Bass Point doing sterling work - the first NCI watch station opened by Jenny Agutter.

With a fresh NE breeze blowing, Saturday saw the start of the AZAB (Azores and back) yacht race - here two of the competitors stay clear of the notorious overfalls off the Lizard - around 40 boats left Falmouth at 3pm headed for Ponta Delgada in the Azores on Leg 1...

with fine weather still on the cards for days to come the Lizard punts are on their moorings...

set against the backdrop of a sparkling sea...

walking east along the South West Coast Path...

and back across Housel Bay towards the Lizard lighthouse the sea is crystal clear...

passing handy ,the Ro-Ro cargo ship Celine is heading for Dublin...

while the Cadgwith fishing boat, Bob Winnie FH691heads off to haul some gear...

under the watchful eye of the NCI Bass Point watch station...

which was the first National Coastwatch Institution station which was opened in 1995...

on a very windy day in February of that year by actress, Jenny Agutter whose portrait hands alongside other memorabilia above the lookout windows...

on watch yesterday was former tin miner and veteran watchkeeper, Tom Cullen logging every passing vessel - a busy afternoon's work giving the AZAB competitors sailing past his windows...

just past the station is a plaque placed to commemorate the loss of the Loctudy trawler, Bugaled Breiz in 2004 with the loss of all hands...

the boat was a regular visitor to Newlyn...

and the second owned and skippered by Michelle Douce who was not aboard when the boat was lost.

 

Now over half way through the year, fish of the week 27 is megrim sole.

 

Megrim sole, the species of fish that for many years topped the leader board for the highest value of landings in Newlyn...

back in the day when the port supported a fleet of over 30 beam trawlers that over the years found more and more grounds off to the south west of Newlyn in the deeper waters...

like all flat fish the underside is devoid of pigment in the skin and a translucent white...

while the top side, with eyes very close together has that characteristic pale brown colouring which distinguishes the fish from its more colourful relatives like lemons, Dovers, dabs and plaice...

both sides can be seen here. 

According to the Cornwall Good Seafood Guide, the fish make good eating, tough even now the majority of them auctioned on the market in Newlyn for for export mainly to Spain. Also known as Cornish Sole, Megrim is a deep water, flatfish which tastes incredible. Like a flat version of a bass a megrim has a huge mouth used to suck up its prey, which mainly consists of smaller fish. 

Megrims are caught by Cornish trawlers who use more selective fishing gear. They have delicious tender meat and are easily filleted. Traditionally this fish has not been eaten in the UK with the majority of landings being exported to France and Spain where they are far better appreciated but Brexit has made this more difficult and local UK markets are now being sought urgently. Local restaurants like Argoe based in the harbour and The Shore in Penzance both feature megrims regularly on their menus.

First #FishyFriday in June and so much fish!

Earlier in the week the market was bust enough with the St Georges taking full advantage of the big tide...

as did Tom on the Guardian...

Friday morning saw a market packed end-to-end with fish from five boats landing their trips of  white fish - just as well all the prawns the Scottish boats landed went into the back of their refrigerated transport yesterday...

the range and quality of fish was up to its usual high standard with cracking examples of tub gurnard...

witch soles...

big haddock...

bib monk...

and really big monk...

more haddock...

and even a shot of big cod from the Ajax...

both the one beam trawler to land and the Scottish boys...

 put ashore plenty of megrim sole...

while Dovers gave up what they were really targeting west of Scilly...

most of the hake came courtesy of the netter Ajax...

while all the prawn boats picked up varying amounts of John Dory...

and the full range of ray...

while the Dawn Star landed this near specimen turbot...

big monk from another angle...

and big thornback ray from another...

and yet more JDs...

and a full trip of tangle-net turbot...

while just a few boxes of top quality line caught fish like these pollack...

and bass  was up for auction in the fridge...

someone picked out enough for a feed tonight...

from the fish landed by the prawn boats the ex-Orion now Faithful and Ocean Crest both now taking on fuel...

that's a lot of gear packed in a compact space to enable twin-rigging on a relatively small bot...

the yachts that call in to Newlyn come from far and wide and as a rule are accomplished sailors - you have to be to have the confidence to take in rounding the Lizard and lands En, even at tis time of year...

a bigger boat can carry her net drums atop the shelterdeck without adversely affecting er stability...

this is not what you want to see come up in the cod end!..

time for the Falmouth scalloper to have work below the waterline carried out...

Border Patrol at rest.

 

From boat to plate: tracing the lobster Coding For Crayfish VOSTF

 

In South Africa, lobster fishermen are victims of mafias who ransack the resource by exploiting the fishermen. The Abalobi association has set up a program with fishermen and restaurateurs to allow total transparency and traceability from the boat to the restaurateur's table. 

A film presented at the Pêcheurs du Monde festival in 2023.