between everything, it has been a mentally strenuous time for these fishermen.

With so many Departments and government bodies involved in the fishing industry, Oliver asks Terri if it might be time for the government to consider an amalgamation that would leave life easier for fishermen.