Cove’s fishermen fearing for future
Documentary highlights threats to traditional ways of life, as Ellie Kendall reports
THE penultimate episode of Cornwall: This Fishing Life saw the fishermen of Cadgwith cove in Cornwall fearing for their future – and has led to a fundraising campaign to save their storage lofts.
Not only were fishermen worried that their children would be more interested in going off to university or travelling the world than they would carrying on the family’s fishing business, the fishing lofts on the beach were at risk of being sold – leaving them with no alternative but to move elsewhere.
While the show shone a light on the few father and son crews still fishing off the cove of Cadgwith, following a generational tradition that has spanned centuries, the fate of their future rested immediately with the buildings they work in every day.
The lofts, which are hundreds of years old and rented by the fishermen in various different ways, have already dwindled in number – the episode told of several which had become beach houses for tourists.
One fisherman on the show said: “Fishermen wouldn’t survive without lofts. Generations of fishermen have used them.”
During the episode, the fate of the lofts was to be determined by the end of the summer, when a parish council meeting was to be held to vote on whether council tax could be raised to help buy the winch house on the cove.
The winch house as well as tractors, cold rooms and other equipment are still used by the fishermen of Cadgwith today – and each costs thousands of pounds to keep running.
One said: “As long as there are fishing boats on that cove, there should be lofts for them to fish from.” While another commented: “Fishermen need to be able to remain here in order to pay for the winches, tractors and cold rooms.
“The more fishermen on the beach, the easier it is for the fleet to pay for it all.”
But this wasn’t the only concern raised during the episode. The children of the already-established fishing families of Cadgwith were beginning to worry that the industry just isn’t stable enough for them to make a living.
The fishermen said they were beginning to feel somewhat “outnumbered by visitors” who would come just to see them out in their boats. Whereas at one point everyone in the village of Cadgwith would have had a link to the fishing industry, people now think fishermen just “clutter the place up”.
Fisherman John Trewin said: “Fishermen are becoming an endangered species and we need young fishermen coming on behind because, at present, the people who are here at Cadgwith at the moment are only the present and nearly the past.”
So did the fishermen of Cadgwith get their loft support? The first step towards solidifying a future for Cadgwith’s fishing industry was to begin to save the buildings the fishermen use to do their work.
After a unanimous vote in favour of the parish council putting it to the people of the village, locals voted in favour of trying to get a loan to buy the winch house and other buildings. The increase in council tax, according to the show, would be around £5 per year per household.
In doing this, the fishermen of Cadgwith believe they can retain their heritage and preserve it for the next generations of fishermen and “Covers” of Cadgwith.
Now, the community has launched a fundraising campaign to save three of the historic buildings on the cove. Brett Jose, of the Cadgwith Fishing Cove Trust, who is leading the appeal, has said: “The council is raising a loan to buy one of the buildings and there is widespread support from parishioners, with over 80% voting in favour. For the other two buildings, we still need to find £300,000 to buy and repair them.”
He added: “Cadgwith is visited each year by thousands of holidaymakers. If our fishing activity ever came to an end, the tourism industry would shrink and many local residents would lose their main source of income. The fishermen are at the heart of our strong sense of community and we are doing everything we can to support them.”
To support the Crowdfunder appeal visit: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/cadgwith-fishingcove-trust
Fishermen are becoming an endangered species JOHN TREWIN