Things Noticeable this week

[rupertramjet]

Being from Penzance, which is so close to Newlyn, that they are all but the same town. What is absolute is that the two towns historically were among the largest fishing communities in Britain. Historically, I can actually remember the days, there were hundreds of boats in the harbour, now you could count them in tens. The larger boats are limited on their catch by quotas, unrealistic and far below economic level for many, and the cost of these boats is in the millions.

The quota system is farcical, when it was introduced, all countries were instructed to produce records for the last five years, only France managed this, showing catches which were about twice that of the ability for the French fleet to catch. Spain was not to far behind! The quotas demand the size of fish caught, whatever attempts are made to avoid catching undersized fish, some will be caught, instead of a ruling that say five percent undersized are allowed, all have to be thrown back into the sea, the British quotas have been massively reduced over the years, other countries have not suffered quite so much, and yes British skippers have sold their boats and quotas to foreign owners, they have had little choice, those boats are able to operate in both UK and Spanish waters, therefore becoming profitable.

But for British fishermen, there is little to be made from fishing, they are better off laying up and taking the money to get out, another industry dead.

[rotobott]

Originally Posted by vinceprince

My uncle was a fisherman and nearly all he caught (mostly sole and plaice) was exported to the continent where there is a big market for it. If British people really wanted to support the British Fishing fleet they would eat the fish that are caught in our waters but they don't, they eat basically cod, tuna and salmon which are nearly all imported.

All due to price, if they couldn't sell the sole and plaice to Europe, the price would come down, and we could afford it.

Oysters used to be food for the dirt poor back in the day, it's all down to supply and demand, and fashion more and more these days, hummus crisis bollocks

[Greenman]

Have you had coley and chips OR pollock? It is just not the same as cod and it would be disastrous for this country that has had cod and chips on every menu of every fish and chip shop across the land. Yes there is plaice and skate etc and some people even have fish cakes but we are known across the world for our famous fish & chips which HAS to be COD! I won't be HERRING a word against it

[otokonomidori]

Originally Posted by Greenman

it would be disastrous for this country that has had cod and chips on every menu of every fish and chip shop across the land.

Not in Scotland - it's always haddock up here.

[scoundrel]

Once upon a time there was a lot of haddock and cod in the North Sea and the Irish Sea. Leaving aside the over-fishing question, the cod and haddock which used to thrive off our coastline have moved north and are now to be found in the waters of Norway, Iceland and the Barents Sea, The herring has definitely been fished out by our EU friends, particularly the Dutch and their vacuum trawlers (vacuum means exactly what it says). The seas of Ireland were once full of mackerel: in his poem Sailing to Byzantium, WB Yeats wrote

That is no country for old men. The young

In one another's arms, birds in the trees,

—Those dying generations—at their song,

The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,

Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long

Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.

The mackerel also have migrated northwards and are now mainly living in the vicinity of the Faroes and Iceland. This has led to some serious disputes between Ireland and the Faroes and Iceland and Norway, Iceland and Norway not previously having had much quota but being quite determined that they are allowed to fish mackerel in their own sea if mackerel chooses to be there.

It is time that other countries suffered their fair share of the cutback of the fishing fleet in order to make the British fisheries sustainable again. It is also time that Britain polices her own fisheries and if need be, uses controlled violence to drive off poachers as Iceland once did. This should be one of the arenas for peaceful negotiation with the EU and part of the goodbye talks, but there might not be any goodbye talks at all. This casual assumption of Spanish sovereignty over Gibraltar is likely to make it impossible for Britain even to come into the room. In such a case as this, it will be for Britain to build the ships and helicopters and then simply tell the EU how things are going to be in British fishing waters, as the Icelanders told Britain back in the 1970s how things will be off the coast of Iceland, and the EU will have themselves to blame as we British once had only ourselves to blame.

Some species are increasingly found in UK waters BTW, such as John Dory, sea bass, hake, anchovies, red mullet. We do need to re-think our love affair with cod or haddock and chips.

[otokonomidori]

Originally Posted by Mal Hombre

You don't want to buy a Diesel,Not so long ago They were the future of motoring,Now They're an abomination unto the Lord..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_exhaust

Which will reduce the 2nd hand value thus pleasing the parsimonious likes of me and Scoundrel

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by otokonomidori

Which will reduce the 2nd hand value thus pleasing the parsimonious likes of me and Scoundrel

Hey Otoko!

When did you start reading my thought waves?

[Greenman]

There was a time when there was a fish shortage, cod was slowly disappearing so Bird's Eye got clever and still produced their fish fingers but disguised the fact that there weren't cod by calling them OMEGA 3 fish fingers - a bit of a con to those who didn't know what that was - it is good for you and found in oilier fish like tuna, sardines and the like. Still can't beat good old cod fish fingers and it now appears that supplies have picked up but you can still get Omega 3 fish fingers as well.

[diamelsx]

UNIVERSITY CITY (CBSLA.com) – Eight people were injured when a man opened fire at an apartment complex in the San Diego neighborhood of University City Sunday night, police said.

Just after 6 p.m., a man opened fire in the pool area of an apartment complex at 9080 Judicial Dr., at the La Jolla Crossroads apartments, San Diego police Chief Shelley Zimmerman said in a news conference.

source

And

Police have arrested an armed couple they say fit the description of a man and woman sought in a weekend shooting spree near Los Angeles that left one man dead and at least three other people injured, authorities said on Sunday.

The apparently random series of shootings began on Saturday afternoon following a carjacking and stretched over a five-hour period in several locations between the communities of Whittier and La Mirada a few miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles.

source

[vinceprince]

Originally Posted by rotobott

All due to price, if they couldn't sell the sole and plaice to Europe, the price would come down, and we could afford it.

Oysters used to be food for the dirt poor back in the day, it's all down to supply and demand, and fashion more and more these days, hummus crisis bollocks

It's more to do with the size of fish now caught here and national eating habits. Most of the plaice and sole caught in the English Channel are under 300g. Small fish, difficult to fillet eaten on the bone considered to fiddly for Brits - no use for fish and chips. Small plaice are actually very cheap you can buy 5 for £5 fresh from our local fishmongers but most don't want them. Instead they'll go across the road to the fish and chip shop and pay £6 for a small portion of cod that's been frozen and shipped from Iceland.

To address Scoundrel's post there are actually plenty of herring in UK waters but they're seasonal, British fisherman can't sell them so don't bother fishing for them - people consider them too bony again. Bass fishing with drift nets has now been banned in Europe due to chronic overfishing, nearly all the bass sold are farmed in the Mediterranean.