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| The Fern alongside the Pilot's office steps by the crane in Newlyn |
but who is the guy in the background on the deck and who is that man in the water? He can tell you the water is cold which is a fairly obscure clue.
Thursday 18 December 2014
Photo from the archives.
but who is the guy in the background on the deck and who is that man in the water? He can tell you the water is cold which is a fairly obscure clue.
Primary schools' end of year report - did your region get an A?
Despite having more fishermen than any other region in the UK, the South West's MSC end of year report might find some report envelopes languishing in the bottom of school bags rather than being thrust into the hands of happy governors!
For its first “end of year report”, which assessed how well-prepared primary schools across England are for the School Food Standards, the MSC took data from its Chain of Custody programme – the only global standard that ensures sustainable seafood is traceable from ocean to plate.
The report found that there were dramatic differences in regional trends across England’s 156 local education authorities with the best regions receiving an A* grade and the worst with a D.
Of the 2,416 state-funded primary schools that serve certified sustainable fish in their canteens, 1,465 schools are in the north of England and the Midlands, while the combined figure for the south-west, south-east and London is only 951.
The Midlands come out on top as a region and Solihull was awarded an A* grade, while Birmingham and Coventry were each awarded an A. In the north, Bolton, Cheshire East & West, Durham, Oldham, Stockport and Tameside were graded at A, bringing the regional grade to an A, despite Yorkshire being entirely unrepresented.
In the south-east, Brighton & Hove was graded A*, meanwhile, the south-west only reached a D grade because of very low representation.
Although only 14% of England’s 16,784 state-funded primary schools currently provide a choice of certified sustainable fish in canteens, that already equates to an estimated 640,000 of the 4.3mil state primary school children in England.
Toby Middleton, UK senior country manager said, “We applaud all the hard work that the A-grade LEAs have been awarded for this first report. But 70% of England’s LEAs are missing an opportunity to celebrate marine sustainability.
“We encourage more LEAs to take up government guidelines and join the growing community of MSC-certified schools. We hope that by the time we run these numbers again, more LEAs will make the grade. In the meantime, we can help those with low grades do better and for those not even on the map this year, we can help them show up for the exam.
“If England’s 4.3m primary school children can help safeguard fish stocks for their own generation and the ones that follow, we are off to a good start in transforming the supply of seafood to a sustainable basis and recognising the efforts of pioneer fisheries that make a difference on the water.”
Schools in England currently spend an estimated £43m on fish each year, according to campaigners at Sustainable Fish City who pushed for sustainable fish to become part of the Government Buying Standards introduced in 2011.
From January 2015, new School Food Standards will become mandatory and contain recommendations that schools “choose fish from verifiably sustainable sources and ideally MSC”.
For its first “end of year report”, which assessed how well-prepared primary schools across England are for the School Food Standards, the MSC took data from its Chain of Custody programme – the only global standard that ensures sustainable seafood is traceable from ocean to plate.
The report found that there were dramatic differences in regional trends across England’s 156 local education authorities with the best regions receiving an A* grade and the worst with a D.
Of the 2,416 state-funded primary schools that serve certified sustainable fish in their canteens, 1,465 schools are in the north of England and the Midlands, while the combined figure for the south-west, south-east and London is only 951.
The Midlands come out on top as a region and Solihull was awarded an A* grade, while Birmingham and Coventry were each awarded an A. In the north, Bolton, Cheshire East & West, Durham, Oldham, Stockport and Tameside were graded at A, bringing the regional grade to an A, despite Yorkshire being entirely unrepresented.
In the south-east, Brighton & Hove was graded A*, meanwhile, the south-west only reached a D grade because of very low representation.
Although only 14% of England’s 16,784 state-funded primary schools currently provide a choice of certified sustainable fish in canteens, that already equates to an estimated 640,000 of the 4.3mil state primary school children in England.
Toby Middleton, UK senior country manager said, “We applaud all the hard work that the A-grade LEAs have been awarded for this first report. But 70% of England’s LEAs are missing an opportunity to celebrate marine sustainability.
“We encourage more LEAs to take up government guidelines and join the growing community of MSC-certified schools. We hope that by the time we run these numbers again, more LEAs will make the grade. In the meantime, we can help those with low grades do better and for those not even on the map this year, we can help them show up for the exam.
“If England’s 4.3m primary school children can help safeguard fish stocks for their own generation and the ones that follow, we are off to a good start in transforming the supply of seafood to a sustainable basis and recognising the efforts of pioneer fisheries that make a difference on the water.”
Schools in England currently spend an estimated £43m on fish each year, according to campaigners at Sustainable Fish City who pushed for sustainable fish to become part of the Government Buying Standards introduced in 2011.
From January 2015, new School Food Standards will become mandatory and contain recommendations that schools “choose fish from verifiably sustainable sources and ideally MSC”.
Fishermen are just wrong says Fisheries Minister, George Eustice on BBC TV
Fisheries Minister George Eustice was interviewed for BBC TV's Spotlight (covers the South West) last evening.
Just a small sample off comments following this years decisions on quotas for 2015.
Fishing quotas defy scientists’ advice EU decision to increase allowed catches in most areas good news for British fishermen, but conservationists are dismayed - Guardian
Seems like a similar response across the water in France!
Quotas de pêche en Europe: les pêcheurs satisfaits pour 2015, les ONG beaucoup moins http://t.co/rlERBpjNaM
— Yannick Chaudron (@Biomarine_fr) December 18, 2014
Thursday's market with five big beam trawler and net trips.
The end of the year is nigh...
and the fish on Newlyn gets rushed away as soon as it is sold...
these lovely lemons didn't hang around...
and there was plenty of cuttles...
to keep the buyers happy...
even the pollack comes gift wrapped at this time of year...
while the cod just get bigger and bigger...
don't forget the Newlyn Fishermen's forum meeting today at 1pm at Seafood Cornwall Training...
there was fish stacked out to the market doors...
just racing off the auction floor...
including pollack from the netter Stelissa...
keeping the buyers busy...
stack 'em high for Christmas, Ian gets a helping hand...
while outside the harbour prepares for another blustery day...
with most of the boats now tied up for the break...
the harbour looks well busy.
Wednesday 17 December 2014
Fisheries Council ends 2014 on something of a high compared to what might have been - commonsense prevails! #CFPreality
Although there will inevitably be cries of 'foul' from the NGOs and others involved in 'monitoring' and campaigning for the well-being of our waters, yesterday's fisheries council proceedings ended on a better note than many fishermen might have expected - hopefully because the delegates in Brussels can see how the results of years of fleet cuts and responsible fishing are seeing evidence of many stocks ate levels reminiscent of 20 or 30 years ago!
"THE UK government has delivered a fair deal for fishermen, according to Fisheries Minister George Eustice, striking the right balance between supporting businesses and conserving fish stocks.
The Minister's claim follows negotiations at the annual EU Fisheries and Agriculture Council where fishing quotas for 2015 were agreed.
The government entered negotiations facing challenging proposals from the Commission for precautionary reductions in the quotas of many stocks, but important increases were agreed for many parts of the UK's fishing fleet. This includes increases to cod and haddock in the North Sea, nephrops in the Celtic Sea, sole in the Western Channel and monkfish and haddock in the West of Scotland.
According to the Minister: "Where the latest scientific evidence supported it we were also able to lobby against unjustifiable cuts proposed by the Commission. Instead we ensured quotas were looked at on a case-by-case basis, achieving a rollover of current 2014 catch levels to provide stability for the fishermen who rely on these species, including skates and rays around the UK.
"The government also successfully resisted further reductions to days at sea under the cod recovery plan. This will give fishermen the time they need to fish more selectively and avoid discarding perfectly good fish.
"Finally, despite pressing hard for measures to address declining sea bass levels, we were disappointed not to leave negotiations with an agreement on specific measures to tackle this issue. The UK government has led on action to improve these stocks and has now secured a commitment from the Commission to work with Member States to reduce fishing pressure at the start of the season in 2015."
He added: "Although these were difficult negotiations, I am pleased that we were able to secure the best possible deal to ensure sustainable fisheries and a strong UK fishing industry."
Given the start of the pelagic discard ban in January 2015 the UK also ensured next year's total allowable catch took into account the ban on discarding fish, a crucial agreement following UK-led reforms to the Common Fisheries Policy last year. In addition a commitment was obtained from the Commission to undertake research to improve flexibility, allowing fishermen to use quota across regions in light of the discard ban and increased selectivity."
Full story courtesy of FishNewsEU
The UK also successfully negotiated a number of further concessions. These include:
•Days at sea kept at 2014 levels rather than reduced.
•Increased quota for fishermen in many areas, including the following:
•North Sea: 5% cod,15% Nephrops (prawns), 15% plaice
•North Sea and West Scotland : 6% haddock, 20% angler (monkfish)
•Irish Sea: Nephrops (prawns) 3%
•Around the UK: hake 11%
Reducing cuts to a number of important fish quotas by providing sound scientific evidence to the Council. Including:
•Celtic Sea: 64% cut to cod reduced to 26% and 41% cut to haddock reduced to 12%
•Eastern Channel: 60% cut to sole reduced to 28%
•Bristol Channel: 35% cut to sole reduced to 15%
As well as maintaining 2014 quotas for a number of stocks, including:
•Irish Sea: haddock
•South West: angler (monkfish), megrim
•Bristol Channel: plaice
•North Sea: megrim, dab and flounder, sole and ling
And accepting proposals for cuts where necessary to protect stocks, including:
•Celtic Sea: 30% cut to herring, 26% cut to cod and 12% •North Sea: 5% herring, 15% saithe.
Tuesday 16 December 2014
"The sea around us taking stock of our fish oceans and people" a PEW presentation today at 10pm (5pm ET)
Check out this presentation from PEW Trust.
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| Click here for the presentation. |
Follow the event with #PewSea
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