Trawlerman to Show Harsh Reality of Life at Sea To Help Tackle Industry’s Negative Reputation.
A veteran fisherman will highlight the challenging, complex and sometimes dangerous nature of life at sea by tweeting an entire day aboard his trawler in a bid to challenge some of the negative perceptions which dog the UK fishing industry.
The initiative, dubbed ‘Tweets from the Deep’ and organised by the National Federation of Fishermans Organisations (NFFO), will take place on Wednesday, 14 August during National Fishing Month* to raise awareness of the often dangerous daily tasks fishermen perform to put food on the nation’s plate.
David Warwick says he wants to show the British public fishermen aren’t the “pillagers of the seas” they’re portrayed to be and instead hopes to showcase what a life on the high seas is really like, as well as the practices used by the majority of the industry to fish environmentally and sustainably.
Since the day he left school more than 25 years ago, David has earned a living as a commercial fisherman. Having built his own trawler he set up a commercial fishing business with his father in 1996. Today he sails from Plymouth in his 10.5m trawler Valhalla, catching mixed species including cod and haddock as well as whiting and lemon sole.
David starts at 3am to sail out to fishing grounds up to 20 miles of the Cornish coast and often doesn’t return until 7pm at night. In summer, the crew can be out for up to 16 hours, six days a week. On a good day they could net up to £2,000 of fish, but equally can be forced home empty handed if the weather is poor or if a net breaks.
It’s this pressure that is poorly understood by the general public. Despite huge advancements in technology, fishing in the UK remains a dangerous profession. In 2011, 24 vessels were shipwrecked, while eight fishermen lost their lives.
David joined this initiative to provide a glimpse into his life:
“Villages and communities up and down the British coast rely on fishermen, as providers of food and income. To be tarred as ‘pillagers’ that don’t care about the future of fishing is ridiculous. Most of us are second or third generation, if not more, and we fish sensitively and sustainably to ensure the future of our business.
“I have a two year old son that I hope will have the opportunity to make his living from the sea if that’s what he chooses, and that’s what my fishing colleagues and I are working hard to ensure.”
Barrie Deas, Chief Executive of the NFFO, said: “The fishing industry has made amazing advances over the last ten years and sustainability is now at the heart of the way it operates. Despite this our hard working fishermen are too often portrayed as the pariahs of the sea.
“We are therefore undertaking this initiative with David to hopefully dispel some of these myths and show how our fishermen deliver an important, sustainable, traceable and healthy food source. We hope this event will go some way to showing the hardships fishermen undergo and reinstate them to where they belong, as heroes of the seas.”
According to the most recent figures available, in 2011, the UK’s 6,444 fishing vessels landed 600,000 tonnes of fish (including shellfish) with a value of £828 million. There are around 12,400 fishermen, with the industry providing 14,331 full time jobs.
Fish consumption has risen steadily since the 1970s, with four out of five households in the UK eating seafood at least once a month. The NFFO estimates the fishing industry has provided the basis for 200 trillion meals since the end of the Second World War.
‘Tweets from the Deep’ will take place Wednesday, 14 August to coincide with National Fishing Month (19 July- 26 August) and people are being encouraged to follow the event at @NFFO_UK and put their questions to David using #FishTales.
CASE STUDY – DAVID WARWICK
David Warwick has been a fisherman since the day he left school more than 25 years ago. Originally he fished with his father off the Northumberland coast, catching crab, lobster, cod and salmon.
Shortly afterwards, David moved north to study for his skipper’s ticket at Fraserburgh, a now-mandatory qualification needed to captain a boat. While in Scotland David began fishing out of Fraserburgh and Peterhead ports. Then, in 1996, he re-joined his father and they built their own trawler, beginning a successful commercial partnership.
Today, his father is retired and David has swapped Scotland for Cornwall, fishing nearby in his 10.5m trawler Valhalla. His catch remains mixed, still picking up cod and haddock , as well as whiting, lemon sole, plaice, cuttlefish, monkfish and squid. Often David’s day starts at 3am with him and his crewmate setting sail from Plymouth. In summer they can be out for up to 16 hours, six days a week. This is because in the winter months their time at sea is severely limited by the weather; particularly due to their smaller category trawler, which is more susceptible to the elements.
It isn’t just the weather that makes a life at sea unpredictable, though: on a good day David can come home with £2,000 worth of fish; yet, other days a net might break and David is forced home empty handed. With diesel prices at an all-time high, having this happen too many times is not an option for any fisherman.
Despite huge advancements in technology, being a fisherman in the UK remains a dangerous profession. In 2011, 24 vessels were shipwrecked, while eight fishermen lost their lives.1 David wants to demonstrate the pressures of running a business with such inherent dangers, which is why he signed up to the ‘Tweets from the Deep’ campaign.
He said: “Making a living on the sea is not an easy option. The days are long and sometimes cold, and it is one of the most dangerous occupations around, but still it remains a rewarding job. Men risk their lives putting food on people’s plates, but often in return are pilloried in the newspapers as heartless sea barons, scooping up vast quantities of fish indiscriminately.
“Hopefully this event will show the British people that we’re actually just men earning a living and doing so in a sustainable and considerate way.”
The event is being organised by the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO), the representative body for fishermen across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, to provide a glimpse into what is often a misunderstood and misconstrued industry.
Barrie Deas, Chief Executive of the NFFO, said: “Many fishermen have the trade going back several generations in their families. It has always been a family and community focused business. The hostile media coverage of the industry over that last few years has been unfair, unwarranted and ill-informed.
“These days fishermen work extremely closely with scientists and conservationists to ensure what they are doing is both environmentally and sustainably viable. We hope the ‘Tweets from the Deep’ campaign will show this and make people reconsider what they think they know about the commercial fishing industry.”
FiskerForum.com
