Fish of the week 37 - shagreen ray

 

Shagreen ray, like all other rays and skate make excellent eating - a favourite in many people's eyes as they all have distinctive, meaty flavours. Hard to prepare, a fish that is much better left to the skills of your loocal fishmonger who will happily skin and trim your ray wings for you. If fish bones are a thing for you then ray wings are your go-to fish - being closely related to the shark family, the bones are cartilage ands easily removed or even eaten!

Shagreen ray are also one of those fish that have an interesting aspect to their place in the world of decorative fashionable items in that their skin has and in some places still is dried, cured and used as a material to adorn objects. The skin, like that of sharks has been used for centuries as a fine form of sandpaper to smooth and polish.

Fine #FishyFriday in Newlyn

Remnants of Thursday morning's visit from storm Ciaran are now safely moored at the head of the harbour...

as the sky clears and we get a temporary reprieve from westerly winds...

time to check the harbour website for the latest news as the analogue noticeboard went the way of many things during the storm...

riding high at high water...

the bigger boats will be looking to sail today, before the next wave of poor weather rushes in from the west.

 

Free health checks for fishermen - Newlyn.

 

If you are part of the fishing community in Newlyn you can pop along to the Fish Mish for a free Health Check on most 1st & 3rd Thursdays with @HealthCornwall courtesy of Sea Hospital and Fairwinds.

100kt - that's 120mph - winds forecast for storm Ciaran on Wednesday.

 

I've had WindyTV on the weather page of Through the Gaps for a few years now - first time I have ever seen 100knots predicted - 7pm Wednesday! 

The Pointe de Raz webcam could be worth a watch around then.

Shades of February 2014 when the 12th storm that winter hit and 90+mph winds were recorded in Penzance.

Advice on fishing opportunities (2023)

ICES Approach to Fishing Opportunities 

ICES takes a precautionary approach to advising on fishing opportunities, with the goal of achieving maximum sustainable yield (MSY) unless otherwise requested. This means that ICES aims to inform policies that will lead to high, long-term yields while maintaining productive fish stocks in marine ecosystems that meet expected environmental standards.

Annex 2 of the UN Fish Stocks Agreement provides guidelines for applying a precautionary approach within an MSY framework. According to this approach, fish populations must be maintained within safe biological limits in order to achieve MSY. However, within safe biological limits, an MSY approach is necessary to maximise long-term yields. All ICES advice is consistent with the precautionary approach.

MSY is a broad concept that aims to achieve the highest possible yield over the long term. It is not specific about:

• The biological unit to which it is applied (e.g., a single fish stock, a group of related stocks, or an entire ecosystem)

• The models used to provide scientific advice

• The definition of yields

• The management methods used to achieve MSY

ICES defines MSY as maximising the average long-term yield from a given fish stock while maintaining the stock as productive. ICES considers the yield to be maximised as the part of the catch that is landed, measured in weight. This may be calculated relative to the landed catch above a prescribed minimum size, depending on regulations for the individual stock.

Many of the models used to estimate MSY assume that factors not explicitly included in the model will either remain constant or vary around a historical long-term mean. However, marine ecosystems are dynamic, and fish stocks will change not only in response to fishing but also to changes in their prey, predators, and climate. Therefore, ICES considers MSY reference points to be valid only in the short and medium term (generally up to 5-10 years). MSY reference points should be subject to regular reviews and modified according to new information or process understanding.

ICES provides advice on fishing opportunities and stock status for individual stocks to support the stock-by-stock management system. For some stocks, ICES is only requested to advise on status and not on fishing opportunities. In addition to single-stock advice, ICES also provides mixed-fisheries considerations, fisheries overviews, and ecosystem overviews. These encapsulate the technical and biological interactions between stocks at an ecoregion scale.

Tasty tuna dishes from top Cornish chefs - bluefin tuna from boat to plate!

The first line-caught bluefin tuna landed in Newlyn earlier this month.

After four years in fruition, the line-caught bluefin tuna fishery opened on Cornwall a few weeks ago. Since then a dozen of these superb fish have been caught exclusively by hook and line in accordance within MMO rules and monitoring. They have ranged in size from 60 to well over 120kg in weight.

In order to land the fish in the best possible condition, once caught and taken aboard, the individual fish are carefully gutted, gilled and the cavities filled with flake ice in order to bring the temperature down as quickly as possible and maintain the highest quality...

once on the market, fishery officials from the MMO are on hand to monitor and record every fish landed to build a picture of the fishery in order to ensure successful management of the stock...

of course, that is just the start of the story with these fish which, if not served immediately as sashimi, need to be carefully filleted...

cut into joints...

to get the best from each cut...

only then can local chef's like Bruce Rennie at The Shore in Penzance get the best from the fish - in this dish, buckthorn (from his garden) ponzu matured with the smoked brown tuna meat, year-old pickled turnips, and local producer Dan's biquinho pepper...

then, moving up the county where Cornwall is blessed with that master of fish cheffery, Nathan Outlaw who was lucky enough to get his hands on a stunning 63kg bluefin tuna, sustainably caught by the Prospector in Newlyn, on what was only their second trip since obtaining their license from ICCAT to fish for bluefin earlier this month. Fish merchant George Cleave supplied the fish which he quickly got to work on filleting, ready to start serving on the evening menu!..

Like Bruce, every single part of that beauty is used, so keep your eyes open to see what dishes Nathan comes up - like these personal favourites: - raw tartare - seared with peppercorn hollandaise - cured with ginger, spring onion & yoghurt - pan-fried with mushroom cream, Szechuan, coriander & pickled red cabbage What a special treat!🙏🧜‍♀️- if you’re dining at outlaws Outlaw's New Road or the Fish Kitchen, you’re in for an extra special treat! 🧜‍♀️👍

Cod kept busy this #FishyFriday morning in Newlyn.

Pitch black and, with a welding job to do, Cod has brought the Rachel & Paul up under the harbour offices at high water to go aground, though there is still a heavy run which means he needs to stay aboard until she has grounded fully...

two big netter trips mean the boxes are stacked and ready to go...

with tons of hake from the Silver Dawn...

and Ajax...

all of which are swiftly taken away by young Magic with a spring in his step...

along with ray...

the beam trawler St Georges provided the usual selection of quality flats like this turbot...

and what looks like a few tubs of cuttles...

sometimes all you need is a hug...

no matter how hard they try the netters cannot avoid...

catching spurdogs, perfectly justifying the quota given them a few years back after many years of lobbying...

a fine set of paws will no doubt grace someone's fine dining plate or two this evening...

solid silver scad...

and pollack...

at just over 100kg the week ends with another big bluefin on the market...

from the Golden Harvest...

more top quality frosh from the Lizard...

and a few decent sized mackerel too...

lovely ling...

and line caught bass...

a tub of cuttles from a crabber, not much compensation for the lobsters they no doubt eat......

red mullet,,,

and red gurnard don't get much better than these..

along with a few cheeky monk cheeks...

'tiz still dark as a cow's guts outside...

as the Britannia V arrives to land...

looks like the Swordfish is gearing up for a Spooky weekend...

as Cod finds himself still stuck aboard the rolling punt waiting for her to go aground completely...

looks like the time has arrived to hop off...

and leave the port with the largest landings in England to get on with the weekend.