Cornwall: This Fishing Life

Whilst other fishing communities are feeling the pinch, Mevagissey on Cornwall's south coast bucks the trend. Can the next generation of young skippers make a go of it?

It is summer, the sardine run is on and the ring-netters of Newlyn are on the hunt. Rebranded as Cornish Sardines, the pilchard has grown into a multi-million-pound industry for the Cornish fishermen.

Jason is joined by his sister Nicky, but with two of them to support the income from oysters alone is not enough so they have bought a trawler. The Henry brothers fish for 20 different species.

This edition looks at how the small fishing boats that make up 80% of the British fleet are coming under threat from industrialisation and a lack of new talent taking up the trade.

As autumn arrives in Cornwall, the biggest boats in the fleet fish through turbulent times offshore. But with Brexit looming, what does the future hold for these boats and the men that crew them?

Change is on the horizon in Newlyn, Cornwall’s biggest fishing port, as Brexit is coming. As the town prepares to navigate uncharted waters, the new harbour master is at the helm.