Cornish Maritime Trust lugger Barnabas sets sail for Ullapool and new masts.

 

News from CMT: The crew of Barnabas had a busy week sorting, sieving, and stashing everything they needed for their voyage to Ullapool. They even loaded new mackerel hooks and weights, and a large shipment of Cornish Sea Salt (which is still in Dave's van and will be loaded tomorrow in 12 beautiful boxes).

Unfortunately, there's no more space for physical donations onboard, but the CMT is grateful to everyone who has supported them so far. If you'd still like to contribute, you can visit their website [cornishmaritimetrust.org].

The only thing they're looking for now is a delicious chocolate cake to enjoy before they depart! If you're in Newlyn, come down to see them off and join them at the Fisherman's Rest on the Old Quay afterwards.

The crew would like to thank everyone for their support as they get ready to set sail. They just have to wash the deck quickly, and then Barnabas will be ready to begin its adventure to Ullapool. There's also still one space available on the Ayr to Holyhead leg, with a stop at the Isle of Man during the TT race! Contact Toby if you're interested.

Everyone is excited to see Barnabas sail and follow its journey!

Un-crewed vessels off the Scillys.

 

In action this week, remotely controlled vessels better known as, X-24 Uncrewed, 

and X-15 Uncrewed have been sailing from from Hugh Town on the Scillys. X-24 is currently (Wednesday midday) some 18 miles WSW of the islands. She is one of a fleet of remotely operated vessels run by XOcean - the world's largest operator of survey class USVs.

This illustration from the XOCEAN website is possibly a clue as to the purpose of the voyage off the Scillys.

Although the vessels are unmanned, they are managed throughout each 24hour operation, piloted remotely using 360° cameras and are equipped with other navigational aids/markings, including AIS, navigation lights & sound signal, active radar reflector, superstructure painted yellow.

In December last year, the Crown Estate set out its plans for investment in a huge wind farm project off the coast of South Wales and in the Western Approaches.

'Floating wind farms are set to power more than 4 million homes, bringing jobs and skills in exciting new chapter for UK offshore renewable industry' according to the Crown Estate's own website.

Newlyn Harbour has a vested interest in any offshore developments in the waters off Cornwall especially with regard to the plans to develop deepwater berthing and shoreside service industry potential at Sandy Cove. The harbour is looking to increase its ability to handle the more modern and larger vessels that are increasingly using the port to land fish, allow crew changes and access local services.

Plenty of fine fresh fish headed for the eating tables of the UK and beyond!

No chance of missing the harbour's big all-white bollards at the start of a rather chilly, dull day...

first up on the auction this morning, JDs from the Crystal Sea...

monk from young Brackan...

JDs from the Still Waters...

and soles, but not your normal Dover...

a box of black bream...

along with plenty of big silver fish like these mullet...

and bass...

and more...

always take a chance and try one of these cracking tub gurnards of you ever see one on your lcal fishmonger's slab - bake whole for best results...

plenty more Dovers heading for the door...

and some lovely lemons...

and no doubt these mackerel will make amazing money...

Silver Dawn heads for the gaps..

pile them high...

inshore boats, Lauren Anne and the Sara Lena wait for the strong winds to abate.
 

DEFRA letter reveals they have been aware that pollack stocks have been in decline for years!

The key extract from the letter which admits that Defra has known for 37 years that pollack stocks were on the decline.

 

A letter from the Permanent Secretary to Environment Minister, Steve Barclay MP, has revealed that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has known about the decline in pollack stocks for “over 37 years” but failed to act.

In June 2023, the development concerning the declining pollack stock in the ICES Areas 6 & 7 led to the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) to issue a zero Total Allowable Catch (TAC) advice for pollack in 2024 to allow the stock to recover.

Ed. ICES picture of pollack is here - based on landing figures - in the last 25 years many boats have been removed from the fishing effort that would have contributed to higher landings going back that far - for a start, the Breton fleet that would have fished extensively in Area VII is a shadow of its former self and these days there is only one >12m trawler from Newlyn capable of catching pollack in any quantity.

This decision was accepted by the UK government who implemented a prohibition on a targeted pollack fishery in Area 7, in South-West England as of 01 January 2024. The decision prompted discussions on potential compensation schemes for affected fishermen, and on 10 April last, Environment Minister, Steve Barclay MP, announced a scheme which would see around 50 vessel owners directly compensated for half their income lost due to the bycatch-only pollack fishery. The Environment Minister took the decision to implement the compensation scheme directly via a ministerial direction.

On taking the decision, the Environment Minister had acted against the advice of Permanent Secretary at DEFRA, Tamara Finkelstein CB. The Permanent Secretary had written to the Minister outlining the steps taken by DEFRA, including measures to support affected pollack fishers. These measures include expediting Fisheries and Seafood Scheme (FaSS) applications for under-10 metre handline pollack fishers to facilitate diversification and initiating a scientific study led by Cefas to improve the evidence base on pollack stock.

However, Finkelstein also discussed the Minister’s request for a compensation scheme for fishermen in the South-West who were economically dependent on pollack fishing in 2023. Finkelstein stated that the proposal did not meet the requirements of the Accounting Officer test for Value for Money. She highlighted concerns about the availability of alternative income streams for fishermen, including publicly funded benefits payments and opportunities for diversification.

More disturbingly though, the letter reveals that DEFRA has known that pollack stocks have been in decline for “over the past 37 years”.

The letter states that fishermen should have taken steps to diversify, but the question has to be asked, “How could the fishermen targeting pollack in the South-West have known to diversify when the Department knew about the “clear downwards trajectory” of the fish stock, but fishermen were not informed?

It also begs the question, why is the government launching new research into pollack stocks if the information is already at hand, judging by the contents of the letter from the Permanent Secretary?

Responding to the revelation, Shadow Minister for Fisheries, Labour’s Daniel Zeichner told The Fishing Daily today:

“It is deeply concerning that DEFRA appear to have been tracking a downward trend in pollack for many years and yet failed to put in place any management measures to stop it. “This is an absolute failure of fisheries management that has left fishermen and their families struggling and a stock at risk. “There is a special irony that they seek to blame the fishermen dependent on the fishery for not having taken action earlier while Government themselves have taken no action. “It’s the job of the government to manage stocks, not fishermen. “How many more fisheries are in this position?” he concluded.

Well worth considering the Cornish Fish Producer Organisation's recent 'ecosystem' position on pollack as given in detail here.

Here is the letter in full.

Fine(r) weather at last over the weekend.

Time to head off to sea for breakfast...

as the handliners land at the market...

while others get ready to take on a few cuttle pots...

that last, long look ashore as the boat heads for the gaps away on another trip...

full steam ahead...

on a morning that for once is only mildly hinting at rain...

that's the landing sheet updated for Monday's market...

early season yellow-welly visitors...

some things are just not meant to be used as moorings...

Emi-Lou, all set to go back into the water after her paint-up...

at last the north quay is devoid of boats after a week of incessant strong winds and big tides...

once these little fellas begin to get those rusty-coloured feathers in their plumage they look to head west, for Canadian waters...

Sheila T looking good.

 

Pollack: How an ecosystem approach could inform more intelligent management of the perceived decline in the pollack stock.

Following this week's announcement on compensation for pollack fishermen - those for whom most of their fishing activity being the most affected - and in light of the drastic intervention by ICEs - the Cornish ish Producers Organisation has produced a paper seeking a pragmatic solution to what many would describe as an unwarranted management disaster.

Chris Ranford, Chief Executive of the Cornish Fish Producers Organisation, said:

"It is positive to see the continued government attention on finding solutions to the ongoing challenges as a result of the current restrictions on the pollack fishery. Creating some financial support for part of the fleet will no doubt be welcomed by those eligible for compensation and we await to see the full details of the scheme before offering further thoughts. "In our efforts to improve the long-term management of the pollack stock, we have since been working closely with the UK government and - as it is a jointly managed stock – the EU. Earlier in the year the CFPO co-hosted a workshop with a diverse range of CFPO members, fisheries managers and scientists to discuss the necessary science and data needs to improve the understanding of the stock. The CFPO remains proactive in finding pragmatic solutions to managing the pollack fishery."

Industry shock - NUTFA to close!

Let's just give this disastrous news further context.  Of the entire UK fishing industry, 80% fish from boats, over 4,000 in total, that are less than 33ft long (10m). A huge number of those are worked singlehanded, a handful from large ports like Newlyn and Peterhead but the vast majority from tiny harbours, coves and even beaches around the entire UK coastline.

Just a few of the handline fleet fishing for mackerel off Lands End in 1981.

Many producer organisations, like the Cornish Fish Producers Organisation and the South West Handline Association, were created back in the 1970s to fight for and protect the livelihood of inshore fishermen. 

Almost the entire Scottish pelagic fleet anchored in Mounts Bay, 1980.

In the case of those two, both were formed during a time when a huge fleet of mid-water boats, the UK's biggest trawlers and the entire fleet of Scottish purse seiners fished for mackerel in the Western Approaches - mackerel being the mainstay of inshore fishermen for a huge number of boats from Weymouth to Milford Haven at the time.

Inshore fishermen were fighting for an exclusive 12 mile limit back in the 1970s - that can, one of many that Jerry mentions, despite all the plaititudes of Brexit when the likes of Gove promised fishermen that "we're going to take back control" is STILL being kicked down the road.

When Jerry Percy, founder of NURFA says, as in his statement below, 

"I think it is a tragedy that 60% of the fleet have been treated so shabbily by administrations going back decades. Ignoring the fleet has resulted in a lack of fish on the inshore grounds, ineffective management of larger vessels and the deafening sound of cans being kicked further down the road, such as the unacceptable delay in controlling the ravages of the fly-seine fleet in the Channel"

So now we have a situation where, as he points out, the very existence of the industry in the country is in danger of a free-fall into decline. The main reason is the inability to attract new recruits - traditionally many of these would come into the industry via the family or friend's boats - and more often than not starting before tey were even in their teens - now you cannot step aboard the smallest boat in the fleet with mandatory courses and aged 16. Many boats over 10m in the fleet are crewed almost exclusively by migrant crews on temporary contracts. Who and how are the skills needed to go out and catch fish going to be passed on to? Go to your local or even university library, you won't find a single book on how to be an 'inshore fisherman' - they just don't exist.

Obviously, external forces are dictating change to many industries like fishing; but where is the protection for the way of life? - the very thing that millions holiday for, or visit to write about or capture on canvas or film? The 2012 prediction recounted by Jerry is steaming towards us as fast as a 1700hp fly-seiner. Just two over 10m crabbers in the southwest work over 12,000 pots between them, the affect on shell-fishermen working the inshore grounds has never been more under threat.

No-one has fought harder or more passionately than Jerry for the cause of an industry faced with threats to its very existence coming from every conceivable quarter, be it totally disproportionate and ill-conceived legislation on grounds of physical health or vessel safety to fish stock quotas that also disproportionately punish fisherman who catch less in a year than a single big boat catches in a single haul. Without NUTFA, the adage, 'divide and rule' will never have been more apt.

Here is Jerry's NUTFA closure announcement in full.

NUTFA was the only UK organisation specifically dedicated to the support, survival and development of the Under Ten Metre Fleet.

The NUTFA Team would like to thank all those who have put their trust in us to achieve all our aims for a viable and profitable under ten sector.

NUTFA is a non-profit making organisation and represents the under 10m and non-sector at local, UK and EU levels, defending their rights and fighting for their future.

NUTFA represents all under ten sectors, quota and non quota, trawlers and netters, liners, shell fishermen and all other licensed fishermen trying to make a living from the sea.

UK and European fishing politics has been dominated for too long by the interests of the over ten sector, NUTFA represents the interests of the under ten sector at Local, Advisory Council (AC), European Commission and Parliament meetings as well as continuing to press for fairer recognition and a better deal from DEFRA and the MMO.

Currently working tirelessly through the challenges of the uncertainty of the impact of Brexit and the navigating the challenges that will be faced by fishermen from 2021 onwards.

NUTFA, born from a need to right the wrongs of quota allocation, now fights for everyone within the sector on every issue that might affect them.

Offering advice and assistance for fishermen on a vast range of issues including hand holding with paperwork and advice on grants and entitlements. More recently NUTFA have set up a law clinic, with assistance from fisheries lawyers across the UK who volunteer time and experience, to assist fishermen with challenges they face with regulatory compliance and enforcement issues.