Waterdance’s beam trawler Margaret of Ladram smashed Brixham fish market’s record this week, landing the biggest grossing trip the port has ever seen.
After landing in Brixham, skipper Adam Cowan-Dickie turned Margaret of Ladram around and was back at sea when the confirmation of the £126,000 grossing came through.
This trip was also his first back at sea after travelling to Japan to watch his son Luke play for England in the rugby world cup.
‘I’ve been managing my sole quota and days at sea for the last eleven months to be able to land this trip,’ he said.
‘I found this patch of good fishing just before the World Cup started, but we weren’t able to fish it because of bad weather. I obviously couldn’t miss the chance to see my son play in the World Cup, so I was keeping my fingers crossed for two and a half weeks while I was away watching Luke, hoping that nobody else would find it.’
Fortunately, when he was back on board Margaret of Ladram after the trip to Japan, the fish were still there and hadn’t been touched.
‘What people don’t realise is that this catch was caught sustainably. I have my sole quota, which is what can be sustainably caught, given to me in January every year and it’s down to me to manage this quota as I see fit through the year,’ he explained.
‘With fifteen years of careful management, the sole population off Brixham has been increasing year on year. These quotas are set by a scientific study of the fish population which is reviewed every year based on sole monitoring to allow only a sustainable catch to be caught.’
