Tag Archives: Cornwall
RIP Pussen, the feral harbour cat.
For those who have lived and worked on the harbour in Newlyn over the past 10 years, the sight of a black and white feral cat hunting for rats in the rocks by the RNLI boathouse wouldn’t have been a strange sight. She had a great bounty there which kept her fit. But as for her main food supply she depended on the many pigeons that housed in the wall face on the way to the net sheds opposite Trelawney fish shop. It was in this location that I was lucky enough to see her engage in what she did best. I rigged gillnets in the end shed which gave me a front seat to the act. I called her to me almost daily after that but she showed no interest until I saw her pass one day and offered her some fresh ham from my lunch. This she accepted from a distance,,, photos, Freddie Bates, adopted cat companion. >click to read< 10:23
Rising diesel fuel prices see Cornish fisherman tie up their boats
A Cornish Fisherman says rocketing fuel prices are forcing some boat owners to tie up their vessels. Peter Green, who fishes out of St Mawes on Cornwall’s Roseland Peninsula, says the rising cost of red diesel is making it uneconomic to go to sea. He said: “It means the end of the road. How can we keep going? “Fishing vessels are expensive boats to run and maintain – the costs are continuous. If you are not keeping enough back at the end of the day, you’re going to end up in trouble financially.” The effects of price rises are being felt in ports around the UK. Fish Producers Association the SWFPA has called for more action on fuel prices to support the industry. Video, >click to view and read< 16:45
Cornwall ice cream man and fisherman devastated by fuel price crisis
Record-high fuel prices are deeply affecting businesses across Cornwall. Reaching almost £2 in multiple stations, various business owners have shared the impact it has taken on their businesses. Fisherman Peter, from St Mawes, said he can no longer afford to go to sea as the price of fuel has risen from 30 per cent to 50 per cent of his daily expenditure, which has reached as high as £270 a day for diesel. He said that it is not possible for his catch to cover such a rise, forcing him to give up his livelihood and security. “I have no income, full stop,” he said. “Fear is if you’re at sea for 14 hours a day, and everyone who knows boats knows they’re expensive to run. If you have a breakdown and have to replace parts on a winch then suddenly it’s a step back before you know it. >click to read< 12:01
Prawn trawler Orion in Newlyn
Orion, also known as the ‘sailor’s star’ is actually a constellation and so named as it is visible the whole world over and therefore when looked at provides a constant connection between loved ones at home and a sailor wherever they may be,,, photos, >click to read< 11:00
Backlash after Cornish fishers call for seal cull
Seals are the “rats of the sea” and should be culled, a group of Cornish fishers have said. Marine campaign groups hit back after fishers on an online marketplace and forum expressed anger about the amount of fish seals eat. Posting a statistic that “for every fish caught by our fisheries, seals eat 53 times more”, the Cornish Mackerel Fishermen group wrote, adding: “We need a cull!” The fishers did not supply a source for this number. Some studies have suggested seals eat as many fish as commercial fisheries catch in some areas. >click to read< 12:07
Project Fisheye Successfully Accelerates Development of New Underwater Camera
Before looking at Project Fisheye let’s go back to the latest in fishing gear technology from the 1990s in Cornwall. Plymouth based fishing gear and net designer Winston Phillips who commissioned Phil Lockley, fisherman, diver and Fishing News journalist to record his work designing flip-over ropes, not to be confused with the John Day designed flip-up rope designed for beam trawls, and stone traps for trawls as well as Net-Tec doors. Remote, underwater cameras were prohibitively expensive in those days so there was only one thing for Phil and Winston to do, don the diving gear 
go over the side and hang on to the headline of the trawl while it was being towed, then slowly pull yourself out to the starboard wing and film the new doors with wheels on (designed in Hull) as they were being towed. How times have changed! Wind the clock forward to 2022 and technology, and ideas about health and safety have moved on somewhat! Photos, Video’s, >click to read< 20:55
How many more #FishyFridays if fuel rockets in price?
In Lorient, with the fishermen on strike: “If we close it now, the profession will die” Overwhelmed by the soaring price of “fishing diesel”, shipowners have stopped Breton boats from Keroman, the country’s second largest fishing port. Usually, at this time, the boats are offshore. Wednesday morning, they are almost all moored along the quays of the port of Keroman in Lorient (Morbihan). The first fishing port in Brittany, second in the country, is almost at a standstill. La P’tite Mila explains why on a banner painted red, stretched on her deck: “Sailor ashore, diesel too expensive!!!”Another ship sports a hangman in yellow oilskin. Over the past ten days, most shipowners have paused their activity, overwhelmed by the soaring price of “fishing diesel”, tax-free professional fuel: 1.05 euros per liter on average Wednesday,,, >click to read< 11:19
Fuel: in Lorient, the trawler Le Dolmen will not go to sea for glory
The war in Ukraine is yet to impact fully on the price of diesel fuel in the UK. Handline, inshore and gillnetters burn considerably less fuel than trawlers and even more so than beam trawlers – the biggest of which can typically consume somewhere in the region of £3,000 per day in red diesel – which means the expenses alone for a trip could exceed well over 50%. In Cornwall, CFPO are telling its members that, they’re very aware of the rising fuel costs & the toll this is taking on the fleet. Discussions between @GOVUK and industry are taking place. This Friday, @NFFO_UK will hold an emergency Executive Committee meeting on this issue. French fishermen are already reacting to the increase in their fuel costs as this translated story testifies. Video, >click to read< 12:35
Twinkle no more.
Flown at half mast, the harbour’s Cornish flag signifies that yet another Newlyn skipper and someone for whom the title, ‘character’ was totally justified, has gone to the big wheelhouse in the sky. This week we say goodbye to John Trennere, who, as an apprentice boatbuilder in Porthleven was given the nickname Twinkle by the boatyard boss. Anyone who knew him will immediately identify with how the name arose. His very presence enough to lighten the mood no matter what the circumstances, though to be fair, he must have driven said boss and the other guys half-crazy with his constant banter and antics, not that he changed much over the years as anyone who had the pleasure of sailing under him as I did aboard the Reliance for a short while will testify. photos, >click to read< 06:55
A Record Breaker!
The record for the value of fish landed in a single trip at one of England’s busiest fishing ports has been broken. The Enterprise caught the £87,353 haul during an eight-day trip out of Newlyn, Cornwall, last month. Skipper Nathan Marshall said “the stars were aligned” as they broke the previous port record by £11,000. The 43m (141ft) ship is the largest beam trawler in the port, and the newest having arrived in 2021. “Some hauls are better than others but on this trip they were just all good hauls, every single one of them.” >click to read<, More photos of the trip, Boom! Star ship Enterprise lands a record-breaking £87,353 trip. >click to read< 07:32
Full-on #FishyFriday in Newlyn
The repairs to the Fishermens Arms must be taking longer than when they built the place. Mordros looking good in the morning sunshine. some classy curves on the crabber Francesca’s revamped wheelhouse. A lot of fantastic photos of fish and other interesting happenings in Newlyn, Cornwall on #FishyFriday. Enjoy! >click to read< 09:28
First freezing #FishyFriday this year in Newlyn!
The sight of an ill-fitting hard hat three sizes too small earlier in the week provided a first glimpse of the big Padstow man himself in this celebration of skippers-to-be in the Swordfish circa 1985 cuddling a very young Billy Bunn, alongside another big skipper-to-be, Don Liddicoat and (seated) skipper/owner of the Ocean Harvester, Mervyn Mountjoy, sadly now no longer with us,,, Lots of fishy photos, >click to read< 10:32
Newlyn: Grimmy Mike RIP.
There are, or rather were, two well-known skippers called Mike in Newlyn, both referred to by their ports of origin, Milford Mike and Grimmy Mike. Whilst Milford Mike is currently a contender for the oldest working fisherman in the port, sad news has reached Newlyn that Grimmy Mike has gone to the big wheelhouse in the sky. For those who are not aware, Mike Mahon, better known as Grimmy Mike became something of living legend in 
Newlyn and beyond. The photo above epitomises Grimmy’s political fishing career – the little guy steaming ahead, singlehandedly trying to champion his beloved fishing industry battling against the full weight of legislation in the form the much-hated Common Fisheries Policy. Grimmy’s finest moment came when he sought the support of Canadian Fisheries minister, Brian Tobin who flew to Newlyn for the 1995 Fish Festival. photos,>click to read< 14:47
Newlyn: That was the year that was – 2021 in pictures
Notwithstanding Covid, history was made in January 2021 when Newlyn’s fish auction went online signaling the end of the shout auction. Busy markets are now devoid of buyers, all of whom bid from the comfort of a remote computer, wherever that may be. The demise of things that had been a feature of the harbour for many years was to be repeated several times later in the year, the next casualty being landings of fish from the boats in the Waterdance fleet being landed in Newlyn but transported by road for auction at Brixham which, despite the need to reduce the carbon footprint, sees large quantities of the sae fish then transported back to Newlyn for processing and transported yet again back up the A30 for distribution beyond Cornwall. Photo’s, >click to read< 08
Tributes paid to ‘patriarch of Newlyn’ Billy Stevenson
The family and friends of Billy Stevenson have paid tribute to the ‘patriarch of Newlyn’. William ‘Billy’ Stevenson was one of the fishing port’s most emblematic figures, known for successfully growing and running the family business and for his lifelong passion for Cornwall’s fishing industry and its people. Billy began working as a fisherman out of Newlyn when he was 15 in 1943. His whole family has been involved with the industry and W Stevenson & Sons remains one of the largest suppliers of fish in the South West. The Stevensons have been fishing out of the West Cornwall town for over 100 years and now run a core fleet of 10 beam trawlers. >click to read< 10:35
Unicorns and Mermaids! Ocean Rebellion in Cornwall call for ban on bottom trawling
Penryn’s Ocean Rebellion crew claimed to have found a gossip of mermaids entangled in discarded fishing waste. They say the pod had washed up along with a trawler boat on Sailors Creek, up the Penryn River. The group claims the mythical creatures are being killed by the effects of ghost fishing gear and damage from industrial fishing, damage that is destroying all the local coastal ecosystems they inhabit. >click to read< 09:05
Fine, flat calm #FishyFriday in Newlyn.
Fine start to the final day of the week and with a big spring tide the netting fleet are all in port waiting for the next neap to begin…fish, photos, >click to read< 22:44
Fishing times they are a changing!
A new strategy for the fishing industry in Cornwall is set to be created as the value of fish landed continues to rise. The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has been working with the Cornwall Fish Producers Organisation (CFPO) to draw up the new strategy looking at how the industry can be prepared for the future. Paul Trebilcock, chief executive of the CFPO, told the LEP board this week that fishing was part of the “social fabric” of Cornwall. He explained that the fishing industry in Cornwall was bigger than that in Wales and Northern Ireland in terms of fish landed and fishermen. >click to read< 08:27
UK’s fishing crews outraged at Brexit betrayal five years after
It’s 5am on a brisk June morning and on board the Girl Pamela fishing vessel, skipper Graham Nicholas is taking me through some basic housekeeping ahead of a 12-hour stint at sea. “If you need to piss or puke,” he says, “do it overboard. If you need to shit, do it in the bucket.” On the fifth anniversary of the vote to leave the EU, many say their industry has been betrayed Above all, he has one outstanding question. As Brexit negotiations faltered over fishing rights last year, “But if we’re so unimportant, how comes the Europeans fought so f****g hard for their fishermen?” >click to read<19:03
Retired Charlestown fisherman can’t afford to live in his fishing village sets record straight with new book
Retired Charlestown fisherman Lyndon Allen believes there has been so much rubbish written about his beloved village,,, A commercial fisherman for 36 years, the 56-year-old has been researching the history of Charlestown for the best part of four decades. Charlestown-Time and Tide (A History of Charlestown) is, as the title suggests, a history of the town from its humble beginnings as a fishing village known as Polmear to the holiday destination it has become today. Mr Allen said he has seen the town evolve since it was sold off to whoever could afford it in 1986 when it in 1986 when, as a privately owned single estate, it was broken up into lots. >click to read< 11:12
New build Amanda of Ladram in Newlyn.
Waterdance’s latest vessel to join their ever-expanding fleet is PW-6, the Amanda of Ladram, skippered by Jonathon Walsh. The largely Padstow based skipper and crew will operate mainly from Newlyn targeting mainly MSC Certified hake. the boat is currently fishing north of the Scillys, and, like all the vessels in the fleet she will overland her fish from Newlyn to be sold on the market at Brixham. >click to watch< a 9:46 video tour, and a 62 image photo gallery by Lawrence Hartwell, Through the Gaps 22:34
Falmouth working boat in Carrick Roads vandalised at Penpol Feock
Erin Bastian said her father Mike had been working and living in the local community all his life. She explained that at the end of March the oyster fishing season comes to an end and over the summer the fishermen store their boats on public beaches,,, However, last night it appears to have been the victim of a vandalism attack. “My dad saved this year for a new boat, his pride and joy, an old wooden working boat. Many people will see them out on the water from October to March, working by hand, using sail power alone. “This week someone has callously damaged my dad’s boat by digging up his anchor, and unbolting one of his support legs. “I am mortified to see my dad’s livelihood vandalised. >photos, click to read< 15:57
Consumers are buying direct! Cornish fishermen see boom in domestic demand post-Brexit
Fishermen and fishmongers in Cornwall are picking up home trade following Brexit with lobsters, spider crabs and pollock all seeing a huge uplift in sales. The fishing renaissance has been prompted by individual households buying directly from Cornish suppliers particularly during the coronavirus lockdown. Craig Tonkin, owner of Fresh Cornish Fish in Newlyn, said he’s seen a huge change in the customer base of his family-run business since Britain left the European Union. >click to read< 07:14
Busy evening as Dutch fly-shooter makes first landing in Newlyn.
Around 7pm and the fly-shooter Annalijdia enters Newlyn, the first since the Dew-Genen-Ny stopped fishing back in the early 90s… Lots of photos, lots of vessels, some videos, and what beautiful fish! >click to read< 07:10
Community fundraiser launched to save Cadgwith Cove fishing lofts in Cornwall
The Cadgwith Cove Fishing Trust has been formed to try and purchase the winch house, gear loft and cold storage building, all of which are used crucial to Cadgwith’s fishing industry. “I don’t think they’ve ever come up for sale at the same time. We’ve got to make sure they’re are preserved for future generations. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and we must take this opportunity.” said John Trewin, Skipper, Silver Queen Tommy Phillips who fishes out of Cadgwith fears the lofts may become holiday lets or flats if funding isn’t secured to preserve them for those that fish out of the cove. Video, photos, >click to read< 17:55
This Fishing Life: TV cameras return to Cornwall, Tonight, as the lockdown begins to bite
The beauty of Cornwall and the fishing tales of generations of fishermen are captured in a brand new six-part BBC/OU co-produced series this month. Cornwall: This Fishing Life is back for a new series where the past 12 months have seen the impact of two hugely challenging issues for this far flung 
county: Brexit and Covid-19. >click to read< Tonight is the launch of the second series,, As the episode unfolds, restrictions are beginning to ease, and not a moment too soon for the town’s fishermen, most of whom have been tied up for months >click to read< 15:25
Coronavirus: How fishing trade transformed to survive lockdown
Some fishermen and women have said business has boomed since coronavirus forced them to transform their trade. The industry has been hit hard by the pandemic with fish prices plummeting in March when lockdown began. But some small-scale fishermen said their “savior” was starting to sell direct to households via social media. Some businesses also started using sheds and garages to process their catches after lockdown restrictions were introduced. Cornwall Rural Community Charity (CRCC) said it helped 25 businesses to secure grants to diversify. >click to read< 12:11
Europe’s Last Sail-Powered Fishing Fleet Faces a Stormy Future
Ever since 1876, mechanical dredging on the Fal has been banned. Dredging, which involves towing a metal cage along the estuary bed to harvest the shellfish which grow there, must be done under the power of ‘sail or oar’; no motors may be used.,, Two types of vessels dredge for oysters. The larger, gaff-rigged boats can use a motor to get out to the oyster beds, but must work under wind power once the dredge is down. Row boats—or punts, as they’re called locally—are able to access the shallower waters and smaller inlets. “It basically works by putting out an anchor and a hand-hauling winch,” explains Tim Vinnicombe, a fifth-generation oysterman who works a 150-year-old boat that he converted to an oyster dredger in the 1970s. >click to read< 19:28
Cornwall fisherman rescues baby deer being chased by seal a mile out at sea
A Cornish fisherman has been called a hero after rescuing a baby deer from a hungry seal off Cornwall. The roe deer – which is thought to have fallen off the cliffs near Porthleven – was rescued from a mile out to sea where fishermen Jeremy Richards spotted the unusual sighting from his boat as he sailed around the coast from Gunwalloe. Jeremy, who is a member of Porthleven Fishermen and Boat Owners’ Association, then pulled the scared dear – which was being chased by a seal – into his boat and took it back to shore. photo’s, video, >click to read< 19:41
This Fishing Life – Six-part documentary gave viewers insight of the struggles facing the Cornish fishing industry
These are the faces of a new BBC Two documentary giving viewers an unprecedented look into the Cornish fishing industry. Cornwall: This Fishing Life was a six part series on BBC Two that finished earlier this week, which touched upon everything from Brexit to banning the sale of second homes. The first episode was focused on Mevagissey, one of the few remaining working fishing villages in the county, which has been tackling the issues posed by tourism. It was followed by a second part which focused on Newlyn and the community’s strong support for Brexit – with over 90% of the UK fishing industry voting to leave the European Union. This page has 38 great photos, >click to read, view< 18:50
