Atom Feed (xml)
The Lobster's were feasted upon, the crabs devoured, half cockled visitors sampled wines and ales and shuddered over oysters, ladies with areas of outstanding natural beauty stood promoting Devons Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty alongside 150 freshly hatched, cute as can be, cuddly, baby lobsters waiting to be adopted for a pound and released to the dark and murky depths off Clovelly.
Stalls of prints and paintings, pebbles and cards lined the Quay while entertainers dressed as fishmongers armed with crustaceans that talk and eels that squirt wandered up and down appeasing all the men and pleasing all the women. And an endless drone of off Quayed Shantymen filled the air with drunken sailored notes.
So slowly we slip anchor into the equinoxial month of September where grey skies equal those of blue, days ashore match those at sea, lobsters find more interesting things to do and boat trips are the exception not the rule. Occasional days of basking sun pour out the boating fools upon an unsuspecting bay, where they use all their navigating skills to chart a course to the Red Lion so they can refuel for the journey home.
Another Summer begs to leave, an Autumn piloted in to take its place. Soon the yachts we've come to love will be hibernating, more yacht clubbing than yachting, more embellished voyages than actual, more plans, more dreams, more Rum. And what's next for us, Lobster pots to bring home, boats washed and polished for the herring, more schemes, more dreams, more Rum.
Monday, 14 September 2009
Thursday, 3 September 2009
Lobster and Crab Feast
Robert Hodge was born in 1822 in the small village of Noss Mayo on the South Devon coast. Robert was a fisherman and had learned the art of making lobster pots using willow rods, known as 'withies'. Around 1848 Robert married a Clovelly girl, Mary Ann Pengilly, daughter of Captain William Pengilly and Grace Hodge, Roberts cousin. They lived at first in Revelstoke near Noss Mayo where their first children were born, but eventually moved to Clovelly where Robert was to introduce withy lobster pots to the local fishermen.
Clovelly fishermen were already familiar with the catching of lobsters using 'hook sticks' in order to catch them amongst the rock pools at low water, but the commercial value of lobster was not truly realized until the advent of the tourist season when the demand for shellfish increased enabling fishermen to make a living from lobster potting.
The willow and hazel sticks that were used in the making of the pots were grown in and around the woods above Clovelly. Lobster pots were made in the Winter months, ready to start fishing in March and continue until the end of August when the pots had to be brought in making the way clear for the herring drifters.
Men would fish in small rowing and sailing boats, using around forty to fifty pots. Each boat would work a small stretch of the coast, some craft fishing up along the coast towards Bucks Mills and Portledge, others working the treacherous Atlantic coast off Hartland Point and down the ships graveyard towards Welcombe Mouth.
From the first small pulling and sailing boats that would leave the Quay pool on the ebbing tide, working around the headlands and coves, giving names to the often visited rocks and corners of the bay, the lobster fishery at Clovelly hardly changed. Three generations of the 'Cruse' family continued to make withy pots in the Winter, ready to start fishing in March. In the years before the First World War, the Cruses caught an average of 1000 lobsters each season which would bring them an income of £48.00 to £50.00 a year.
Eventually the men invested in small engines for their boats taking some of the toil out of the daily trips to sea. Jim Foley bought the 20 foot BD35 'Sheerwater' with its 2 cylinder diesel engine, but still worked with mainly withy pots along the same familiar grounds. Lobster and Crab were then sold to the local hotels and tearooms or occasionally sent to Plymouth where the demand was greater.
In the 1970's Michael Braund, son of Lifeboat coxswain and fisherman William Braund, returned to fish from Clovelly with the 30 foot BD 106 'Matt Marie', it was to revolutionize the way Clovelly men fished for lobster. Using as many as 25 steel inkwell pots spliced together onto back ropes and with the added assistance of a hydraulic hauler, Michael was able to increase the amount of pots he worked to over 100 and was able to fish grounds previously thought out of reach. The amount of lobster landed at Clovelly increased dramatically. Most of the other Clovelly fishermen remained fishing along the familiar shoreline, but gradually the traditional withy pots were replaced by longer lasting ones made of steel.
Inkwell pots whether traditionally made or steel, fish best when hauled daily, lobsters being capable of getting out if left too long. It was the gradual change to the modern, now widely used parlour pots that was to take the fishery to a new level. Parlour pots have an internal net funnel leading to a seperate compartment from which there is no escape; this enables fishermen to not only increase catches but also to increase the amount of pots fished, boats are needed with more power in order to get around the gear on the tide. All this puts extra pressure on shellfish stocks. Measures to help the lobster have been introduced, increased minimum landing size, now no lobster less than 90mm carapace length can be landed and a ban on 'Berried hens' (pregnant females) is widely in force, but not in all waters. Measures to introduce 'Escape hatches' into parlour pots should help with the release of smaller fish and with lost pots that remain 'Ghost fishing'. Today lobster, crab and previously discarded Spider crab are landed and transported as far away as France or Spain.
The life of a lobsterman is one that depends on good luck, good weather and good old fashioned hard work. Whether working along the rock strewn coastline or out into the deeper waters of the Atlantic, the daily hauling and placing of lobster pots continues a lifelong struggle that began with a handful of hand hauled willow baskets laid in familiar places using trusted landmarks and continues today with fabricated steel pots, Mechanical haulers and the use of sophisticated, global positioning, electronic plotters and depth sounding, sea bed mapping fish finders.
The future of lobster fishing in Clovelly depends not only on the fishing families remaining to work from Clovelly, as men have for generations before, but also by the use of sensible and sustainable fishing methods, encouraging fishermen to retain a healthy and financially viable fish stock, combined with adequate, reasonable controls and guidance from fisheries management that are hopefully designed to help and not to hinder the industry.
Whatever changes lie ahead for the lobster fishery, for those men that still venture out and reap reward from the sea, it's still the best job in the world.
The Lobster and Crab Feast is on Sunday the 6th of September.
Clovelly fishermen were already familiar with the catching of lobsters using 'hook sticks' in order to catch them amongst the rock pools at low water, but the commercial value of lobster was not truly realized until the advent of the tourist season when the demand for shellfish increased enabling fishermen to make a living from lobster potting.
The willow and hazel sticks that were used in the making of the pots were grown in and around the woods above Clovelly. Lobster pots were made in the Winter months, ready to start fishing in March and continue until the end of August when the pots had to be brought in making the way clear for the herring drifters.
Men would fish in small rowing and sailing boats, using around forty to fifty pots. Each boat would work a small stretch of the coast, some craft fishing up along the coast towards Bucks Mills and Portledge, others working the treacherous Atlantic coast off Hartland Point and down the ships graveyard towards Welcombe Mouth.
From the first small pulling and sailing boats that would leave the Quay pool on the ebbing tide, working around the headlands and coves, giving names to the often visited rocks and corners of the bay, the lobster fishery at Clovelly hardly changed. Three generations of the 'Cruse' family continued to make withy pots in the Winter, ready to start fishing in March. In the years before the First World War, the Cruses caught an average of 1000 lobsters each season which would bring them an income of £48.00 to £50.00 a year.
Eventually the men invested in small engines for their boats taking some of the toil out of the daily trips to sea. Jim Foley bought the 20 foot BD35 'Sheerwater' with its 2 cylinder diesel engine, but still worked with mainly withy pots along the same familiar grounds. Lobster and Crab were then sold to the local hotels and tearooms or occasionally sent to Plymouth where the demand was greater.
In the 1970's Michael Braund, son of Lifeboat coxswain and fisherman William Braund, returned to fish from Clovelly with the 30 foot BD 106 'Matt Marie', it was to revolutionize the way Clovelly men fished for lobster. Using as many as 25 steel inkwell pots spliced together onto back ropes and with the added assistance of a hydraulic hauler, Michael was able to increase the amount of pots he worked to over 100 and was able to fish grounds previously thought out of reach. The amount of lobster landed at Clovelly increased dramatically. Most of the other Clovelly fishermen remained fishing along the familiar shoreline, but gradually the traditional withy pots were replaced by longer lasting ones made of steel.
Inkwell pots whether traditionally made or steel, fish best when hauled daily, lobsters being capable of getting out if left too long. It was the gradual change to the modern, now widely used parlour pots that was to take the fishery to a new level. Parlour pots have an internal net funnel leading to a seperate compartment from which there is no escape; this enables fishermen to not only increase catches but also to increase the amount of pots fished, boats are needed with more power in order to get around the gear on the tide. All this puts extra pressure on shellfish stocks. Measures to help the lobster have been introduced, increased minimum landing size, now no lobster less than 90mm carapace length can be landed and a ban on 'Berried hens' (pregnant females) is widely in force, but not in all waters. Measures to introduce 'Escape hatches' into parlour pots should help with the release of smaller fish and with lost pots that remain 'Ghost fishing'. Today lobster, crab and previously discarded Spider crab are landed and transported as far away as France or Spain.
The life of a lobsterman is one that depends on good luck, good weather and good old fashioned hard work. Whether working along the rock strewn coastline or out into the deeper waters of the Atlantic, the daily hauling and placing of lobster pots continues a lifelong struggle that began with a handful of hand hauled willow baskets laid in familiar places using trusted landmarks and continues today with fabricated steel pots, Mechanical haulers and the use of sophisticated, global positioning, electronic plotters and depth sounding, sea bed mapping fish finders.
The future of lobster fishing in Clovelly depends not only on the fishing families remaining to work from Clovelly, as men have for generations before, but also by the use of sensible and sustainable fishing methods, encouraging fishermen to retain a healthy and financially viable fish stock, combined with adequate, reasonable controls and guidance from fisheries management that are hopefully designed to help and not to hinder the industry.
Whatever changes lie ahead for the lobster fishery, for those men that still venture out and reap reward from the sea, it's still the best job in the world.
The Lobster and Crab Feast is on Sunday the 6th of September.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
