Fisheries evaluations

Sussex cuttlefish run to London restaurants

Mon, 16 May 2011 09:00:06 +0100

During spring 2011 Pisces trialled its first direct same day supply to London restaurants, employing our own driver, Paul Morris, to collect cuttlefish at the berth from Graham Doswell, NN114 Halcyon
Click here to go to photo documentary
We documented Graham Doswell’s cuttlefish potting operation in Norman’s Bay, off the East Sussex coast, back in 2007. Since then Martin Wiltshire had moved on and Dave Bray was crewing for Graham. At sea, the cuttlefish fishing remained the same, with alternate sets of pots hauled each day. By mid May the fishing had been going on for over a month, and this was now a quiet period, with the annual ‘May Rot’ Phaeocystis bloom in full swing (aka Gully Water or Slub, known as ‘glit’ in Cornwall). This plant plankton leaves a slimy muddy looking coating on everything, and fish lie low until it is over. It usually lasts one to two weeks, after which the fishing picks up.
Graham was hauling 15 ‘strings’ of pots set different locations, with 10 pots on each string, alternating daily between two sets Catches were low, as anticipated, but sufficient. Larger cuttlefish were reserved for the Pisces restaurants, (Caravan, Duke of Cambridge, Modern Pantry, Moshi Moshi, Soseki, Paternoster Chophouse, Vinoteca and the Zetter Bruno Loubet) and immediately iced, and the surplus reserved for the traditional buyer. We were able to offer a good price to Graham for the cuttlefish, and deliver ultrafresh fish up to the London restaurants at an unrivalled price for the quality.
Generally, the 2011 Sussex cuttlefish season has been good, with significant catches and firm prices. Two important developments since 2007 are, first that a significant area protected from mobile fishing gear (such as trawls) now looks very likely to be established between Eastbourne to Hastings. This will protect the fragile chalk reefs from damage, and will likely safeguard cuttlefish spawning areas from damage, among other positive features. Once this is in place, it will make sense to put the research on artificial cuttlefish spawning structures to good use, and set these up within the protected areas. We don’t know for sure that the cuttlefish are short of spawning sites, but it certainly can’t do any harm to err on the safe side!

CEFAS research red mullet gill net selectivity onboard Lady Hamilton

Sun, 28 Nov 2010 06:00:36 +0000

Pisces’ biggest challenge when trying to identify fisheries with lower environmental impact is lack of research, particularly for inshore fisheries. Following the Bean’s earlier research collaboration on avoiding marine mammal catches, in late 2010 they hosted CEFAS researchers who evaluated the effect of different gill net mesh sizes on catch composition of the red mullet fishery. CEFAS’s research, now published, is both valuable and thought provoking.
Click here to go to photo documentary
Gill nets, used appropriately, are well known for their tendency to select a ‘slot size’ of fish - smaller fish with gills pass through the nets, while larger fish cannot get their heads far enough into the mesh to get trapped. Earlier work with Sussex fisher Graham Doswell, and with Rob Clark of the then Sussex SFC, indicated that unusually large gillnets were catching larger cod, and it is well established that gill nets are size selective for red mullet, for example from Mediterranean research, albeit with much smaller mesh sizes catching much smaller red mullet. This ability to select for certain sizes is potentially a valuable tool for fish stock conservation.
The background to CEFAS’s research is that the size of fish that can be landed (by both ‘mobile gears’ such as trawls and ‘fixed gears’ such gill nets) is dictated by minimum landing sizes and also by a key Council Regulation EC 850/98 ‘for the conservation of fishery resources through ... the protection of juveniles’. For any particular range of mesh sizes, there is one list of fish species deemed by EC 850/98 to be adult, and a second list which are anticipated to be juveniles (i.e. not yet bred). The landed catch must include 70%, by weight, of species on the first list. For Cornwall, for 50-70 mm mesh such as red mullet fixed gear, the species likely to contribute to the 70% are scad, mackerel, and red mullet (positively identified on these trips as Mullus surmuletus). All other species must make up no more than 30% of landings (EC 850/98 Annex VI). Catching more than 30% is legal, providing that discarding keeps the retained percentage below 30%. Having a quota for the species is irrelevant. The idea is to encourage (but does not compel) the development of fishing methods that either don’t catch juvenile fish, or which allows them to be returned to the sea alive and unharmed.
The aim of the research, by Rob Forster and Samantha Smith, was to establish how selective different red mullet gear mesh sizes were. 63mm, 68mm, 75mm and 80mm meshes were used, the last two falling within a normally banned range between 70-90mm, intended to protect salmonids and sea bass. The Beans also had a derogation permitting them to land all fish over the minimum landing size (and allow the fish to be weighed for the research).
Essentially the research indicated 1) that the proportion of fish that would normally have to be discarded was 70% or greater by weight of the total catch, increasing with increasing mesh size 2) that immediate survival rates of discarded fish were very high, in excess of 80%, for cod, pollack, haddock, pout, streaked gurnard, red gurnard and ballan wrasse. Of the fish recorded, only whiting had a low survival rate, of 20%. Presumably high survival was due to the shallow depth at which the nets were set, short soak times, and not being mashed around in a trawl. 3) The total catch reached a plateau after a 2 hour soak time. 4) It was evident that larger meshes caught larger red mullet, pollack, whiting, haddock, bib (pout), mackerel, ballan wrasse, and cuckoo wrasse. Lesser spotted dogfish (no gill covers), red gurnard and streaked gurnard (lots of protuberances to get caught up) indicated no relation between mesh size and size of the fish. Rather surprisingly, cod here also showed no such relationship.
The researchers also touched on the current issue of a new legal requirement for using an Omega Gauge for measuring mesh size, which is more standardised but which stretches the mesh further than before. This means that some gear bought as being under 70mm is now illegal. This will result in an effective shift to smaller mesh sizes and smaller fish caught, which few would regard as a desirable outcome. It also indicates that larger mesh, previously illegal, will now be deemed to be over 90mm. This opens up some tricky issues. Few were aware that there were larger red mullet out there, because the gear that catches them was illegal. Have these fish bred more often, so it does no harm to the stock to catch them? Or do these larger fish create a previously unknown breeding pool, which have sustained the stock, and should be left alone, relaxing concerns about smaller mesh nets? One can throw into the mix Mediterranean research (where red mullet are preferred at a smaller size), where mesh size was between 32-44 mm. Does this mean that the Cornish fishery was already highly sustainable for red mullet? Partly this would be answered by whether a fishery had been sustained over a long time without any change in fishing methods, fishing power or fishing effort, but this sort of data is rare. It is important that we have answers, and that we are more cautious about exploitation rates the poorer the underlying data.
We took several things from this valuable research. First, for this method of fishing, survival rates of fish returned to the sea are good. Second, we have been encouraging short soak times for maximum fish quality and price, something the Beans have taken up with enthusiasm. This work indicates that, for the red mullet fishery, fishers are not loosing out on catch with short two hour soak times. Third, larger meshes generally means bigger fish which is widely assumed to be good (though note the caution above). Last, as the report mentions, this research was seasonally delayed. Gear location and deployment during the normal season may make it easier to avoid whitefish, though we note again the high survival rates of discards recorded in the report.

Crab and fish extraction technique from trammel and gill nets

Tue, 2 Nov 2010 20:16:42 +0000

In November 2010 Pisces went back out to sea on board Lady Hamilton, to check out whether anything had changed in the nature of the fishery. At this time they were using a new set of trammel nets and also red mullet gill nets. The opportunity was taken to video some amazingly deft extraction techniques for crab and fin-fish
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The nets were set and recovered on the same trip, with a soak time of 2-4 hours, the trammel nets being recovered first, followed by the smaller meshed gill nets. In the photos and video the trammel net can be distinguished from the gill nets by having three layers of net; readily visible is the very large blue mesh through which the fish pull the smaller mesh net to fall down on the far side within a mesh pocket. Gill nets catch fish by the gills; smaller fish generally swim through, while larger fish cannot get their heads in far enough to get netted (see the next entry for some CEFAS research that illustrates this for the Lady Hamilton). Notable fish included two greater spotted dogfish (aka nursehound or bull huss), the first time we have seen these on the Lady Hamilton, and certainly not a species to be targeted, and also a trigger fish.
The video gives a good impression of the sights and sounds that must be indelibly burnt into the brain of all those who work day in day out on small inshore boats such as the Lady Hamilton - the clack-clack of the floats as the nets are set off the back of the boat, the constant background noise of the engine, Chris Bean extracting crab and fish while constantly monitoring and switching on and off the hauler to keep pace with the extractions, the extraordinarily deft hands of ‘Chino’ unraveling the fish while keeping an eye for what’s coming up, ready to catch with the net anything that looks likely to drop off before it comes over the hauler, and here Nathan assisting with extractions and untangling and storing away the nets. You can also see Chino demonstrating how to safely dispatch a conger eel, whose powerful body and sharp teeth can be an unwelcome addition within the limited confines of a small netting boat.
One of the reasons why we were attracted to the Beans back in 2004 is the great efforts they make to extract entire crab, rather than breaking them out of the nets. In the video you can see Chris extracting spider crab, testing the firmness of the shell by pressing to see if they have just moulted, and if they have (when the flesh will be too watery, having been pumped up with water to fill and expand the new shell) throwing them alive overboard. You can also see the pinchers of the brown crab being disabled. Even so, sometimes crabs will be broken out, for example when they are particularly tangled and in such numbers that become impractical to extract all of them intact. Cornwall Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority, Cornwall SFC as was, has published some useful research reports on the status of shellfish.

FY57 Foxy Lady hand-lining and trammel netting

Wed, 6 May 2009 10:12:18 +0100

Willie Hunt works single-handed, going a few hundred meters out from his mooring in Coverack Bay, and in early May combines mackerel hand lining along with a few hundred meters of set nets. He has a reputation for looking after the quality of the fish, uses ice, and delivers mostly to the Beans a few miles up the road. This was our first trip out to see what he does and how he does it.
Click on pictures to go to photo documentary
Rewards are limited on a small boat, but so are costs. Providing - crucially - you have the skill to maintain a more or less steady daily flow you can make some sort of a living: Perhaps a few monk, a smattering of other fish of reasonable size, and some crabs, along with a few exceptional days to balance out the washouts.
The weather was anything but promising. Strong south westerly winds had put a stop to most fishing, but there was just enough shelter in Coverack Bay, on the south east of the Lizard peninsula, to make a go of it in a small boat.
To start off, with the mackerel hand-lining, it looked like it was going to be as bad as the weather. Unlike with Richard Ede two days before further west, there was no rush of fish around dawn, and never more than singletons of small to medium size, which were placed in ice slush in a cooler box. We started at five and knocked it on the head at 6.20 GMT.
A quick cup of coffee and Willie then switched to retrieving the first of two trammel nets in the Bay, which had been out for 48 hours. Almost immediately a large plaice was taken, followed by a large cock crab, but after that it was downhill, with only a few spider crabs in the remainder of the net. The plaice was gutted, washed in the sea, and joined the mackerel in the ice, and the net was shot.
Time for a roll-up and some speculation about whether this was indeed going to be a washout, and then on to retrive the second net. The day was saved with three monkfish. On such events do fortune turn.
Operating nets singlehanded is not easy, requiring the constant switching attention between extracting fish from the nets and keeping a wary eye on what the net hauler is bringing up (so it doesn’t get crushed under the wheel). But, apart from a few more crabs, that was about it, by 7.40 GMT. The monks were tailed, the top going to the gulls and the tails into the ice. Then the second net was shot, and it was time to clean away the accumulated seaweed and mess, wash down oilskins, and head for the mooring.
The punt was loaded up and it was a short row from the mooring just off the tiny harbour at Coverack.

Cornish May hand-lining SS22 Inspiration

Mon, 4 May 2009 02:30:44 +0100

Richard Ede has fished from the Mediterranean to the Western Isle but in May 2009 he was hand-lining, in its simplest, most traditional form, for mackerel in a restored wooden boat off the Cornish south coast just shy of Lands End.
Click on pictures to go to photo documentary
Dick uses a simple hand line and a life-time of experience. There were perhaps ten other boats in sight as dawn broke. The fishing was quiet, and gradually most of the others shifted en-mass out to sea. This meant nothing to Dick who stuck his ground. Whether by luck or judgement, when a gannet arrived it was around Dick’s boat where it started diving for fish, and we started catching mackerel.
That’s not unusual. It’s not for nothing that his friends call him ‘Mad Dick’. He’ll have an idea and will stick to it through thick and thin, regardless of what others think, and in a way that defies pigeon-holing. So, he’s shocked at any idea of killing seals, and vehemently insists that icing ruins the fish, instead dousing the mackerel in the locker at intervals with sea water (They do get iced as soon as landed). We’ll have to take him up on his word, and do a chef’s blind tasting of mackerel with and without sea icing. One gets the sense that offering a higher price for icing isn’t going to be a winning argument, any more than providing all the necessary equipment was.
By past standards the catch, of two boxes, was small. To make matters worse, the price is also very low, at 30 pence a kilo, knocked down in part due to the ready availability of Scottish purse seined mackerel which, now also a MSC certified fishery, removes one advantage the Cornish hand-liners had. Dick would have been lucky to have seen £20 for his catch. If mackerel was scarce, in terms of taste, there can be no doubt it would be one of the most valuable fish around.
However, the Inspiration – a new venture for 2009 for Dick, and Nick Howell (of Newlyn Pilchard Works fame) emphasising traditional small scale techniques – is not reliant on mackerel hand lining. They are currently making up a set of traditional whithy inkwell lobster pots. Dick is one of the few remaining with the skills to work with willow. They will also be long lining and possibly working with fish traps.
We will be back to see how they are getting on!