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Stephen Fry. British actor, writer and film & documentary maker
May 2014 issue
by Damian Bird
Jamie enjoys comforts like a hot cup of sugary coffee and a luxury B&H cigarette on his fishing trips.
Jamie changes into his work clothes in the wheel house before the day’s fishing commences.
Leaving West Bay Harbour at 8.00 am 11/04/2014
Large healthy brown crab coming up on the net, value £5.
Spider crab and place freshly pulled from the sea.
Ron and Jamie work together to retrieve the net from the sea bed before the fish and crabs are retrieved and then
stored in plastic buckets, to be returned to shore before being distributed to local restaurants.
The winch brings the net up from the sea bed. The net is only a metre wide. On one side the rope is leaded and the
other corked so that one side sinks and the other floats, providing a net pocket for the fish and crabs to be caught in.
Jamie’s assistant Ron handles a large brown crab carefully because their pincers are strong enough to break a
wooden broom handle.
Jamie and Ron navigating between fishing sites.
Jamie’s fishing nets are anchored at each end to keep the net taught and from drifting about on the sea bed.
Satellite navigation makes finding nets much easier.
Every fish and crab has to be retrieved from the net by
hand.
After the catch is removed from the net it is laid carefully into a large plastic bin situated at the back of Jamie’s boat in
preparation for return to the sea bed the following day. After each net is pulled, the one from the day before is laid.
Jamie joked with me that a brown crab has 8 too many legs when you are trying to get it out of the net!
Jamie’s boat under full steam with two ‘fisheries patrol’ officers on board. Their job is to ensure that fishermen aren’t
breaking any of the rules laid down to protect the fish stocks.
Jamie and Ron removing spider crabs from their net, which are then thrown back.
The nets are always put away without their ropes
crossed.
Jamie throws his securing rope onto the quay side.
The view from the bow of Jamie’s boat as it returns to West Bay harbour after a day’s fishing.
Jamie and Ron chat with Donald after tying up. All of the West Bay fishermen know each other and share stories about
their trips. The all have nicknames for each other. Donald is also known as The Eyper, because he was born two miles
from West Bay in the village of Eype and is therfore not considered to be true local!
Jamie Smith is a 56 year old, highly respected member of the small fishing community that works from West Bay in
West Dorset. West Bay lies on a stretch of the southern English coastline called the Jurassic Coast (a World Heritage
site) and is home to 10 commercial fishing boats.
In 1996, when milk quota regulations on dairy farming made it not worth Jamie’s while to remain a share-holder and
worker on his family’s farm, he turned to fishing. He had always loved the sea and wished to retain an out-door working
life. But fishing boats are expensive and so Jamie started out fishing on a scrap boat that he gradually worked on to
improve its condition.
In 1999, he had borrowed £23,000 towards to cost of his current boat, Valiron which even second-hand, cost him over
than £36,000. The price of a brand new boat like Jamie’s today would be more than £100,000.
Jamie has always used the fixed netting technique to catch: Dover Sole, Plaice, Brill, Skate, Crabs and Lobsters.
This technique of fishing, which involves the deployment to a multi-purpose single-ply tangle net that sits vertically at
90 degrees from the sea bed between one leaded rope that sinks and one corked rope that floats is both utterly
sustainable and eco-friendly. It leaves the marine environment virtually untouched.
The fishing community in this picturesque Dorset harbour are all very close and watch out for each other’s best
interests. If anyone has a breakdown or needs a tow, there are always people at the end of the radio who will drop
everything to come to their rescue.
