This video shows Darren Thirlaway and skipper Antony Hoskings setting inshore gill nets on the eastern side of the Lizard peninsula, Cornwall, in October 2012. One of four videos taken onboard on this trip, the others show the hauling of the monk gear, and the 90 mm and 68mm mesh nets shown being set in this video.
Its a matter of record and information, so be warned if you are looking for gripping entertainment, look elsewhere! On the other hand, if you are looking for what's involved, without edits at critical moments, it may help. Follow the link www.pisces-rfr.... for more information and stills photography
The video starts with Daren completing fuelling at the Helford estuary mooring. Then:
0.20 into the video onward - a mile or so off Coverack, the 68mm mesh gill nets, for red mullet and other species, are being set. The anchor weights go into the water - the lead marker buoy has already gone. No dahn flag is used because the gear is going to be retrieved in a few hours, and the local fishers tell each other where their fishing marks are. The end buoy and anchor chain is got ready as the net feeds out over the back of the boat - the clacking noise comes from the floatline (top line of net) floats going over the end. The bottom line of the net (leadline) has weights incorporated, rather than floats!
1.30 A new video sequence starts, with the boat underway to the fishing mark (location) for shooting the 90mm mesh gill nets, currently catching haddock and other species. The anchor weights and buoy are clipped onto the line. Again, no marker flag is used, because of the short soak time. Darren starts to shift the fishing bins holding the nets into place. At 2.30 he asks how many bins will be used - 4, around 1600 metres in total. At around 3.25 he attaches the first nets to the haul line, then pulls the second bin into place, checks that the line at the end of these nets (bottom of the bin) is over the side of the bin and out of the way (will be used to tie to nets in the third bin). He then knots the line at the end of the nets in the first bin to the second, all of which is complete by around 4.30. At 5.00 we see the haul line going overboard, followed by the weights (5.25), Skipper Hoskings then gets underway to feed out the net. Darren readies the end float, and keeps an eye on the nets feeding out, for tangles and snags. At around 6:25 we cut away to the second bin, now coming to an end, while the third bin is readied and the lines tied together on the fly. At 7.10 we see MV Golan Maria in the background, with around 700m of the nets deployed. Between 8:10 and 8:30 there is a nifty sequence as the nets in the second bin come to an end and the third bin starts feeding out. At around 8.45 the fourth bin is put in place, the end line is got out of the way, and the lines tied between the nets in third and fourth bin. In the background you can see the floats in the water. The sink rater will be around 9m/min, and the seabed is some 80m down. All done by 9.25. At 10.20 there's another glimse of the Golan Maria, and at 10.30 the switch from the third to fourth bin. At 12.20 the fourth bin is coming to an end and Darren gets ready to throw over the weights at the end of the fleet. The engine is cut (otherwise the boat would now try and drag the nets through the water) and the chains go overboard at around 12.45, followed by the rest of the line and the bouy. Darren readies the hauler and the sequence ends ready to get under way to haul the monk gear.
10 сен 2024