Black Sapphire.

 If you have never done so before, why not make the best of the winter cuttlefish season.......

 it's time to try a traditional Italian recipe, Seppie al Nero.........

 or cuttlefish stewed in its own ink.......

one cracking cuttle courtesy of Mike Corin's beam trawler Sapphire........

 first job is to carefully split the underside of the cuttle to reveal the ink sac (which has to be removed and put to one side) and take out the rest of the insides........

 the familiar cuttle 'backbone' is provides traditional entertainment for the pet budgie........

split the cuttle body and slice across 1cm wide strips.........

 fry off some finely chopped shallot or onion in olly oil.......

 after a few minutes add the sliced cuttle to the pan, cover and cook for 20 minutes on a low heat........

 after the 20 minutes are up, season with salt and ground black pepper and add the ink (with the benefit of hindsight - it is not necessary to add all the ink but enough to give the dish its famous nero colour - a little goes a long way!).........

 time to cook the pasta, 80g of linguine or the pasta of your choice per person.......

 and the final dish always gets a comment!

Treasure hunting.

The sunken treasure hunter, Ocean Odyssey has been active south of the Islands of late.

Wind blast.

The wind speed data from the Sevenstones lightship shows how dramatically the wind dropped from 40 mph to around nothing at 2am this morning.

The combi chart also shows the dramtic decrease in air pressure as the low passed over the region.

Torrential rain in the night.

While the middle of Cornwall around St Austell, St Blazey and Mevagissey were hit with torrential rain and some flooding, the far west escaped lightly.......

although this seal may have been a casualty of the weather......

with the Combe river in full spate past the Mission......

and a heavy swell at the back of the harbour wall......

the auction was a more inviting place, the St Georges being one of six beamers to land along with......

several netters, some with bags of monk livers........

and plenty of big fish to keep the otoloith hunters busy.......

working on the gear after landing........

the Sapphire had a good shot of cuttles to complement the white fish........

up on the hard prior to being lifted out at the weekend, SS126 is up for sale - details to be posted soon.

FishFight!

Be aware of the power of the internet - in the 18 hours since the web site that Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has put his name to launched it has picked up 18,000+ signatories, that's around 1 person every 3.6 seconds - this viral form of canvassing support can be used to support worthwhile causes for the fishing industry - the message is clear and simple:

Half of all fish caught - in the North Sea are thrown back overboard......

.......dead.

The Fish Fight Campaign will officially launch with a broadcast of “Hugh’s Fish Fight” presented by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in January 2011.

Updates will be posted here soon.

Monthly catch limits - information needed from the Under 10m sector.

Here's some good news from the MMO - especially ahead of the impending implementation of 'Conservation Zones' which many are concerned will turn small fishing ports in to ghost towns on the back of drastically reduced catching opportinites - especially for the under 10metre sector who's landing figures for the year seldom amount to a single haul on larger vessels - see the Countryfile report on BBC last week where a single 1000 ton haul aboard a Scottish mid-water vessel made close on £1 million pounds. In this instance a satisfactory resoltion was reached - but things could have been different for the Cornish handline fleet.

Inshore fishermen need to be proactive in protecting their livelihoods - despite the past, every effort must be made to stay in touch with current events and pre-empt in any way changes to quotas and fishing oppportunites - and one way of doing so is by becoming involved in any way that the MMO or CEFAS offer.

The MMO are currently seeking involvement from the Under 10m sector with regard to catches - with no information, Defra, CEFAS and ultimately the EU will make decsions based on the data available - with no dat things are even morte likely to go against the wishes of the small boat sector.

Here's the latest from the MMO:

Information needed - monthly catch limits:

We’re encouraging fishermen from the under 10 metre fleet and the nonsector to help us to manage quotas and monthly catch limits. We’d like you to send us comments, ideas or any information you think is relevant for us to consider when we’re setting monthly catch limits.

Quota manager, Estelle Groark, said: "We’d like your views and information to improve our understanding of what’s happening around the coast and to inform our decisions. We’d particularly like to know about local factors which are important for your fishing community." We won’t be able to respond to individual emails, but can assure you that your views and information will be considered when deciding the next round of monthly catch limits. So,please send information before the 15th of each month to:

catchlimits@marinemanagement.org.uk

Defra & MMO - Fisheries Focus

The Defra and MMO marine fisheries newsletter

Keep up to date with the MMO's fisheries newsletter, dowloadable form their web site. The current issues has links to another useful section on the site - catch and landing statistices.

UK fishing industry statistics:
Last month we published the annual UK Sea Fisheries Statistics for 2009. The report includes detailed data on the UK fishing fleet, the number of fishermen and the quantity and value of fish landings, imports and exports. It also provides the latest scientific assessments of the state of key fishing stocks and their sustainability. The statistics will help to inform Government policy making and changes to the Common Fisheries Policy.


Overall, the statistics reveal that quantities of fish landed in the UK were slightly down on last year, but the total value of fish landed increased.
Fish exports increased by 15%, while imports fell by 8%.


You can find out more at:
www.marinemanagement.org.uk/ fisheries/statistics/annual.htm