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Cornwall: This Fishing Life

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Can a new generation of fishermen save their traditional way of life?

As Brexit brings new hope, can a new generation of fishermen save their traditional way of life?

Series 1

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Cornwall: This Fishing Life: Series 1: Episode 5

Episode 5

BBC Two - Cornwall: This Fishing Life, Series 1, Episode 5

As autumn comes to Cornwall, the biggest boats fish through turbulent times offshore.

As autumn comes to Cornwall, the biggest boats fish through turbulent times offshore. But with Brexit looming, what does the future hold for these big old boats and their crews?

As autumn arrives on Cornwall’s south coast, the biggest boats in the fleet fish through turbulent times offshore. This is a job of high risk and high rewards, but with Brexit looming, what does the future hold for these big old boats and the men that crew them?

The port of Newlyn is home to giant netters and trawlers up to a hundred feet long. These boats can fish hundreds of miles out and stay at sea for over a week at a time. It is a tough life, and finding men to crew the boats gets harder every year - the average age of skippers here is nudging 60.

Aboard beam trawler the Billy Rowney, 28-year-old engineer and deckhand Danny Fisher has spent the last ten years learning the ropes. Now he is aiming for the top job, and has been training for his skipper’s ticket. He is under the watchful eye of experienced skipper Steve Mosely, who has seen first-hand the decline in Newlyn’s fleet and its fishermen.
 
The Billy Rowney is preparing for what could be a rough week at sea, as she heads out around 70 miles south-west. It could be up to eight days before she returns turn to port. As a storm blows in, they face gale force winds and huge waves, but fishing through the weather could pay off for Steve and his crew.

Aboard another of Newlyn’s fishing boats, skipper Alan Dwan also heads offshore. An Irishman by birth, Alan has been fishing out of Cornwall for 15 years. His boat the Ajax is a netter, and he is fishing for hake. To get the best price for his fish, Alan wants to be back on the quay within just four days, so that his hake will be in shops and restaurants ready for the weekend. At one time, Cornish hake was nearly all exported. Now, much more of it stays within the UK. The fishery was given a huge boost when the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) awarded some Cornish hake netters sustainable fishery status, meaning stocks were healthy. Now hake is growing in popularity and price, but competition for fish offshore can be fierce, with British fishermen forced to share their waters and their fish stocks with boats from across Europe.

It is thought around 90% of those involved in the UK’s fishing industry voted to leave the European Union. Yet while some parts of the industry have found themselves at odds with our European neighbours, others have come to rely on them.

In Newlyn, an ambitious family-owned local crab company that catches, processes and sells its shellfish on a scale unrivalled in the south-west, now employs dozens of European workers. For owner Mark Rowse, the freedom to employ Latvian men to catch the crabs and Lithuanian women to pick them is vital for the future of his business. 

Whatever Brexit brings, for now, the fisherman who work the biggest boats in the Cornish fleet continue to risk life and limb in all weathers to bring home their catch.

Cornwall: This Fishing Life: Series 1

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