Brothers Steve and Chris Wightman, who longline for cod off the coast of Lowestoft, Suffolk, are the latest fishermen to join the cast of bloggers on the Seafish website.
Fishing seasonally, Steve and Chris longline for cod, sea bass and thornback ray during the winter months and sole, plaice and sometimes lobster in drift nets in the summer. The methods employed by the duo not only avoid issues such as by-catch and discarding, but also ensure that the very best fish is caught.
Steve and Chris will be sharing tales of their daily lives at sea and the hard work that goes on behind the scenes ashore.
On joining the blogging community, Chris said: “I’m amazed that anyone might be interested in what we get up to. I guess when you do this job every day it’s easy to forget that it’s a world apart from people’s lives ashore, and longline fishermen are quite a rare species. It’s good to have the chance to get our voice across, so often it’s only other fishermen and seagulls that we can talk to.”
The brothers’ boat, Maximus, is less than 10m long, which means its voyages are sometimes restricted by the weather conditions. This gives Steve and Chris time to join their 73 year old father, Terry, in the baiting shed, where lines are baited by hand, and gear is prepared for the next trip.
Steve and Chris join seasoned Seafish ‘bloggers’ Jimmy Buchan, fisherman and one of the stars of BBC’s ‘Trawlermen’ series and Newlyn-based chandler, Robin Turner, on the Seafish website, using modern technology to promote the industry in an unusual and engaging way.
To view Steve and Chris’ blog, visit ../sea/blog.asp?p=em553
