This was the first of two trips out on Cornish fishing boat Lady Hamilton in October 2012, part of the periodic re-evaluation of the sustainability, fish quality and fair trading relationship of Helford estuary based vessels that also included Lucy Mariana, Julie Girl and Amanda J, which land to Kernowsashimi, supplying London and local restaurants, and the Truro and Helford farmers markets.
Lady Hamilton is one of the hardest worked boats of the fleet, with 3 crew working up to four types of gear in one trip: large mesh monk gill nets, 300mm mesh sole trammel nets, 115mm gill nets, majoring since summer on haddock, and 68mm 'red mullet' gill nets. On this trip the monk nets, on a 48 hour cycle, were left undisturbed. The sole trammels are on a 24 hour cycle, and the 115mm and 68mm gill nets would be set on the way out to the sole nets, and retrieved a few hours later on the return.
This video, the first of five for the trip, records the setting of the nets. One of the two tiers (sets) of the large mesh sole trammel nets, producing the very large dover sole that are a speciality of Lady Hamilton, were due to be replaced, as are some of the 115 mm gill nets, and the video starts with the bags of replacements being stowed. The red mullet nets are set while still dark, followed by the haddock nets, before heading off to retrieve the sole trammels set the previous day. In the video there is a discussion about avoiding crossing over the top of another set of nets, and concern about the appearance of a trawler (because it may trawl through and destroy the nets). In the event, both were avoided. The video ends with the flaking of the new sole nets into the net bin ready for deployment.
As with the other Pisces-RFR videos, their main aim is as a matter of record. They hopefully show details of the methods for those who want or need to know, but they don't necessarily make gripping viewing! Having said that, when fishers view the videos, they often want to see everything shot, not just the edited highlights. If you are working 6 days a week on a boat, you don't get the opportunity to go out on other boats, and see other ways of working.
Video timings:
0-0.30 - stowing of nets, 0.30 setting of 68mm red mullet gill nets, 1:04 setting of 115mm gill nets, since summer catching large numbers of haddock. The boat is stationary for casting off the buoys and anchors, and in the background you can here Chris recording the lcoation on the GPS, and then gets underway to feed out the nets over the stern. Some of the nets have actual floats on the float line, for others the float line itself provides the required boyancey. The nets go out over an arched bow, which helps separate out the lead line from the float line, but on this occasion, because of the lie on the deck, both lines keep flicking over to the port side, requiring constant attention.
Even though the position of nets is recorded, they can shift in tidal currents, so at 3:40 you can here Chris asking Chino whether the dahn flag of another set of gear is in sight. Chris keeps a constant eye on the nets, and at 3:48 you hear him kill the power as the net tangles. At 5.25 Chris describes what he wants done with the new sets of nets. Starting at 6:10 the first tier of 115 mm gill nets comes to an end, and are immediately followed by the start of the second tier. At just on 8:00 the sail goes up - this is used to help stop the boat gyrating when hauling and clearing the nets. At 10.10, with the nets mostly gone, it is possible to clean the deck - being worked 6 days a week there is a lot of wear and tear on paint, but Lady Hamilton is kept clean. Meanwhile, at around 10:30 the 'haddock' 115 mm gill nets are gone, the boat heads for the sole nets and Andreas starts to flake (the machine is a 'flaker') the new sole trammel nets into the net bin, taking care that the end of the net is looped over the edge of the bin, so that the end anchors and buoy lines can be attached prior to setting the nets. At 13:20 Andreas demonstrates how two nets are joined.
Further background to this trip, and links to the stills photo library, are available on the Pisces-RFR website, at www.pisces-rfr.org/UK/Fisherie...
Негізгі бет FH214 Lady Hamilton of Helford, Chris Bean, setting 115mm & 68mm red mullet gill nets: Pisces-rfr
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