Newlyn beamers Elisabeth N, Louise N and Karen N are all fishing with gear that has been lightened and streamlined to be easier to tow as well as reducing discards.
Mike Nowell, who runs the three beamers with his brother Stephen said that their 7 metre gear has been lightened so that it is much the same weight as the 4 metre gear they also use. The 7 metre trawls are used at the moment for catching cuttlefish and they switch back to smaller gear for fishing sole when there is quota and when the prices look more favourable later in the summer.
Cuttlefish has proved to be a welcome non-quota fishery and the price of around £2.20 per kilo they get at Plymouth auction makes the fishery well worthwhile, with short trips to keep the fish fresh and maintain good prices.
‘We see cuttlefish from the end of September off Brixham and they make their way west and end up off Ushant where they die. We’ve known cuttlefish go through to April. In November we see some squid, and again, no quota to worry about.’
Elizabeth N, Louisa N and Karen N also fish for monk and megrims in the deep water, and Mike Nowell said there is more monk there.
‘And the monk quota’s also easier to get hold of – or was,’ he said, commenting that with the gill netters also targeting monkfish in tangle nets the quota is spread more thinly than in the past.
‘We can get through the year by being more selective with bigger mesh sizes, and by planning a lot more ahead, planning around refits and maintenance.’
The three beamers all work gear rigged for minimal discards, and the gear works, with 80mm codends but 150mm mesh in the body of each trawl and 250mm netting in the back net.
‘Now we don’t see the small soles any more but they’re no particular loss as they don’t make that much money and we’re better off keeping the quota for the bigger fish that make a better price.’
