Weathering the storm

The south-west – and Cornwall in particular – has born the brunt of this winter’s storms. Hayle fisherman Saul Astrinsky, who we wrote about last month, tells us what it’s been like.

This is the worst I’ve ever known it to be, and I’ve been fishing for a long time. There are always storms in winter, but you’d normally expect to go out two or three days a week. You’d still earn a living. I’ve been out for two days in the past eight weeks and I haven’t caught a single fish. It’s crippling. Some mates over in Falmouth, where the water’s deeper, went out about 10 days ago and caught a few mackerel but even then they could only stay out for a couple of hours.
Normally at this time of year you’d expect about a 10-foot swell. In 100 feet of water, that’s only really affecting the surface. This year we’ve had a 30-foot swell. Obviously the small boats can’t go out in that kind of weather, but even in the lulls between the storms it’s no good. The movement in the water goes right down to the bottom and churns everything up – sand, mud, seaweed. It’s like soup out there.
A lot of species just won’t come into the shallows when it’s like this. It’s too rough for them. And if you’re lure fishing or using live bait, any fish that are there can’t see the bait, the water’s so cloudy. No one wants to risk it. Every time you go out it’s another £50 on fuel. That’s a gamble people can’t afford to take at the moment.
My customers are on the phone to me all the time. Some of them understand, and some of them just don’t get it at all – the fact that this is what it’s like when you’re dealing with nature. You can’t predict it. They’re having to rely on farmed fish and frozen fish – they’ve got to keep going, keep bringing the money in. I’m pretty confident that they’ll come back to us – I think most of them can recognise the difference when they buy from us.
For now I’m focusing on the business. We’re doing a lot of PR work. Then there’s maintenance. I’ve taken the boat out of the water and serviced it, so I’m ready for the season. The forecast is looking a bit better now but it’ll be a week or two before the water clears. If we get a good spring tide that moves the water around, that will help. Because it’s been so mild, we’re all just hoping the season will start a bit earlier this year, so we can make up a bit of ground.