Shellfish shambles explained.

Eighth generation oyster fisherman Tom Haward sheds some light on the 'EY shellfish ban' debacle that is affecting producers the length and breadth of the UK, not least for oyster fishing businesses like Fal Oyster and others in the Falmouth and Helford area of Cornwall.

Photo courtesy of Alan Clarke

The phrase, ‘EU shellfish ban,’ keeps being used by news outlets and it’s important to understand how this language is misleading and how Government is deliberately using misinformation to hide from its own failures. As a producer of live animals (oysters) who sells them on for human consumption, there are, quite rightly, rigorous standards we must meet to ensure what we sell is safe for people to eat. One of the most important factors in this process is the issue of water quality. If water quality is really poor (high amounts of sewage or rubbish dumped), animals like oysters will absorb the dangerous bacteria and make them unsafe to harvest.

There are 3 grades of water quality for shellfish production.

Grades, A, B & C. 

These grades were determined through when we were part of the EU. Simply, grade A waters are excellent and you don’t have to purify shellfish from these waters (some of our waters where we grow out oysters are A).

Grade B water means shellfish has to be purified before it can be sold for human consumption; most waters in the UK are B. The purpose of the grades is to ensure we use due diligence in our treatment of shellfish. It’s not a perfect system but it works...

As part of a large multi-country community we were effectively able to sell grade B shellfish unpurified to our neighbours where they would perform the process of purification before selling it on. Ideal if you harvested shellfish but didn’t have a purification centre. At least 2 years ago I noticed (along with others in industry) that if we were no longer part of the EU then as a 3rd country our food standards would no longer align, legally, and we wouldn’t be able to export grade B, unpurified shellfish...

This was raised with government figures as a major concern. It was obviously ignored. We (the UK) helped establish these EU regulations to have a consistent approach for easy, free flowing trade of shellfish. I said a no deal or equivalent would result in this catastrophe if it wasn’t looked at. George Eustace is lying when he says it was a surprise and when it is being peddled as an ‘overnight ban’. When he was fisheries minister he was aware of these worries. If I saw this coming then Johnson, et al should have...

The UK helped write the regulations government are now claiming they have been side swiped by. We are in this mess because those elected to serve us were too lazy and arrogant to read the small print because they wanted adulation without the work.

“YOUR VOICE IN OUR INDUSTRY”

 

Following ever-increasing demand from those in the fishing and seafood coastal communities nationwide a new organisation, the Irish Fishing & Seafood Alliance (I.F.S.A.) has been established.

Already endorsed by some of the country’s largest and most prominent industry groups, IFSA has been formed to, among several other agendas, seek recognition by Government and the Department of Marine that the seafood industry in Ireland requires their urgent intervention to redress the devastating outcome that BREXIT has beset upon the industry.

With the motto of “your voice in our industry”, IFSA is a self-funding, non-profit organisation which is not restrained by any existing regional political divisions, nor is it divided by differing industry sector interests and will be the spokesman for all individuals, vessels, fish companies of all sizes, fish shops, and all ancillary service companies involved in the industry nationwide. This provides a unique platform from which to give ALL interested parties a voice in demanding that our government affords our industry the support we deserve to navigate our way safely through the storm that BREXIT has forced upon our coastal communities. We will provide the opportunity for those who have invested and those who work in this industry to voice their frustration and demand action. Taking the wheel

Those involved in the formation of IFSA unanimously voted for the appointment of well-known industry supporter Cormac Burke to be the Organisation’s Chairman.

An ex-fisherman and later editor of The Irish Skipper, Fishing News, and Fishing News International, Mr Burke is also known as MD of the international fishing industry consultancy and PR firm FishComm Ltd.

In his first public statement as IFSA Chairman, Cormac said that he was honoured to have been chosen for this appointment and is looking forward to the many challenges that lie ahead.

“Coming from a fishing industry background and having spent most of my life involved in the fishing and seafood industry, in one form or another, I’m pleased to now be given this opportunity to serve the industry.

“This sector is made up of decent, hardworking people, many of whom have made heavy private investment in vessels, processing companies and ancillary services. But the biggest majority are simply reliant on this industry for their livelihoods.

“The spiral of decline in our traditional fishing ports will be greatly accelerated if our Government is not prepared to support the decent people that are proud to be part of our industry. The resilience and perseverance of these people has, in the past, helped our country to achieve what it has, against the odds. However, this latest challenge is catastrophic.

. “We cannot and will not accept to be relegated to the ‘poor relation’ of Irish commercial life. We cannot countenance a situation whereby vessels tie up, companies close down and once-thriving coastal towns and villages will face economic collapse.

“Many people in the seafood and fishing sectors believe that the only hope for progress is to unite the industry - a tough task given the challenges of existing regional representation and political restraints on many of the current representative groups - but hopefully IFSA can now be that unrestricted voice that the industry so badly needs,” he said.

Full contact details, website, social media etc will be made available in the coming weeks.

You can help save, 'This Fishing Life' in Cadgwith.

The penultimate episode of BBC2's This Fishing Life episode 5 featured the fishermen and fishing community of Cadgwith, the UK's southernmost fishing village at the foot of the Lizard peninsula facing directly into the heavy Atlantic winter swells. Boats are launched and retrieved up the beach as the cove's fishermen have done, for centuries. 

Pounding seas on the shingle, Cornish gig rowing competitions, singers huddled round huge real fires in the Cadgwith Cove Inn; fishing life and the sea pervade every twist and turn of the cove's well-worn cobbles and is the very essence of what makes it such a unique place to visit. 

Home to innovative fishermen artists like Simon Bradley and Nigel Legge it's a plein air artist's dream location, Likely Lads star, Rodney Bewes made it his home for years and local characters like fisherman Martin Ellis who featured in Mark Jenkin's award winning film Bait (which the Guardian described as a, 'defining film of the decade') on the very subject of second home developmen all make this fishing community the genuine article in an age of faux aged-paint finishes and fabricated history. 

It would be no exaggeration to say that if the fishing community of Cadgwith lost all three buildings to second home developers then the very lifeblood of the village would rapidly ebb away on the next tide.

And then, there's actual fish! In 2012, Cadgwith was the subject of Monty Don's 'Fishermen's Apprentice' when the presenter made an admiral attempt to make a living as a share fisherman - this clip exemplifies the incredibly important role these small fishing communities and fishermen like Danny Phillips provide - it is simple enough, they land the very highest quality fish- much of which you can buy in the cove!

What's the big issue? There are three old buildings in Cadgwith Cove that are used by the fishermen to store their gear and process their catch. They also house a very popular art gallery and two shops selling fresh fish.

Cadgwith Cove Fishing Trust Crowdfunder

"We are the Cadgwith Cove Fishing Trust, and we are a charitable trust whose objects are the improvement maintenance and protection of the historic communal fishing facilities in Cadgwith Cove in the parish of Grade Ruan.

We aim to purchase the historic fishing buildings to protect them from development and maintain for the local fishermen in perpetuity. Once we have raised the £300,000 required to purchase the historic fishing buildings, any excess will be used to renovate and repair the buildings, provide an even better environment for the local fishermen to work in.

We would also like to provide some public access with exhibits showing the history of the buildings and the trial and tribulations of the fishermen who have worked there over many centuries, and made it the vibrant community we enjoy today.

We are trying to put together the funding to buy all three buildings to keep them safe from the ever-present threat of development, which here would mean conversion into yet more second homes and holiday lets.

Cadgwith is visited each year by thousands of holidaymakers. If our fishing activity ever came to an end, the tourism industry would shrink and many local residents would lose their main source of income. The fishermen are at the heart of our strong sense of community and we are doing whatever we can to support them.

Our master plan is for the local parish council to take the freeholds of the buildings in order that they may be held in perpetuity for the fishermen and then for our not-for-profit charitable trust to look after the day-to-day management of them. There will be covenants requiring the buildings to be used by fishermen as long as they are so needed and preventing them from being sold for anyone's private gain. The parish council will still exist in fifty or one hundred years time and will use the buildings for other community purposes if there was no more fishing out of the cove. There can be no element of subsidising the fishermen. They will pay an economic rent, enough to cover all expenses of maintenance and repairs.

We are already well into realising the plan. The council is raising a loan to buy one of the buildings and there is widespread support from parishioners even though the loan repayments may cause a small increase in their local council tax.

For the other two buildings, we have had professional surveys and valuations that tell us we need to find £300,000 to buy and repair them.

This crowdfunding project will hopefully be large enough to form an essential component of that funding.

If you are able to help us, we and the fishermen of Cadgwith will be very grateful for your assistance."

Cadgwith Cove Fishing Trust 

The object of our trust is protection improvement and maintenance of the historic fishing community buildings in Cadgwith Cove in Cornwall.

A hard-won trip for skipper and crew of the god ship Enterprise.

Looks like the Unity won't be gong anywhere for a day or two...

first time visit for the visiting Brixham based Joy of Ladram skippered by local skipper Nathan Marshall...

she is an older version of the lates beam trawler to join the Newlyn fleet, Enterprise...

there's only a handful of netters and crabbers left in the port after the last eight days of appalling weather...

which skipper Billy Worth described as some of the worst prolonged poor weather he has fished through...

so the boys are doubly happy to set up the landing ear...

don the remote gilson controller which involves some light footwork from the skipper...

watched over by Nathan aboard the Joy of Ladram...

landing eight boxes at a time...

it doesn't take long...

for brothers Ian and 'Little' Graham...

to bring 280 boxes ashore ready for tomorrow's auction.

 

And you think we have problems with a handful of EU fishing vessels off our coast?

When you have a population of over 1,398,000,000 who need feeding and they love seafood, especially squid, along with a few neighbours with a similar appetite for such fish - just how do you satisfy demand?

Well, one way is to sail your fleet of squid catchers...

to the east coast of Argentina and the rich squid grounds north of the Falklands

 from all corners of the globe, across the Indian and Atlantic oceans...

or the Pacific, where, as of this morning, there are currently over 300 squid fishing vessels, mostly Chinese along with a handful of Korean and Japanese vessels working the Patagonian Shelf - many appear to be unregistered as fishing vessels - as can be seen from the spreadsheet below provided courtesy of VesselTracker AIS.

After crossing the Pacific, China’s fishing armada is now off the Argentine coast. The Argentinian government is playing down the issue, saying that it is negotiating with China, while refusing US help. Environmental groups call for international regulation.

Buenos Aires (AsiaNews) - A “floating city” of hundreds of mostly Chinese-flagged vessels, looking for squid and other species off the coasts of the Caribbean and South America, is now approaching Argentina’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Such a presence and the imminent start of its activity, a plain and outright plunder of natural resources, is possible only because of the lack of regulation of fishing in international waters and the lack of real controls by coastal states, like Argentina.

This is taking place amid alleged negotiations between China and Argentina over a fishing agreement; meanwhile, the Kirchnerist government of President Alberto Fernández rejected US help to discourage illegal fishing.

The United States offered the services of the most modern vessel in its Coast Guard, US Coast Guard Cutter (USGC) Stone, which is currently on patrol in the South Atlantic. The Argentine Foreign Ministry turned down the offer of collaboration, noting that such a ship will be received in the next few weeks in the port of Mar del Plata only on a courtesy visit.

Argentinian authorities said that the surveillance and control of the country’s fishing and maritime areas are carried out “exclusively with the means and personnel of the Argentine State”, whose function is to protect national sovereignty and the country’s resources. In addition, they proudly note that in 2020 they captured three illegal foreign fishing vessels, “a number not reached since 2005”.

The temporary suspension of the activities of just three of the more than five hundred boats as well as the fines for fishing in the EEZ, which were increased at the end of last year to about US$ 150,000, will not affect a business worth millions.

China’s fishing armada is the same that pushed the Ecuadorian government last July to call for monitoring China and sped up a few months later an agreement between Ecuador, Chile, Peru and Colombia to adopt steps to prevent, discourage and fight illegal fishing off the Pacific shores of South America.

A number of environmental organisations are now calling on the Argentinian government to exert greater control over the country’s coast to prevent fishing in Argentina’s EEZ.

For Argentinian environmentalist Diego Moreno, an independent consultant and a former environmental policy secretary, the underlying issue is not the arrival of some boats engaging in illegal practices since the squid stock, or that of any other species, is the same whether it is 199th or the 201st mile.

Feasible options exist for what seems like a dead end, however complex they may be. They include, according to Moreno, regional fishing agreements within the framework of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Sea (UNCLOS), joint initiatives in the context of the Convention on Biological Diversity for fishing in areas outside national jurisdictions, and bilateral agreements between countries.

The expert notes that the negotiations to manage shared resources in the South Atlantic have so far been held back by the dispute with the United Kingdom over the territorial rights of the Falkland Islands. So he is betting on international regulatory standards, “an issue that will undoubtedly be central to the environmental agenda of the coming decade.”

Full story courtesy of AsiaNews.IT   

Huge plans to redevelop historic Newlyn fishing port

Plans for a breakwater, marina, watersports facilities, maritime industrial estate and housing.

How Sandy Cove could look with the new breakwater and deeper port for larger fishing vessels.

Newlyn Harbour Commissioners and its advisory board have shared an initial outline of plans for the improvement and update of the historic fishing port’s infrastructure at a time when Brexit has put added pressure on the Cornish fishing industry.

The plans would see the creation of deeper drafts to cater for bigger fishing vessels, a breakwater to protect the town from stormy seas, a maritime industrial estate, marina, watersports facilities and housing.

A spokesperson for the project said: “Parts of Newlyn and the fishing industry locally are in desperate need of more support.

“By offering improved facilities, a better working environment and providing a base for marine skills, we can ensure that the way of life in Newlyn cannot just continue but flourish in a way we have not seen in decades.”

Newlyn’s harbourmaster Rob Parsons added: “We want to bring Newlyn to the wider community, supporting our local small businesses and artisans, creating a destination that embodies all the skills, trades and traditions that the town has in abundance. 

“We are seeing an increase in larger fishing vessels in Newlyn, with local companies investing in the future of fishing, which gives us great confidence, and as a port we need to do everything we can to facilitate them.”

He said: “Newlyn lands in the region of 14,000 tonnes of fish annually with a value of £30 million and we are in a great position now to build on that and for local fishermen and fish producers to capitalise where they can, using Newlyn’s location to the prime fishing grounds to our advantage, ensuring the fish caught in our waters comes through our harbour entrance and into our auction.”

The plans initially focus on developing Sandy Cove to enable Newlyn to welcome boats with deeper drafts and offer a safe haven in all weathers.

A proposed breakwater will act as protection from the storms to the town’s existing piers, which have seen storm-driven seas sweeping over the harbour walls in recent weeks.

How Newlyn could look from above if the breakwater is built (Image: Newlyn Harbour Commissioners) The long-term plans include a maritime industrial estate, marine skills centre, marina, leisure, watersports facilities, transport links and housing.

Mr Parsons added: “We aim to bring people together, in such a way that allows the industry to work, whilst tourists and locals alike can enjoy the benefits of fresh fish, incredible vistas and the unique connections with the rich heritage of Cornwall and artisans that are in abundance in Newlyn.”

The plans are in the initial stages and with “positive comments already coming from Cornwall Council” the advisory board is now inviting stakeholders and members of the public to bring ideas and concepts as well as suggestions that can benefit the overall goal.

The project’s spokesperson added: “The Harbour Commissioners and Advisory Board are hoping the planning and discussion stages will help bring the plans to the hearts of the people, and it will in turn feel like a local community project, where everyone involved will feel proud of what has been achieved.

“Plans of this scale can only be achieved when everyone works together and from the initial reaction from the advisory board’s research, it really feels like what is needed can be delivered under the leadership of Cornwall Council, and the guidance and investment from Newlyn Harbour, Marine Developments Limited and the private business sector.

“This is the opportunity to grab the bright future that Newlyn deserves, that will benefit Newlyn, Penzance and the whole neighbouring area for many years to come.”

Cornwall councillors will receive a presentation of the plans by the Newlyn advisory board this Thursday.

Concept plans can now be viewed online on the advisory board section of the harbour website.

Full story courtesy of Cornwall Live 

By chief repoprter Lee Trewhela.

Jersey: French fishermen caught up in post-Brexit bureaucratic storm

 

Many people breathed a sigh of relief after the UK and EU reached a last-minute post-Brexit trade deal last year. But for French fishermen in Normandy and Brittany opposite the Channel Islands, Brexit spells disaster. The accord nullified their access to fish in Jersey's territorial waters. After pressure from Brussels and France, the island issued temporary licences to French boats – but these are due to expire at the end of April. 

Full story courtesy of FRANCE 24's David Gilberg and Julia Kim who went to meet fishermen caught up in the post-Brexit bureaucratic storm.