Fishing life on Lia Bear TO4
I fish 12 months of year, with a couple of maintenance breaks in March and November.
As with most small scale white fish fishermen, we are dependent on fair weather in order to put to sea. Hayle Harbour is tidal and dries out 3 hours either side of the high tide. This coupled with bad weather, and big swells on the notorious Hayle bar, limit our days at sea. Over the last 6 years, I have averaged approximately 110 days at sea each year. As with all commercial fishing boats, I fish to a quota system where we are informed how much of our target species we can catch.
My fishing season starts early April, usually with pollock trips out onto the reefs from 6 to 12 miles off shore when the weather is calm enough. In May I then add in bass fishing inshore, swapping back and forth between bass and pollock . This is is how my fishing routine runs until September, when I then add in some fishing for squid through to December.
From December the bass kit is packed away. I then hand line fish for mackerel through to March, although days at sea can be few and far between during the winter months - getting the weather, daylight hours and tides all to align can make leaving the harbour very difficult around this time of year.
Quality product humanely dispatched. W
Being a day boat fisherman, all of my fish is caught and landed within 12 hours. This ensures the highest possible quality. Once the fish is brought aboard, it is then humanely killed via the Japanese Ike-Jime method, and plunged into sea slush - a 50/50 mix of ice and sea water.
What is the Ike-Jime method? Essentially there are four steps:
1. Place a metal spike into the brain of the fish.
2. Cut the arteries in each gill and the artery in the tail.
3. Send a metal pith through the spinal cord.
4. Fully submerge the fish in a mix of equal parts water and ice.
Why do I use the Ike-Jime method? See this video for the ethos behind this ancient humane way to euthanize your catch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-6laIbvFn
Also, I am a softy and do not like to think of my catch suffering while it slowly suffocates!
Who buys my fish?
https://www.cornwallfishdirect.co.uk/
Based in Newlyn in Cornwall, Saul at Cornwall Fish Direct takes 90% of my fish, and his team expertly process the quality product before sending it to the best restaurants in Cornwall and the UK. The remaining 10% is auctioned at Newlyn fish market.
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