Packed like sardines

The fishermen of Devon and Cornwall have long complained that they had a very poor deal

 in the allocation of fishing quotas, for fish caught here in their own local waters, compared with particularly French and Spanish fleets who are also allowed to fish in this same area.

The fishermen of this region mounted a vociferous campaign in the 2016 referendum for the UK to leave the EU and reclaim the sole fishing rights to the UK's territorial waters.

The UK leaves the EU this Friday, 31st January, 

and the negotiations begin about how the split is going to be managed. 

So they will find out in the next 12 months what the future arrangements will be

for who is allowed to catch what, where and when.

Mending his nets

Net mending has been an essential job for fishermen for thousands of years.

Although the materials now used in net construction and repair are the result of years of research and development of synthetic materials, the activity of net mending would be instantly recognised by those fishermen of old.

Casting his net

Home is the sailor, home from the sea

And these sea anglers home from a day out fishing on a wreck site.

A long way from her home port

This is the Fishing Vessel Altaire making her way across Plymouth Sound on Friday.

Her home port of Lerwick, in the Shetland Isles, 

is almost as far north as you can go in the British Isles, 

and Plymouth is just about as far south as you can go.

Friday was warm and calm as she made her way to a berth in Millbay Docks.

But much of her life is spent in more challenging conditions.

 Take a look

Look Dad! I can see them swimming?

 Whenever I see this lovely little sailing boat, Djibouti,  at Saltash, on the River Tamar, 

I wonder if her owner is a veteran of  La Légion étrangère.

Timeless

Fishing from the quayside, in a quiet backwater, on the Barbican.

A simple, solitary pleasure on a sunny afternoon.

Global Warming

has done wonders for the local squid fishermen.

 

For me this isn't over!

Tomorrow I will be back and I shall catch you.

Home is the Hunter, home from the hill,

And the Angler, home from the pier.

                                                   with apologies to Robert Louis Stevenson.

Mount Batten Pier, at the mouth of the River Plym, 

reaches out into Plymouth Sound and is very popular with anglers.

A timeless family activity

It is great to see that not everything requires a wifi connection.

All men are equal before fish.

While Canadians face the rigours of "Ice Fishing"

fishermen in Plymouth Sound, with winter waters warmed by the Gulf Stream, 

sometimes face conditions that force them to consider putting on a woolly hat.

Heading Home

to the Fish market in Sutton Harbour.

Gone Fishing

Many men go fishing all their lives

without knowing that it is not the fish they are after.

                                                                   Henry David Thoreau

 

Rockpooling

The weather so far this summer has been very disappointing indeed,

but some pastimes never lose their appeal for small children, no matter what the weather.

 

Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn ....

.... are alive and well and enjoying the summer.

just as they did in 1876.

Coming and going in Plymouth Sound.

The Brixham based fishing vessel Morning Star is on her way in to the Fish Market, 

in Sutton Harbour.

 

While, as you can see through her rigging, the Brittany Ferries vessel Amorique 

is setting out from Millbay Dock for her daily crossing to Roscoff,

95 nautical miles across the English Channel in France.

Outward Bound

Making the most of a brief period of calm weather in what has been a very stormy month.