Episode 6 The Fisherman's Apprentice with Monty Halls

For hundreds of years, small fishing boats have set sail

to bring home the riches of our coastal waters.

He's got one! He's caught a monk fish!

But fishing is changing.

In recent years,

many of our inshore skippers have gone out of business.

Can they survive the threats to their future?

It's a tricky time, and it's going to be for another few more years yet.

Marine biologist Monty Halls is going to explore

the challenges facing our fishing industry.

But from the inside.

As Christmas draws near,

fishermen are under pressure to land their catch before the season ends.

There's one.

Couple of days is all we're looking for, but times running out.

Monty wants to find a new way to support our small boat fishermen,

by selling direct to the consumer.

But does the British public care about seafood,

or the men who catch it?

People have got to be told what they're going to enjoy.

We're not a fish-eating nation, are we?

Will the Cadgwith fishermen be open to a new way of working?

And will the winter weather allow Monty to put his plans into action?

There's genuine tension for me, and genuine frustration.

It ain't very good out there, men.

It ain't very good out there, at all.

It's late November in Cornwall.

On the waters of the Lizard Peninsula,

Monty and his fishing mentor, Nigel Legge,

are checking their pots, as they have done since spring.

-Spider in there?

-Spider.

A littl'un.

These are the last crabs they will catch this year.

With such a small boat, and winter storms on the horizon,

Nigel is bringing his pots in.

Along with nearly 20 percent of the British fishing fleet,

he is part-time, and unable to work in the winter.

Though the bigger Cadgwith boats will continue to fish when the weather permits,

this is the hardest time of year for all fishermen.

Nige, you've done this many times.

Is it quite a sort of sad moment for you?

Yeah, I suppose it is a bit sad. I don't really know why.

I suppose it's just I look forward to doing it again next year.

And in the summer, when you've got the pots out,

you've got the boats trips and everything else,

you've actually got money in your pocket.

I've actually got to go through now, er...

December, January, February, March,

nearly four months, probably, without earning very much money.

A few weeks ago, Nigel and Monty

visited the east coast of the United States,

where they saw a scheme that was helping struggling fishermen

to get more money for their catch.

I found America a very inspiring experience.

More importantly, what about you?

I think the American one is probably is too complicated,

but anybody talking to fishermen and fishing boats

and buying fresh fish is a good thing.

The community-supported fishery

works by allowing the fishermen to sell direct to local consumers,

much like an organic vegetable box scheme.

But could such an idea work in the UK?

I think the thing to build on is maybe just letting

a few more of the local people know about Cadgwith,

and know about the fishing fleet.

Yeah...

If you educate people, and let them know,

and introduce them to the produce,

and the way the small boat fleet operates, they'll get interested.

You only go so far with it, and if they're keen,

they'll come and buy it. And that's the way it is.

Nigel needs convincing.

And, if the scheme is to work, so will the rest of the Cadgwith fleet.

To introduce the idea, Monty calls a meeting with all the skippers.

I don't particularly feel I've contributed anything

to the community of Cadgwith and the fishermen in my time here,

and they've given me so much since I've been here.

But I think there are some really important lessons from America.

I really do. I found that trip very inspiring,

and I found their model of working with the community very inspiring.

So I've offered a little talk,

a little chance to do a talk to the fishermen,

and I just hope someone turns up.

I'll be crushed if no-one turns up tonight.

He's got a busy few weeks ahead.

As well as working on the fish scheme,

Tam, his girlfriend is expecting their first child before Christmas.

And wearing the hat.

People start to arrive. Skippers John Tonkin, Louis Mitchell

and Danny Philips take their seats. Before long, it's a full house.

Thank you very much for coming. A community-supported fishery,

what happens is, local people pay money upfront to the fleet.

They pay a lump sum to get fresh fish once a week for a set period,

and when they initially started the project,

200 people signed up straightaway,

and they paid 360 dollars each for their three-month period,

meaning 72,000 dollars were divided between four boats.

Monty and Nigel describe how the fishermen in the US

generate a much higher value for their catch

by selling direct to consumers.

Surely if you get a week of bad weather,

and they're all rocked up with their handbags and there's no fish...

That's the reason you need someone to centrally coordinate that.

We asked that question straight away, and they said, "It's easy.

"Everyone's on email, and you say, 'No fish this week,'

-"and they get extra fish the next week".

-OK, right.

Small boats that used this system, their income went up by a third,

and that system has now spread to 24 different ports

around the US, and has been really successful,

and it's only been running two years.

There we are, and thank you very much for turning up.

HE LAUGHS

APPLAUSE

For the scheme to work in the cove,

the fishermen would have to work together.

Local fishmonger, Jonathan Fletcher, sees SOME potential.

I said to Monty getting a bunch of fishermen around here

to work in a co-op is like getting a horse to live up a tree,

but if you persuade them that the returns are there -

and I believe they are -

I would like to see a bunch of fishermen like this lot...

..have a co-op.

If you can educate people about it,

and, of course, once they've eaten fresh fish, they're not going to go

and have any processed fish ever again, really, because it's so good.

But not everyone agrees.

Most people, their fish comes in a batter,

wrapped in newspaper from the fish and chip shop, doesn't it?

I don't think, personally, it will work, myself.

I'm quite happy for someone to ring me up and say,

"Can I buy some fish off you?" "Yeah, fine.

"If you want to drive out from Helston, and buy some fish off me."

It'd be fine, but I just can't see it working, really.

The fishermen are sceptical.

They will need to be convinced that the local community

is interested in buying local fish.

A few miles from Cadgwith is the harbour of Porthleven.

Among the few remaining fishing boats is Jonathan Fletcher's.

As well as running the fish shop in Cadgwith,

Jonathan is also a part-time fishermen.

Of all the people in the cove,

he was the most interested in the community fish scheme,

and as he has stopped fishing for the winter,

Monty has come to talk about taking the concept further.

Do you think if the demand was created with the right people,

would they go direct to the fishermen?

It would pay them to go direct to the fishermen,

because the fish will obviously be a lot fresher,

and you know the provenance of it.

I believe, I really do, that within local communities,

there are people who would be interested in doing that.

People need persuading, don't they? It's the old advertising.

Put it in front of them. "Do you realise this is nice to eat,

"and you can easily get it, as well?"

It's crucial that they get local people interested in fish,

and Jonathan believes the best way to do this

is show them the quality of the catch.

I think if you introduce them to a product that's nice to eat,

and which they consider they can afford,

then you haven't got a problem.

You have to get people who are genuinely interested

in what they eat.

I did a crab picking demo for the kids at school, over at Mullion.

And, um...

..surprisingly, they were really enthusiastic,

and I'm sort of dipping a spoon in this brown mush inside the crab,

and saying, "Try that," and they were really up for it.

"Cor, that's really nice, can I have some more?"

And when I looked up, half the staff were there, as well.

For the community-supported fishery to work,

Jonathan and Monty need to generate more interest

in the Cadgwith produce,

and if the people won't come to the fish,

they will have to take the fish to the people.

The British public has lost a connection with the sea,

and the food it provides.

Much of the produce caught off our shores is sent overseas.

In 2010, over 400,000 tonnes of seafood were landed in the UK,

but more than 500,000 tonnes were exported.

In a few weeks' time, our fishermen's catch

will be on Christmas dinner tables across Europe.

But, in recent decades,

the British have fallen out of love with seafood.

Can anything be done to turn things around?

We're surrounded by food.

We live on an island that is surrounded by beautiful seafood,

and we need to relearn how to access that seafood,

and how to eat it.

Marketing and advertising is everything.

You can't sit here and watch your fish rotting away

while there are people up the road who might want to eat it,

and just a bit of lack of information

means they don't know it's there. It's just basic, isn't it?

The season may be over for Jonathan and Nigel, but back in Cadgwith,

the fishermen are taking every chance to get out while the weather holds.

Today, Monty is joining Tonks and his crewman, Eggy,

as they go after the cove's main catch, brown crab.

Monty's hoping to convince them of the merits of the community-supported fishery.

Crab fishing at this time of year is cold, hard work.

In the winter, hen crabs begin to spawn.

They become less active, and rarely feed,

meaning there are fewer crabs for the fishermen to target.

It is more difficult, and more dangerous than ever,

and with little reward.

They work eight strings of Tonks' pots,

and catch just over 100 kilograms of crab.

A third of what they were getting in the summer.

But at this time of year, what they do catch can be sold at a premium.

So this is a really important period for you, isn't it?

Yeah. The weeks running up to Christmas,

you will try and get as much time in as you can.

There's demand, because crabbing is coming to an end for the year.

So, catches are tailing off.

The prices all the way through the winter

will be better than summer prices, only because of supply and demand.

Really interesting to think that this store pot here,

full of crabs, in July would have been worth a certain amount of money,

but here we are in December,

and it's probably worth twice that amount of money now.

And as we go towards Christmas, it will suddenly leap up,

and so it puts massive pressure on the guys to get out -

when the conditions might not be ideal -

to get out and fish.

As they process the crabs, Monty tackles Tonks

about the idea of a community-supported fishery.

You would have a concern of trying to set up kind of like a CSF,

just cos you don't think the community would get involved?

I'm sure there would be interest, but it would be...

..minimal.

The British are meat and two veg.

Yeah.

You know, not...

We're not a fish-eating nation, are we?

There is a nucleus of people out there

that want to eat crabs and fish, for sure.

How big that is, I don't know.

If Cadgwith crabbers had to rely on the UK buying our crabs,

we wouldn't be here.

Tonks is sceptical about local demand.

But he agrees to sell a few of his crabs to the help with the scheme.

Every week, the Cadgwith boats

can land up to six tonnes of shellfish,

and they need local merchants to reach the wider market,

but a community fishery could get them a better return,

for a small percentage of their catch.

Take her away.

Medium cod. Four point eight.

Danny Philips is the cove's only full-time netsman.

The fish he lands is of the highest quality, and sell for a premium.

A bit of mackerel.

-His catch is collected and delivered to top chefs across Cornwall.

-11.9.

The seas off the Lizard Peninsula are rich in marine life,

and a wide variety of fish ends up in Danny's nets.

Beautiful, aren't they? They fish are bloody beautiful.

This lovely range of fish that Danny's just brought in,

you've got gurnard, mackerel, pollock, bream, lovely red mullet.

And it's all seasonal. It's all just turned up offshore.

A lot of these species weren't being caught when I first got here,

and that's what we should be tapping into, that we buy seasonal produce.

However, many of the fish caught are of little or no commercial value.

What we need to do is,

fish which I haven't got a very good market for,

-like these big ballan wrasse, then

-I

-eat them.

They might be the tastiest of things,

but we haven't got a market for them.

Now and again, you can sell a few, but there's plenty of it out there,

and they're lovely big, big fish.

To try and prove that there is interest in local seafood,

Monty will team up with Nigel and Jonathan

to take a sample of the cove's produce

to a Christmas market in nearby Helston.

The British public is very conservative when it comes to fish.

60 percent of the seafood we eat comes from only five species -

Cod, haddock, salmon, tuna and prawns.

The problem isn't that the fish aren't out there -

Cornish fishermen land over 100 different species -

but only a handful are considered commercially valuable.

The rest are used for bait, or thrown back into the sea.

For a community-supported fishery to work,

people have to take whatever fish has been landed that week.

So a lot will depend on the tastes of local people.

Will they buy in to such a scheme?

MUSIC: "God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen"

It's nearly Christmas.

In the town of Helston, a few miles from Cadgwith,

the annual Christmas market is underway.

This is an opportunity to introduce the cove's produce

to the local people, and find out if there really is potential

for the community-supported fishery.

Nigel and Jonathan man the stall,

offering passers-by samples of Cadgwith crab.

Bless you, thank you.

Monty entertains the crowds with a run through

of some of the species caught by the cove's fishermen.

That's a bream, that's a cod.

Have a guess how many eggs that lays in one year.

Nine million, nine million eggs.

Al this fish comes straight from Cadgwith, from one boat, in one day.

It's working.

Children and adults alike are fascinated

by the range of species on display,

and everyone is eager to taste the free samples.

Put it in your mouth. It's crab, you like crab.

-Mmmm!

-If I could buy it fresh I would buy it fresh,

if not from the supermarket.

It's quite underestimated, I think, fish.

It's beautiful, especially fresh.

Nigel and Jonathan encourage people to sign up

for more information about the scheme.

They want to get these people to come to Cadgwith,

and learn more about their local fishermen.

They hope that by reconnecting people with their fishing fleet,

they can create a new market for their catch.

Yeah, it's very encouraging, People are very positive.

I think we'll get a good show,

if all these people turn up in a couple of weeks.

Once we've got them there, we can chain them up

till they get interested in the stuff, and promise to buy it.

It's what's called being "vertically orientated".

That's a business term I learned years ago.

With more and more people adding their names to the list,

even Nigel is impressed with such a positive response.

Yeah, it's surprising how friendly they are,

and chatty, to be quite honest. Unbelievable.

There's an awful lot of people out there that haven't got a clue.

It's a good idea to get everyone, especially little ones, interested,

and understand how important it is for us to look after the fish.

And that's how it eats things.

It swims up to them with its mouth closed, and then it goes, "Whoomph!"

So Nige, Jonathan, did you enjoy the evening?

Yeah, it was very good. Very good.

More interest than I thought this would have, to be quite honest.

People were very enthusiastic, I have to say.

Lots of them were very interested in coming to Cadgwith,

and having a look around the boats,

and trying a bit of fish, in a fortnight's time.

But just amazing the amount of people

don't know any of this exists.

The night is a success, and has proved that there are people

who might be interested in buying fish direct from Cadgwith.

But getting people's names is one thing.

Getting them to part with their money is another.

Cadgwith is a cove, open to the wind and waves,

with no harbour wall to protect the boats.

On average, the fishermen lose about three months of fishing

each year to bad weather.

But they're always on the lookout for a chance to go to sea.

If we see a window to shoot away, or to go out hauling, we'll take it.

You've got to, cos that's how it is in the winter,

with the weather, and working off the beach.

Today, Monty is heading out with Louis Mitchell and Dominic Goldsack.

We're going to do gill nets today, which we shot away yesterday.

Hopefully catch a few cod, and a lot of pollock,

and anything else, really.

So, basically, you're just picking up what's out here at the moment.

-You're not specifically targeting?

-No, we're not.

Cos we shoot for the weather, like.

If you see a good weather window, then we're off outside.

Is this quite a lean time of the year?

I suppose finishing up, it can be.

Although it might be lean,

the prices are up, so it sort of counterbalances each other.

So you can have not a lot of fish, and make good money.

With fewer chances to get out to sea,

Louis and Dom need to maximise the return for whatever fish they catch.

Monty believes the community fishery idea could be the answer.

This is one of the real beauties of the small-boat fishery, I think.

It's this opportunistic...

You get a little window of opportunity, and you head out,

and you're not quite sure what you're going to catch.

And that for me, as a consumer, I find really attractive.

I just don't know what the boat is going to bring in.

There's a bit magic and mystery in that.

I hope that is something we can harness

for the community-supported fishery idea.

Louis is open to the idea.

You happy with the concept of the CSF, Louis?

Yeah, the more people who are actually connected

to where their fish comes from, the better it's going to be.

In the United States, Monty saw how this idea

had not only encouraged consumers to buy more fresh fish,

it was also generating a much-needed boost for the fishermen's income.

The Cadgwith skippers face similar problems to those in America.

Falling revenues and government legislation are making it

increasingly difficult for them to do their job.

To survive, they have to be resilient.

To be a fishermen you have to have a certain mentality, you know.

You get knocked down but you keep coming back again.

They don't give up, they just keep going.

They're just different type of people.

They just keep having a go at it.

That's the way fishermen are. They just will not lie down.

# And his shelter was a stable

# And his manger was a stall... #

The people of Cadgwith, and the surrounding villages,

enjoy a celebration,

but there are few annual events that draw a crowd like tonight's.

It's a very special day, in a very special place.

It's the turning on of the Christmas lights in Cadgwith.

And I'm turning them on, which is a great honour. Right now, here we go.

Thanks so much for giving me the opportunity to turn the lights on.

It means the world, really.

Also, it's lovely to stand on a fishing boat.

Those of you who know me,

it's fantastic to stand on a fishing boat and not feel sick.

It's quite a novel concept.

I have scribbled down a couple of important things

I'd really like to say.

Monty has something else to celebrate this evening.

I've just had a baby.

CHEERING

Her name's Isla Grace. She's a little mite. She's 8 pounds, 14 ounces.

I'm so, so pleased that my little girl is not only a Cornish girl,

but she's a Cadgwith girl, as well.

CHEERING

Cadgwith is unique and special. It's a magic, magic place.

I sincerely hope and pray that when Isla, my little girl,

grows up to my age, and comes back here in 45 years' time,

there are still fishing boats on this beach,

because that's what this place is all about.

APPLAUSE

-ALL:

-Three, two, one.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# Jesus, Lord at Thy birth... #

Thank you very much!

# Jesus, Lord at Thy birth. #

Monty has invited the fishermen and the rest of the community

to join him in celebrating his new arrival.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

It's a big night for me, because we're wetting the baby's head.

The boys have all come out to the pub,

and we're having a rum or two,

as tradition demands, in a nautical fashion.

Hoo!

For hundreds of years,

this pub has been at the heart of the community.

Hello, Isla. Wake up.

Don't say that. Oh, my God.

Coochie-coochie-coochie-coo!

'A pub is the sort of place where you just talk about the week

'and have a pint or two, and it is the focal point

'of the, sort of, cove'

and it's an old tradition, a nice, old tradition,

some like it more than others.

'In the case of whether it's a birthday or a funeral

'the answer tends to be, "We'll go and have a couple of pints." '

And if we start singing, well, hard luck on everybody else.

# Fill up your glasses and let us be merry

# For to rob and to plunder it is our intent. #

To take the community-supported fishery to the next stage,

local consumers now need to commit to the scheme.

Today, Nigel, Jonathan and Monty have also enlisted

the culinary skills of fisherman's wife Sarah Stephens.

Shall I just outline what we're going to try and do?

The plan is a for a fish "throw down",

an idea borrowed from the United States

designed to show people where their fish comes from,

how to process it and how to cook it.

-I think we'll get, hopefully, 30, 40 people.

-Brilliant, yeah.

If fewer people turn up

then we have to cram more information into these people

and use them as messengers out into the community,

-so that they have enough enthusiasm about it.

-To go forth!

Yeah, disciples, go forth and multiply our sales.

The people from Helston who were interested in getting fish

direct from the cove have all been invited.

Hopefully the throw down will persuade them to sign up

for a delivery of fresh fish.

I think the whole idea of doing this is to spark a bit of interest,

we've already seen the interest in Helston, it was amazing.

That market! Mobbed, weren't we?

But then to close, we'll do this thing

about who's interested in having a live crab next week,

and whatever the boats are catching,

and then we'll try and do something next Wednesday

where we actually do a pick-up.

The visitors see everything the coves has to offer,

from how the fishing boats work

to getting hands-on with the catch of the day.

Oh!

Nigel persuades people to commit to the scheme.

They agree to pay £10 upfront for a delivery of a live crab

and whatever fish is caught that week.

For the customers this is much better value

than a conventional shop.

The main point of all this is just making fresh fish

really available to the person on the street, you know,

and making it user-friendly,

and to not be frightened of it or different species of it.

Don't always do as you're told, go and try different things,

because it's all good, so, yeah, I think it will be great,

but it's a growing thing,

it's not something that's going to happen overnight.

Local food experts and entrepreneurs have also been invited

to see what they make of the idea

and whether it could be a viable business model.

I absolutely do believe that there are people out there

crying out for that freshness, that quality,

the variety, to know that it's local,

to know who's caught it.

That's a huge part of the market at the moment.

Oh, my God!

Around 70% of our sea food is imported.

The fish on our supermarket shelves and dinner tables

can travel huge distances.

But, by using schemes like a community-supported fishery,

the food miles clocked up by our fish could be significantly reduced.

There's a lot of people out there

who want to buy local, good, sustainable food,

and know where it comes from.

It's really hard to make that choice because there aren't the options,

I think 93% of all food shopping is done in the big four supermarkets.

When you've got that situation,

you've no idea where your food is coming from

but it's there and it's convenient.

Cadgwith is a perfect example of a cove, a fairly rare cove,

that still has a viable fishing fleet

and it's part of the community and the people live here,

I think that's the way it has to go.

Cadgwith could be just the beginning.

If the scheme works here,

it could be rolled out to fishing villages all over Britain.

We have a co-op of growers that supply our 40,000 customers

and I think to have a cooperative or an affiliation, anyway,

of fishermen working from a particular area,

all subscribing to the same sustainability practices,

would be a great way to go,

I would have thought it would have a huge appeal.

Yeah, no, we could deliver thousands of fish boxes every week.

With just over a week to go until Christmas

and with more than 30 orders to fill,

everything is falling into place, all they need now are some fish.

'And the shipping forecast issued by the Met Office,

'Wight, Portland, Plymouth, Biscay, west or southwest

'becoming cyclonic later except in Biscay,

'seven to severe gale nine,

'occasionally storm ten,

'perhaps violent storm 11 later in Plymouth and Biscay.'

A winter storm rolls in off the Atlantic.

High winds and rough seas are battering the country

and the cove is exposed to the full force of the weather.

The Cadgwith skippers are forced to move their vessels

out of harm's way.

There's a bit of weather coming in, like proper weather coming in

and the boats have to be dragged up into the village,

tucked away into the alleys, up the hill,

because there's real security within the village,

if they're on the beach they'll get washed away.

Louis Mitchell is the first to make the call...

I'm not leaving my boat there, I'm coming up here.

They usually follow behind.

This the first time for the year, so we got gear up first,

get rid of all the junk but it's fairly efficient

when it's all sorted out, and everything else.

A couple of hours and it's all sorted.

As the smallest vessel in the cove,

Nigel's boat, Razorbill, will be dragged into village first.

Occupational hazard, really,

but what a difference it is now compared to the summer.

You know, we'll do this pretty often, especially this time of year,

but we nearly got caught out last night,

sea was up past the boats.

With the smaller boats safely tucked away,

the fishermen set to work on moving the bigger vessels.

Louis takes charge.

I've known years when we do it once a week,

the last three or four years, we've been quite lucky.

Once a year, twice a year.

You know, it is the worst of it now.

With all the boats off the beach and tightly packed into the village

there will be no fishing from Cadgwith for the time being.

And with more bad weather forecast

the chances of getting out before Christmas look slim.

The fishermen aren't the only ones who need to get out.

Plans for the community-supported fishery are now in serious jeopardy.

After weeks of hard work, there are orders to fill,

but with the boats stuck on the shore, no fishing means no fish.

So there's genuine tension for me and genuine frustration that now,

this point of all points, with literally a week to go,

this comes in and I can't get out and fish

and I can't provide the fish for the members of the local community

who've suddenly become very interested

in supporting the fleet here.

It's intensely frustrating and annoying.

It's been three days since the Cadgwith fleet last to put to sea.

Offshore, huge container ships brave the storm

in one of Britain's busiest shipping lanes.

The waters off the Lizard can be treacherous

and, over the years, the violent winter storms

have claimed many ships and many lives.

Though the Cadgwith boats cannot fish in this weather,

many of the fishermen have gone to sea in even worse storms

as members of the local lifeboat crew.

Nigel, and his father before him,

unfailingly answered the calls of ships in distress.

One terrible night, and one terrible storm,

remains with Nigel above all others.

The night of the Penlee lifeboat disaster.

Normally it took us two hours to get to Newlyn,

well, it took us five hours that night.

It was poor! I mean, she was banging and jumping out of the sea.

Just thick, green water was sort of mast level going through her,

and it was frightening, it was frightening.

On the evening of the 19th December, 1981,

a ferocious storm hit Cornwall.

The Union Star, a cargo ship, lost engine power.

At 8:12pm the Penlee lifeboat, The Solomon Browne, was launched,

manned by eight lifeboat men from the fishing town of Mousehole.

In strong winds and waves up to 60 feet high,

the lifeboat tried in vain to rescue those aboard the Union Star.

That night, all hands were lost from both vessels.

16 people perished.

It was gusting up 100 mile an hour, which was a hurricane, basically.

But lots have been out in worse than that, we eventually got there

and we didn't find anybody, of course.

This storm continues to rage,

day after day.

Back in the cove, the sun may be shining

but the wind and the sea continue to confine the fishermen to the beach.

No-go today, isn't looking very good outside there, look.

You can usually tell when a coaster goes down through

and his bow comes 40ft out the water, like, you know

it ain't going to be no good for you...

..and it's looking like that out there now!

HE CHUCKLES

It's probably as long a spell of bad weather as we've had

for quite a while, quite a while.

They've been proper gales, you know.

The sea hasn't been massive but it's day in, day out.

It's enough to stop you, what with the wind on top of it.

So, yeah, it is, obviously it's not exceptional

but it's as long a spell as we've had for a long time.

Soon the fish markets will be closing for Christmas,

and if the fishermen can't get out,

they will not be able to make

the final, high-value landings of the year.

A couple of days would do it go out and get through the gear once more,

pick up what we've got in the store pots, we'll make a week's work.

Yeah, a couple of days is all we're looking for

but time's running out.

Yes, it ain't very good out there, it ain't very good out there at all.

The delivery deadline for the community-supported fishery

is also approaching fast.

The success or failure of the idea hangs on a break in the weather.

For over a week the fishermen have been unable to get out,

as low pressure systems sweep in off the Atlantic.

But finally, there is a break in the weather.

While the conditions are far from perfect,

the beach comes to life and the fishermen rush to get out to sea.

There's a weather window, just a couple of days probably,

so the fleet's mobilising

and out of all the days' fishing I've done in the cove

this is probably the most significant,

the one that's coming up now...

..because it provides fish and crab for the community-supported fishery.

That's great news, I'm delighted.

With orders to meet, Monty is heading out with Danny Philips

and his crewman, Perry.

As soon as the weather broke, Danny shot his nets away

Now it's time to see what he's caught,

but Monty has bad memories of this boat.

In the summer, a violent bout of sea sickness laid him low.

I'm out on Scorpio, and me and Scorpio have got a bit of previous.

I think I lay there being sick, I lay there being sick,

I lay there being sick and it's a lumpy day as well.

This will be my last trip out on Scorpio

and one of Danny's last fishing trips before Christmas,

so it will be interesting to see how I get on today.

This, for me, will hopefully slay a few dragons.

There's one!

Pollock.

Oh, lovely.

-That is good, tasty stuff!

-Yeah, beautiful.

This time of year, I guess, is quite challenging, isn't it, Danny?

-It is, yeah.

-Challenging in every respect.

But, also, it's quite good fun.

Yes, I suppose so.

All depends on your definition of "fun".

Do you go a bit stir crazy when you're not fishing?

Well, sometimes. Yeah...

I know you're sort of born to fish, aren't you, really?

If it's a neap and I'm supposed to be out there and it's blowing,

I do get agitated.

I don't mind it blowing on a spring tide.

Oh, lovely!

Although Danny is using carefully-placed gill nets

to specifically target high-value species, like red mullet and bass,

he inevitably catches a range of less valuable fish as well.

And some that are of no commercial value at all.

It's all part of this thing

about getting people to eat species they wouldn't normally eat.

That's right, yeah.

Without realising, you stick that in batter

and you wouldn't know the difference, would you?

The big ones of these, that's what we want to eat.

-The big wrasse?

-Yeah.

What Danny and Perry are doing is as the fish are coming out the nets

they're obviously sorting it into species with value, market value,

and this is just bait, but what you're looking at there...

..is a beautiful fish bouillabaisse, a fish stew,

but we chuck all that stuff away

and that's one of the things I think we need to address.

Danny was very sceptical

about making a direct link with local consumers.

But he has agreed to sell

a selection of his less valuable catch to the scheme.

The chaps in Helston, when they have the fish this time,

you are actually going to sell it to them?

Yeah, the idea is they've put money down ahead, beforehand.

And they've done that, have they?

Yeah, as an investment in the fleet, basically,

and for that we give them one lot of fish

but the way it would work is they would put down a much larger lump sum

and, once a week, they'd get a drop off of fish.

Quite often in March,

when there is a lot of fish around prices drop really bad,

we get really low prices, but it doesn't seem to alter in the shops,

so, that would be quite a good time for us then to sell to them.

That's part of the beauty of it, I think.

In that you've got a guaranteed price all year for 15% of your catch,

10% of your catch, you know.

Yeah, it could work.

With all the fish gutted and stowed, Danny heads back to the cove,

and, this time, Monty is still standing.

I think he's got over all that now.

Unless he's on some very good medication.

No signs of him dying today, anyway.

Just finishing up now, but the nice thing about the CSF

is the fish that we caught today,

several of them will go into the CSF pot, as it were.

and the beauty of that is they go in at a slightly inflated price

from what would normally be paid.

So this, I think, times like this,

is when the CSF really kicks in and maybe has a bit of proper value.

Danny's premium fish will soon be on restaurant tables across Cornwall,

but a selection of this catch will go straight to the local community.

By selling direct, it means a better price for everyone.

The whole concept of the CSF, of course, is that direct link -

there isn't a massive logistical chain involved in these fish.

So Danny for these normally you'd be getting?

This time of year perhaps they would be up £2.50-£3 a kilo sort of thing.

£3 a kilo, yeah.

So with CSF thing, we'll do £4 a kilo for Danny,

so that's the idea. That little extra bit of value

because it's going straight to the consumer, so £4 a kilo, Danny?

-If you can get £4 a kilo for them, I'd be delighted.

-Brilliant!

Very good!

While the other fishermen continue to make the most of the weather window,

Nigel is busy on shore.

During the winter, he makes traditional willow

or withy lobster pots.

This was once an essential part of a fishermen's life

but, today, few pots make it to the sea.

Most are bought by tourists as souvenirs.

I can see you're working at real speed there,

you're not hanging about and was speed of the essence

because huge numbers of these were required, I assume?

These were the pots, weren't they?

Well, these were the pots, these were the lifeblood.

If you didn't make pots...

OK, they might be romantic and artistic now,

-but, years ago, you had to make them to make a living.

-Yeah.

So, yeah, speed. Two men in those days would make six pots a day,

I can sort of do three a day on my own

but I aren't under the sort of pressure they was under,

you know, I like it up here in the shed on my own,

perhaps with the music on, and a cup of coffee,

-but they were doing it for survival.

-Yeah. Yeah.

-No romance whatsoever.

Withy pots have been made in Cadgwith for hundreds of years.

But with the introduction of steel and plastic pots in the 1960s

almost made this skill obsolete.

I did used to detest making pots, I really did,

and when plastic and steel came along,

I was just so happy and pleased and I couldn't wait fast enough

to throw this in the corner and just forget about it, to be quite honest.

To help him through tough times, Nigel started making pots again

and now he is hopeful that someone from the cove

will learn this dying craft.

But if they don't,

this could be a link to the past that is lost forever.

I do need now to have a youngster to actually take it on,

because it would be a shame if it was lost.

Some elements of Cadgwith have remained unchanged for centuries.

But its fishermen have always moved with the times,

embracing new technologies and new techniques.

Over the years,

small-boat fishermen have worked to perfect their operation at sea.

But times are changing

and they now need to improve how they operate on shore -

they need to find new markets,

sell the story of the fish they catch, and maximise their returns.

It's a few days before Christmas.

The last day of the Cadgwith fishing season has arrived,

and the cove's fishermen

are bringing in the final catch of the year.

This a momentous trip for me because it's probably my last trip

out of the cove on a boat...

er, which is very sad.

The other reason it's an important trip is

Tonks has got store pots out here and we're going to go to the store pots

and get about 30 or so big cock crab for the community-supported fishery.

Tonks, ideally if we can have some cock crabs,

kind of medium size, that would be ideal, about 30 or so.

No problem.

Is that big enough?

That's perfect, actually.

I think one of the things people are going to face

is they're not used to cooking crab,

so I'm worried they won't have a big enough thing. That's perfect.

Yeah, anything that size and that size, mate, will be absolutely ideal.

So shall I whack them in this bongo?

Yeah, put them in your bongo and keep count!

As part of their fish box, each customer will get a live crab.

By selling into the scheme, Tonks will receive 20% more

for a small portion of his catch,

but the customers will still be paying a lot less

than they would in the shops.

-No, you know, more is good, isn't it?

-Oh, it is, of course.

On how big or small the scale, it doesn't matter, every little helps.

Yeah.

The majority of crabs caught in Cadgwith will go to Europe,

but with many countries facing recession,

small-boat skippers like Tonks are feeling the effects.

Developing new, local, markets could help them in the future.

And, Tonks, the stuff you're doing at the moment,

this is going to France, Spain, to the continent?

Yeah, the continent, somewhere.

That's a nice thing for me and I imagine for you, as well,

that that's actually going to be eaten by a local person.

Yeah, for sure. Wonderful, wonderful!

I do wish more people would do it.

With the whole catch aboard, they head back to the cove.

This is the last time Monty will make this journey.

That is genuinely the end of my fishing in Cadgwith,

it's the last time I'll come around the corner of the cove,

the last time up on the beach.

Very sad, really.

It just feels like yesterday I was wandering down here

and, interestingly, amazing how the preconceptions I had then

have changed so radically due to being exposed to this fleet

and this group of people.

Very sad, really.

With their seafood now in high demand on mainland Europe,

the Cadgwith fishermen land their catch just in time.

There you go, chaps! Merry Christmas!

Thank you very much.

Yeah, it's all right. Quite pleased with that.

HE CHUCKLES

Fishing may be over, but Monty still has work to do.

The customers who signed up to the scheme

will collect their fish in Helston this evening.

But first, the catch needs to be processed.

Right, Fletch, here's the fish.

It's a veritable paella

With a range of species on offer,

some are filleted and others are left whole.

We've got prepped fillets there,

in that case, we'll put a bit of ice on it.

Well, what I may do is put whole fish in one and fillets in the other.

Really delighted with what we've got,

and I think it's a lovely way of doing it,

you get fillets if you're not feeling that adventurous,

but you get a whole fish if you're feeling a little bit more...

"let's get stuck in," because that's actually what we want to push.

It's not so much the fillets, it's the whole fish

and this different range of species.

And get people to explore the sorts of fish we're catching.

The fish are ready, all they need now are the customers.

Literally just set up

and the first customer of the community-supported fishery in the UK

has just turned up, bang on time.

-That's impressive, good time keeping.

-Nice to meet you.

You too, thank you very much.

This is one of the best deals I've ever had in my life

-and I hope you're venture is good.

-Thank you very much!

Basically, we've got a tub full of crab there,

and you get one crab, and in here we've got fish fillets

or in there it's kind of a lucky dip and we'll give you a fish

that you've probably never had before, the whole fish.

-I can choose, can I?

-You can choose.

-I think I'll go for the experience.

This is probably the cheapest fish we get any money for,

that's a bib or a pouting.

Everybody goes for cod,

that thing will out-taste a cod any day.

I think it's a great idea! I really hope it takes off.

I really hope that, certainly, the people of Cadgwith get behind it,

and if we can do it local to home then, yeah, great.

I've got small haddock.

Oh, I'll have a haddock. I'll have a haddock.

Yeah, I'll have some haddock, please.

I think it's really beneficial -

there's all this produce caught locally

and it supports the local communities on the coast

and it's giving us the opportunity to buy that great food locally.

What could be better?

It's been a success.

Local people have bought sustainably-caught fish

-from

-their

-fishing fleet.

A broken link has been mended.

The recurring comment I've heard all night as people have come up is,

"How can this be carried on?"

And their delight at the fact that they're actually helping

the fishermen and they're helping the fishing boats.

I think it's going very well, I think there's potential here

to change people's eating habits a little bit.

If we can convince them to eat what's being caught

rather than us trying to catch what we think they want to eat,

we might even convince the Great British public to eat more fish.

Well, I was a bit sceptical to start off with, I've got to say.

But I think we've sort of crossed a bridge,

OK, it's only 30 or 40 people, but like a snowball effect,

people now know they can get fresh fish and it will help everybody -

the fishermen and the normal fishmongers and everybody, really.

It's a great sight, you know, to see this,

the culmination of the faith that Nige has shown in the scheme

and Jonathan and the fishermen of Cadgwith,

and the support that their local community has shown in that fleet.

Terrific.

If schemes like this were to take root around our coast,

they could offer a lifeline to our inshore fishing fleet

and provide consumers with local, fresh seafood.

It's a small first step on a long journey.

For Monty, though, his time in the cove is at an end.

For the past eight months,

he has lived and worked as a Cornish fisherman.

He's experienced the rewards.

Beautiful little lobster, look.

And the perils of Britain's most dangerous job.

Try not to spew over the fish!

Monty has seen the challenges that all fishermen face.

From the inshore skippers to the deep-sea trawlermen.

He has experienced first-hand the hard work

and dedication that goes into this most challenging of occupations.

I'm told I'm being a total lightweight.

Though he arrived as an apprentice,

-Monty has earned his place among the fishermen of Cadgwith Cove.

-That's a keeper.

I just never thought he was going to do what he's done.

No, I would give him a job tomorrow.

He's all right, yeah, fine.

I think he dealt with everything quite well.

We all enjoyed having him, he was good entertainment, really.

He done very well, really. Give him a silver star, I think.

Well, Nige, I'm back to my world now.

Thank you for looking after me and I've learned heck of a lot.

Well, I think you've learnt a bit, it hasn't been no problem, really.

Look after Tam and the baby and you'll be fine, that's the world now.

I expect you'll come back occasionally.

Oh, we will. You're going to struggle to get rid of me now.

All right, Nige. Thanks very much, mate.

Right, well look after yourself.

I certainly will. Much appreciated. Cheers.

I really had my bleak moments during the course of this experience

and it was always Nige that picked me up.

I really would have struggled without his constant and unflagging support

and enthusiasm for what I was trying to do.

Fishermen face a difficult time ahead.

Increasingly strict Government and European policies,

tighter financial margins and a lack of young crew

mean the future for Cadgwith Cove

and the British fishing industry as a whole hangs in the balance.

Whether some people like it or no, the smelly fishing boats

with all this smelly equipment, that is what this place is.

We are still here, so we must be doing something right,

we might be hanging on by the skin our teeth at times,

but we're still here.

We're completely surrounded by coastline,

I mean, if we haven't got a fleet of fishing boats,

well, then that's the end of it, really.

That's the end of Britain as we know it, I think.

My overriding sensation

as I drive away and I look at Cadgwith in my rear view mirrors

is this isn't some quaint representation of the past.

It's a potential sustainable fishing model for the future

And we as a nation and as local communities must support our fleets

because otherwise they will disappear.

# Away down Rio

# So fare thee well My pretty young girl

# For I'm bound for the Rio Grande

# Then away, then away

# Away down Rio

# So fare thee well My pretty young girl

# For I'm bound for the Rio Grande. #