Travels of a Fish Nut

It's my last day of work. I've been here almost 11 months and spent over 5 of those at sea. I've had a fantastic time. I've learned a lot about a lot of things. I now know most of the fish species found in the Falklands and a lot of the invertebrates too. My Spanish has improved a lot. I've seen commercial fishing first hand which was my main reason for being here. It's been a great year - hard work but rewarding. I'm off on holiday on tuesday, landing in the UK on wednesday so if anyone wants to meet up when I'm home just email or call me. I really need my holiday. I haven't had any real time off since I started and I'm starting to feel it! My plans for next year are a bit up in the air at the moment. I'm hoping to come back and do another year but saw my dream job become available a while ago so I've applied and am waiting to hear how I did. Wish me luck! I've had such a good time in the Falklands. Like anywhere it has its faults bu...

I’ve been hesitant to write about the inner workings of the boats I’ve been on because they are, after all, commercial operations and I didn’t want to inadvertently disclose something I shouldn’t. But I’ve been on enough boats now to see that there are common features and I asked on my last boat whether it was ok to post some photos showing hauling which they agreed to. So I can finally show you a bit about how trawlers work. I’ve got some photos of hauling the net. Setting the net is pretty much exactly the same except everything is in reverse and the cod end (the end of the net where all the fish gathers) is empty. Once the fish is brought on board it is processed – normally headed, tailed and gutted although a few species are filleted. The net is set at depths ranging from about 100 to 300m. Most of the trawlers I’ve been on have been bottom trawlers which means that the bottom of the net runs along the sea bed while the top floats free. This is my bad (and probably at least slightl...

I had a great trip but I must admit I’ve been really looking forward to my holiday. Even though it was my fifth commercial boat I still saw one species I haven’t seen before, plus I got some better photos of a few species I’ve only seen occasionally. The new species was Allothunnus fallai , a tuna. You can tell it’s a tuna by the shape which is really streamlined. The body is really smooth with no scales to speak of and there is a keel on the caudal peduncle (the ‘pinch’ between the body and the tail). (I don't know why this photo won't rotate properly, but you can still see the bit i'm on about, even if it is sideways). The only really interesting other species I got is the yellowbelly ( Paranotothenia magellanica ). The species is mis-named as it’s not got a yellow belly – it’s the branchiostegals (the ‘frills’ of skin that go under the gill cover) that are yellow, not the belly. They are a beautiful dark blue on their back which fades to white on their belly. I got a...