salcombe crabfest 21st may 2016 - dr...
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South Devon Fish Newsletter March 2016
H E L P I N G D E V E L O P T H E L O C A L S A L E S O F L O C A L L Y C A U G H T F I S H I N S O U T H D E V O N
Salcombe Crabfest 21st May 2016
Crabfest 2016 will take place in the
beautiful town of Salcombe in South
Devon on Sunday 1st May 2016, to
celebrate crab and all things seafood
from this thriving area. All funds
raised will be donated to some very
worthy local and national charities.
Salcombe Crabfest is run by a passion-
ate team of volunteers from the Rota-
ry Club of Salcombe and is sponsored
by two award-winning businesses,
Favis of Salcombe and Coast & Coun-
try Cottages. This inaugural event will
be opened by the ‘Queen of Cakes,
Mary Berry (CBE) who will be talking
to us about her life, favourite recipes
and the new series of The Great
British Bake Off.
There will also be a demonstra-
tion kitchen with some special
talks and live demos from re-
nowned chefs and food authors
such as Jane Baxter and some
exciting local chefs. Visitors can
also enjoy hands on crab picking
tuition, commercial crab fishing
talks, crab pot making, wine
tasting, a host of fabulous exhibi-
tors, music and there will even
be activities to occupy the chil-
dren! For more information
about this fantastic event (which
is not to be missed!) visit:
www.salcombecrabfest.co.uk
or follow us on:
Facebook/Salcombe-Crabfest
and
Twitter @SalcCrabfest
Other Dates for your Diary 2016
Free Life Jacket Clinic, Lifeboat
Station Dartmouth - 12th March
2016
Exeter Festival of South West
Food and Drink—21st to 22nd
April 2016
Brixham Pirate Festival 30th April-
to 1st May 2016
Dartington Food Fair - 29th to
30th May 2016
Brixham Open Air Fish Market
due to re-open end of May 2016!
Flavour Fest Plymouth– 3rd to
5th of June 2016
Paignton Harbour Festival Day -
6th August 2016
Fishstock Brixham— 10th Sep-
tember 2016
Rockfish Dartmouth Crab Festi-
val—7th August 2016
Taste of the Teign 19th-25th
September 2016
Plymouth Seafood Festival—
24th-25th September 2016
Dartmouth Food Festival—
21st to 23rd October 2016
Torbay Sea Angling
Festival— 2nd to 11th Sep-
tember 2016
If we’ve left your event off, let us
know!
Contact:
T: 01837 658 643
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South Devon Fish Newsletter March 2016
Richard Haddock standing in
front of a freshly created pile of
scallop shell fertiliser
Just five minutes from his thriving
Churston Traditional Farm Shop near
Brixham, on a muddy farm, Richard
Haddock has a pioneering piece of
machinery. Custom built by one of
the leading farm and garden machin-
ery industry representatives, C R Will-
cocks, this machine is turning by-
products of the UK fishing industry
into an organic soil conditioner that is
promising to be cheaper and more
effective than conventional fertilisers.
The four year project has come to
fruition with the support of local busi-
ness the DR Company, who have pro-
vided project support and funding
from the outset.
So what is this machine? A scallop
shell crusher. Taking scallop shells
from the local and national fishing
industry it pulverises the shells into
small particles that can then be spread
like standard fertiliser on arable fields,
gardens, and grass. This scallop shell
crusher is predicted to be a solution
for more than just farmers and
gardeners. By bringing the shells to
the crusher rather than the landfill,
fishermen and seafood processors
are paying significantly less to dis-
pose of their waste than if they
take the shells to landfill.
The machine’s owners (who also
own the Churston Traditional Farm
Shop) Richard and Caroline Had-
dock are passionate about ena-
bling and encouraging partnership
working between rural sectors,
“This project”, says Richard “is a
prime example of 2 different
sectors working in collabora-
tion. The fishing industry’s
waste/by-product, with the as-
sistance of the farming sector, is
turned into a very useful soil
improver/fertilizer for landown-
ers.”
The product that comes out of the
crusher is pure and untreated scal-
lop shell, ground down. It is high in
nutrients- calcium oxide, magnesi-
um, and the much revered calcified
seaweed. As a testament to the
value of seaweed, farmers in Ma-
rizion, Cornwall still collect sea-
weed from the beach to spread on
the land as fertiliser. Scallops in-
gest seaweed and it’s nutritional
value is retained in the shells. Rich-
ard Haddock and his team report
that in trials conducted so far, the
scallop fertiliser from the Churston
crusher has produced significantly
increased barley yields in the
Churston Farm fields. Trials are still
underway and the results will be
available in Autumn 2016.
Alongside the highly nutritious content
of the scallop shell fertiliser, one of the
other main benefits to the buyer is
projected to be its cost. Whereas a
standard fertiliser used on farms in the
UK costs around £350 per tonne, it is
predicted that the crushed scallops
will cost around £120-150 per tonne.
And the scallop shell fertiliser is guar-
anteed to be organic. It is little wonder
that several large organic farm suppli-
ers have already shown interest in the
product.
The scallop crusher as it is now is the
product of 4 years planning and over
£250, 000 of investment. The design of
the scallop crusher itself took several
attempts and it was when C R Will-
cocks were engaged to take over the
construction of this one-of-a-kind ma-
chine that the working final version
was created. It is still not entirely com-
plete – the current crusher is using
some temporary parts, until the final
components can be finished and deliv-
ered from the US in around 2 months
time. C R Willcocks have relished the
Fishing industry’s waste becomes Farming industry’s win!
How a pioneering project in the South Hams is turning the fishing industry’s waste
into a first class soil fertiliser
David Connabeer (left) and Stephen
Retallick from C R Willcocks
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CR Willcocks have specially customized a spreader
for the scallop shell fertilizer. Equipped with GPS,
this tractor can work out where a field needs more
or less soil conditioner.
The pulverized scallop shells, and nothing
else– ready to use as fertilizer
Nothing but scallop shells goes into the
crusher
opportunity to work on the project:
“We at C R Willcocks are very
pleased to be involved in this pio-
neering waste recycling project.
Providing machinery that turns
waste product from the fishing in-
dustry into a desirable product for
soil conditioning, combines our
technical machinery expertise with
our knowledge of the agricultural
industry. Particular credit should go
to our machinery specialist, David
Connabeer, who has overcome
some significant hurdles to bring
this project to a very satisfactory
conclusion.”
Churston Traditional Farm Shop own-
ers Richard and Caroline Haddock
funded some of the project themselves
but have also been provided with a
grant by the South Devon Fishing In-
dustry Development Fund. “This pro-
ject”, says Richard Haddock,
”wouldn’t have happened without
the support of DR and the grant
funding.”
This project is a prime example of the
work the DR Company in Okehampton
are doing. Not only do they run fund-
ing programmes like the SDFID, but
they also provide project and business
support to clients, whether related to
funding or not. In just over ten years
of business, DR have so far supported
over 500 rural projects, community
plans and businesses. The scallop
crusher has been a project that has
been supported by DR since it’s con-
ception.
Tim Beavon from the DR Company
said: “This is an exciting project,
bringing together and benefitting
two business sectors – agriculture
and fishing – which are really im-
portant locally. It’s good to sup-
port such pioneering work which
helps both the local economy and
the environment.”
The scallop shell crusher is shaping up
to be a win/win solution for several
industries. Seafood processors and
scallop fishermen will have a cheaper
alternative for sustainably disposing
of their waste. Farmers, gardeners
and landowners will have an organic,
highly effective fertiliser that is cheap-
er than the current alternatives.
South Devon will be home to a truly
sustainable form of recycling, and it is
hoped that if successful the project
will be able to franchise out to all
areas of the UK, creating employ-
ment, and reducing travel miles for
the scallop shells and their pulverised
alternate form. Scallop shells are be-
ing accepted now, and the fertiliser
will be available from the Autumn
2016.
To find out more contact postmas-
.uk . The South Devon Fishing Industry
Development Fund is now closed to
applications but the DR Company are
running other funding programmes
which look to support rural business-
es in Devon. If you have a project you
would like to discuss contact them on
01837 658643 or email
Tim Beavon, the DR Company, David
Connabeer and Stephen Retallick from C R
Willcocks and owner Richard Haddock in
front of the working scallop shell crusher
Tipping the scallop shells into the crusher
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South Devon Fish Newsletter March 2016
such I hope more people give
it a try.
"This is such good news for the
local fishing industry and
shows UK fishermen are right
up there when it comes to
leading the world on sustaina-
bility."
Read more here
South Devon photographer wins British Underwater Photographer
of the Year 2016!
Dan Bolt has won British Underwa-
ter Photographer of the Year 2016
in the Underwater Photographer of
the Year awards. Dan learned to
dive at 13 years old with the Torbay
BSAC club, and at University in
Cheltenham. He now works in IT
and takes underwater photographs
as a hobby, at which he is doing
extremely well!
Dan told South Devon Fish:
‘I was born and raised in South Dev-
on, and so the sea has always been
a big part of my life. Gowing up we
had beach hut in Torquay which is
where I first learned to snorkel.
From that moment on I was fasci-
nated with the salty-stuff and the
amazing creatures it held.
Now, too many years to mention
later, that childhood fascination
still burns stronger than ever
because when you’ve been diving
and snorkelling in the same area for
Brixham and Plymouth Hake Fisheries Receive MSC Certification
Brixham and Plymouth hake fisheries
have recently received Marine Steward-
ship Council certification, much to the
delight of restaurateur and chef Mitch
Tonks, who has long featured the white
fish on his award winning menus.
Tonks has frequently teamed up with
the NFFO (National Federation of Fish-
ermen’s Organisation) in support of
hake.
Talking to the Herald Express Tonks
said, ""Anything we can do to encour-
age people to try more
fresh, sustainable fish whilst supporting
UK fishermen can only be a good thing.
Hake is always a popular option at my
own restaurants and it's readily availa-
ble through fishmongers and retailers.
It's a white fish which is simple to adapt
different recipes and flavours to and as
so long, you really get to know
the character of the marine life.
That knowledge has helped me
to win the British Underwater
Photography championships
twice, both times with images
shot in South Devon’s beautiful
seas. And now, to top that off,
having an image taken at
Thurlestone selected to win the
British Underwater Photogra-
pher of the Year award just goes
to show what an amazing re-
source we have, just a stone’s
throw from our beautiful beach-
es.’
Dan has also co-authored a book
A Photographic Guide to Nudi-
branchs of South West England
which was published in 2014.
The book is available in e-format
and the website is http://
www.southwestnudis.co.uk/. To
see more of Dan’s work visit his
own website :
www.underwaterpics.co.uk/.
Pictured is ‘Catshark Supernova‘ by Dan
Bolt, showing a juvenile shark in it’s egg
case.