Three Men in More Than One Boat

Do you recognise these characters?  We had the pleasure of meeting Dara O’Briain, Griff Rhys Jones and Rory McGrath when they came to film for the Three Men in More Than One Boat series.  Having taken the photos I couldn’t find where I’d saved them anyway but have since found them, so it’s three years late but well worth publishing.  It’s not often you see a picture of Griff and Dara trying to move juvenile lobsters with a holey bent tea spoon!  We’re very technical here at the hatchery or genius?

It’s amazing to meet people like this, not only because you feel you’ve grown up with them in your front room but they were highly amusing and incredibly sharp and quick with their humour.

It was a brilliant series and having come to film at the hatchery and help us out, they ended up taking a tray of our baby lobsters to do a release in the Isles of Scilly.

Autumn Watch 11th Nov 2011

It was nice to have the Autumn Watch film crew with us last week with presenter Martin Hughes-Games.  We were very lucky to have a berried hen (an egg bearing female lobster) delivered to us the week before, probably the last for the season so we had a beautiful mother lobster to show for Friday’s Autumn Watch.

It really is a wonder of nature when you turn a lobster over to see 3,000 to 20,000 eggs attached to her pleopods.  I think really, they should come back with Spring Watch when the hatchery is a hive of activity.

We gave Martin one of our Santa CLAWS fluffy lobster to hold for the photo that are now available on our on-line shop with their very own handmade Santa hat’s.  http://www.nationallobsterhatchery.co.uk/shop/

Christmas Present List SORTED and all for charity

Unique lobster charity Christmas cards

(designed by pupils of Padstow Primary School)

Grandma – Lobster Hatchery hamper with

Cornish fudge, biscuits and Cornish sea salt

Grandpa – The Secret Life of Lobsters Book

‘How fishermen and scientists are unravelling

the mysteries of our favourite crustacean’.

Or our ‘His & Hers’ Adopt a Lobster – name a lobster after Grandma and Grandpa and we will release 2 lobsters back into the wild together.

Mum – beautiful Lobster life-cycle T-Towel or stylish Jute bag

Dad – Lobster Hatchery mug & key ring

For the teenage girls – check out our collection of Sea Gem silver jewellery, designed in Cornwall

For the teenage boys - Lobster Hatchery t-shirt

For the boys – a woodcraft construction kit or bath squirt puffer fish (that has a 3 metre firing range!) – watch out at bath time

For the girls – our lovely children’s book about a Padstow lobster called Claude & his 4,000 brothers & sisters

For the babies – it’s got to be a fluffy lobster

Adopt a Lobster Wedding Favours

It’s the year of the Adopt a Lobster Wedding Favours.  Last year we launched our Adopt a Lobster scheme as ethical and fun wedding favours, particularly for those that are taking a more eco-friendly approach to their special day.  We have had a really good uptake and in recent months we have had 2 lobster themed weddings believe it or not!  Check out these beautiful cake decorations that sat on Phil & Ally Whitehead’s cake.

The idea is that you can adopt a lobster for each of your guests and you get to name a lobster after each guest, which can be quite amusing if there are some old nick names.  We had one wedding party with some very amusing lobster names; Thirty & Flirty, Pontypandy, Baby Machine, Marathon Man and Half Marathon Man, Denis the Menace, Pasty Crimper, Desperate Dan (just to name a few).  You can imagine the noises when the wedding party sat down to eat and opened up their certificate!

This photo was taken at another wedding by photographer Ed Smith and they rolled the adopt a lobster certificates like a scroll with ribbon.  They look really nice, I like the brown ribbon.

I had a call this morning from a couple that are coming back to Cornwall to get married next year.  They are both working in the Caribbean on dive boats.  Their table decorations are going to be lobster pots with flowers sticking out of them!  I think our Adopt a Lobster wedding favours will be the perfect finishing touch!

Many couples come to the South West so that they can get married by the sea and have their wedding photographs taken on the beach and our wedding favours complement their special day.  The couple can feel happy that their money is going to a good cause, staying within the county and their adopted baby lobsters will be released back into the sea around the coast of Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly.

For more information about our wedding favours contact us on sales@nationallobsterhatchery.co.uk

Happy customers

Thought I’d share an email we received:

“We just wanted to let you know, that we thoroughly enjoyed our visit today.  It was heart-warming and incredibly informative.  In fact we came home and looked at  your website and u-tube films.

We are regular visitors to Hartland in Devon and decided today to visit Padstow, mainly to eat great Rick Stein food!

Ashamedly we didn't even know of your existence, but whilst parking, our 3 year old son saw your signs and was insistent that we visited.  We're so glad we did - we were overwhelmed.  Seeing the baby lobsters was a profoundly moving and quite an extraordinary experience, they are all so utterly individual and beautiful. 

Thank you so much for such a lovely time.

Good luck for the future and keep up your fabulous work, we hope to come and see you again soon.”

Monty Halls supports lobster hatchery at fundraising event

Friends and supporters of the National Lobster Hatchery were treated to an after-dinner speech from acclaimed media personality Monty Halls at the fabulous new No. 1 Rock Road Restaurant, with its stunning views across the Camel Estuary in Rock. The fundraising event, held on Friday 14^th of October, included a prize draw to determine the winner of a luxury two-night break on the Isles of Scilly, with flights courtesy of Skybus and accommodation provided by the beautiful Hell Bay Hotel on the island of Bryher, Isles of Scilly.

As if that and a fine two course meal wasn’t enough to keep guests entertained, those in attendance had the chance to meet guest speaker Monty Halls. Alongside his work as a marine biologist, writer and explorer, Monty presents his own TV series on BBC2, ‘Monty Halls Great Escapes’. Monty is currently filming in Cornwall for a new series that will be out in the Spring 2012 called The Big Catch, which will profile Monty living the life of a Cornish fisherman. Monty has an intimate knowledge of the importance of marine resource management and conservation, and was first approached to speak at the dinner by Hatchery General Manager Dom Boothroyd; while the pair released 1,600 juvenile lobsters together from a fishing vessel off the Lizard Peninsula!

Mr Boothroyd, speaking ahead of the fundraising evening, said, “2011 has been our charity’s most successful year ever; we’ve already released over 32,000 juvenile lobsters around Cornwall. Friday’s dinner is about celebrating that achievement and raising funds to help us continue our positive contribution to the sustainability of the Cornish lobster fishery. We’re hugely thankful to No.1 Rock Road for hosting us and to Skybus and the Hell Bay Hotel for their generosity in donating such a fantastic raffle prize, and I’m delighted that Monty Halls is taking valuable time out of his hectic schedule to come and support us.”

No.1 Rock Road opened earlier this year, and Ryan Wood, a Chef at the restaurant, said, “We’re proud to support a number of local charities, especially those that benefit the fishing community, and the National Lobster Hatchery does that. We always look to serve local, sustainably sourced seafood where possible, and for every half-lobster we sell here, we encourage the customer to make a £1 donation to the Hatchery, which we then match to cover the cost of a juvenile lobster being released back into Cornish waters.”

No. 1 Rock Road Restaurant sponsor hatchery

No. 1 Rock Road Restaurant has signed up to support the hatchery. Every lobster served at No. 1 Rock Road (with the customers help) will pay for the release of a baby lobster to help conserve stocks. For every £1 donated by a customer, No. 1 Rock Road will match their donation!

Of course, customers can opt out if they wish. Check out their view and menus www.no1rockroad.co.uk

Clovelly Lobster & Crab Feast

A massive thank you to Clovelly Estate for their £400 donation from the Lobster & Crab Feast on the 4th September 2011.  We have been their chosen beneficiary for the last 3 years and this year was the best ever.  The weather was on our side (well until 2.30pm) and visitors turned up in their droves.

We had a lot of interest in our baby lobsters and a lot of returning customers who came to adopt another lobster.

With the help of John Balls and his fishing boat, we released another 1,349 baby lobsters 1/4 mile up the coastline, onto perfect lobster ground.

A beautiful location!  Our day started at 6am when we loaded the lobsters up at the hatchery and this photo was taken very early in the morning before the event got underway.

All the stalls run along the harbour wall.  I should have taken a photo when it was full (but we were too busy!).  That’s a good sign.

http://www.clovelly.co.uk/

ART EXHIBITION at the hatchery

For the next two weeks two of North Cornwall’s best and most respected artists will be exhibiting their work at the National Lobster Hatchery in Padstow. Both artists live and work on the North Cornish coast and have a close affinity with the sea. The exhibition is an opportunity for visiting members of the public to come and see some amazing marine related art.

The two artists are Martiens Bekker and Caroline Cleave; Caroline has lived in Port Isaac, Cornwall for over twenty years and is passionate about design and draws her inspiration from the grand coastline and the intimate detail of the countryside on the North Cornish coast. Having a degree in art and having taught and been regularly involved with Cornish Festivals, she brings this experience to the pieces she creates. Her love of textiles, colour and scale are a constant feature and her larger works are permanently exhibited at the Eden Project. She is also regularly commissioned to illustrate and her detailed designs have been recently used by the Lobster Hatchery in their new children’s book `Claude gets his Claws` which is available in the gift shop.

Her work is created in her studio which is located in her tranquil valley garden in the village and sold through the `BOATHOUSE` which is the business she shares with her husband Jon Cleave . The Boathouse lies in the heart of Port Isaac and sells an eclectic mix of Coastal Cornish living.

Sculptor, Martiens Bekker creates his art using discarded and unwanted materials salvaged from across Cornwall, sifting through the swathes of society’s detritus he identifies ‘rubbish’ condemned before its time and resurrects it for a second chance. His work is inspired by the natural beauty of Cornwall and his native South Africa, by the wonder and confusion of human nature and of course by the scrap itself which typically dictates its own regeneration. Martiens endeavours to demonstrate through his work that our throw away culture, whilst keeping him employed, has brought us to the brink of catastrophe, and that only through a sincere and considered appreciation of our magnificent planet and all it provides can we ever hope to save it. We once valued the world beyond its worth and Martiens hopes his art will play a small role in the realisation that things must change.

Funds raised by any sales from the exhibition will include a donation towards the National Lobster Hatcheries charitable conservation, education and research work.

The exhibition will be held in the Kemp Room (named after former Padstow Mayor: Sid Kemp) The exhibition will run from Saturday the 6^th August until Sunday 21^st August and entry to the exhibition is free.

The National Lobster Hatchery’s General Manager Dominic Boothroyd explained: “This is the first time that we have held an exhibition at the centre and it is brilliant that two such amazingly talented artists want to exhibit here. It is even better that they want to donate some of the proceeds to our on-going charitable work.”

3,156 baby lobsters released on the Isles of Scilly

Following the success of last years’ release of 1,000 lobsters between Bryher and Tresco we jumped at the chance of doing another  release; only this time, our biggest release on record with 3,156 beautiful little lobsters.  The interesting thing is that these baby lobsters have spent the last few months growing in our new Aquahive (our state-of-the-art lobster housing) and the colouration and vigour of these lobsters was really striking.

At 5.30 this morning, the lobsters were packed up (still in their individual cells so they don’t eat each other!) and transported to Penzance; loaded onto the Scillonian and shipped across to the Isles of Scilly.  Steve Watt, the Maritime Officer for the Isles of Scilly Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authority (IFCA) met Charlie, Carly and the lobsters to take them over to meet the divers. Dave McBride and Tim Alsop organised the dive for us and delivered the lobsters by hand to the seabed on the east side of St Mary’s.

I have just spoken with Carly and she says the release was very successful; it’s just the team that were recovering from hyperthermia, the early start, the radio interviews and TV appearances!

Thank you once again to the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company and Hell Bay Hotel who have sponsored the release and helped organise the trip. They have also offered a raffle prize for our summer raffle of

A LUXURY TWO NIGHT BREAK ON THE ISLES OF SCILLY FOR TWO ADULTS

WITH SKYBUS FLIGHTS FROM EITHER LANDS END OR NEWQUAY AIRPORTS

STAYING FOR TWO NIGHTS DINNER BED & BREAKFAST

AT THE MAGNIFICENT HELL BAY HOTEL, BRYER, ISLES OF SCILLY

You can purchase raffle tickets over the phone on 01841 533877

Stained glass lobster window proudly in place

Our beautiful stained glass window is proudly in place now, in memory of the late Dr Eric Edwards, a long standing Trustee of the Lobster Hatchery. Eric's career as a fisheries scientist span over 50 years and included employment with the Ministry of Fisheries as a Principal Scientific Officer, then Director of the Shellfish Association of Great Britain for 18 years, to working part-time as the Fisheries Consultant to the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers in the City of London. He was a visiting Professor in Fisheries & Aquaculture at Queen's University, Belfast (2002-2005) and Vice President of the Shellfish Association.

Following the official naming of the 'Eric Edwards Room' here at the Hatchery, Gaynor Edwards (his daughter) decided to create this stained glass window to hang in the window. I'm told window stickers of the design are being printed as we speak which Gaynor wishes to donate to the hatchery in order to raise funds towards our marine conservation work. When they arrive they will be available through our on-line shop.

To see Gaynor's other pieces of art you can check out her facebook account on http://www.facebook.com/pages/Spiral-House-Design/133929156685786

Baby lobsters galore and record releases

 

Another 10,000 larvae hatched last night. We have released 7,400 juvenile lobsters to date. We’re releasing another 1,500 tomorrow and 3,000 next week at the Isles of Scilly! How good is that! These baby lobsters were born last night (photo on left), I asked them to stop moving for the photo shoot but they weren’t having any of it!

The photo on the right is what they look like close up.

Customer Feedback

I’ve just emptied the customer feedback box and thought I would share some of the lovely comments people have made.  I can honestly say there was only one negative feedback form in a pile of 40 and it sounds like he came in when we were renovating a couple of the tanks – so apologies for that.  So these are some of the things people have said:

A little gem of a place!

My son is lobster crazy and this place made him explode with excitement.

Absolutely loved it, will definitely be back.

Loving the lobsters.

So cool!

Wonderful to find out that local fishermen work alongside the scheme.

Being an ex-crawfish diver, in 60’s, 70’s & 80’s, its nice to see you sustaining.

My 7 year old daughter loved it.  Its a shame it can’t be bigger.  You should ask for funding to make it bigger, it is fab.  (We’re working on it!)

Very interesting and informative.  Good to see you support and promote your fishermen and sustainable fishing – WELL DONE!

This was a great visit especially for our 6 year old daughter who loved it and now understands about sustainability.

Having completed the developments over the winter we are really pleased with the visitor centre.  Over the last 5 years we have really maximised the potential of the space we have down there and it works better than ever.

Cage Culture Research Project underway

Emily Miles, from the University of Exeter, has started preparations for her Masters Project looking at cage culture for juvenile lobsters. This involves growing the lobsters from stage IV onwards in submerged cages in the sea as opposed to in the hatchery. Once in the water, they will be self-sufficient feeding from the biofouling on the cages, requiring no maintenance/cleaning of the cages and will be better equipped to deal with the environment once they are released.

The post-larval lobsters are currently growing in the hatchery and will undergo an intermediate phase to acclimatise them to lower sea water temperatures. The cages are already in place at two sites in the Fal estuary and at sea, fouling up (this means the cages will start to get encrusted with algae, barnacles and other organisms that will provide a source of food for the lobsters) before the lobsters are put into individual compartments to prevent them fighting.

This project is going to be really important for us at the hatchery, because the lobsters that are grown on in the sea cages will be compared in terms of diet, health, growth and survival rates, to the control lobsters that will remain in the hatchery for the same period of time and fed by us. If the cage culture is successful it could be the way forward for us long term and it would mean that we could grow on lobsters up to a year old thus to a more suitable release size for little economic and maintenance costs, compared to 3 months old that we tend to release at now.

THE BIG SWIM CORNWALL 7th AUGUST 2011

Registration is open for this lovely event, if you fancy the challenge of a one mile wild swim from Port Gaverne to Port Isaac.  Make a day of it, there’ll be plenty of entertainment, live music, food to sample and pubs at hand following the swim.

The official website is www.thebigswimcornwall.co.uk and you can register and pay on-line through our website Little Shop of Lobsters

See you there, fingers crossed for perfect weather conditions!

Latest research on shelter preference in juvenile lobsters

Alex Ferguson from University of Exeter, from the Conservation and Bio-diversity Masters Degree and Dan Brewer, from Cornwall College, from the Marine Aquaculture Foundation Degree are embarking on a joint project to look at shelter preference in juvenile lobsters.  Trials are underway and the baby lobsters are settling into their preferred shelter.  Alex and Dan have set up three different shelters, using scallop shells, pebbles and 20mm sections of pipe. 

The pebbles are looking more popular at the moment!

Bivalve Purification Operations Seafish/REHIS approved course

For all bivalve purification and dispatch centres in the UK
• Designed to meet the needs of the live bivalve mollusc sector
• An essential step towards producing Safer Seafood
• An excellent course for both new starters and experienced staff and managers
• Delivered by approved and experienced trainers
• Nationally recognised
• 4+ hr taught theory course
• Seafish funding support may be available

There are two training centres that are approved to deliver this training course.
• The Scottish Shellfish Training Centre;
• The Southern Shellfish Training Centre, venue National Lobster Hatchery

Posters attached for full details

Launch of IFCA, Cornwall’s Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authority

Cornwall IFCA is responsible for marine fisheries and environmental management in our inshore waters and estuaries. It was established on 1 April 2011 as a result of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. The Authority has taken over the duties, responsibilities and assets of Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committee, together with a broader remit for the sustainable management of the inshore marine environment.

Cornwall IFCA will lead, champion and manage a sustainable marine environment and inshore fisheries. It will do this by successfully securing the right balance between environmental and economic benefits to ensure healthy seas, sustainable fisheries and a viable future.

For more information check out their new website that has just gone live this week.

www.cornwall-ifca.gov.uk

Lobster Mothering Sunday …..

Bring your mum along for FREE to the National Lobster Hatchery on Mothering Sunday and see our mummy lobsters in their new maternity ward.  By then, lobsters should be hatching on a daily occurrence ….

and if you’ve forgotten to buy her flowers and chocolates, we’ve got some lovely Cornish fudge or other lovely gifts in our shop.

MUMS GO FREE ON SATURDAY 2ND & SUNDAY 3RD APRIL 2011

Testing the new National Lobster Hatchery ad…

Thought we should do a little dry run with the new ad for the National Lobster Hatchery…

Volunteering at the Hatchery

It’s Anthony’s last day with us today who has been volunteering at the hatchery.  He leaves us for a new post on Bryher on the Isles of Scilly – can’t be bad!

Wendy has been volunteering with us for nearly a year now, giving up one day a week to help us out in the office.  She calls us her ‘lobster luvvies’ so I think that can only be a compliment.

We are very lucky to have the help from lots of volunteers and for many, it seems to help them secure permanent posts elsewhere.  Amazingly, one of our volunteers is the longest standing member of staff here.

Wild Swim from Port Gaverne to Port Isaac

Put the date in your diary and plan your holiday to Cornwall for that week.  This years wild swim from Port Gaverne to Port Isaac will be held on 7th August 2011, raising money for the National Lobster Hatchery.

The event started last year and was such a success, organisers have decided to make it an annual event; only this year it’ll be bigger and better.

The actual swim is said to be 1 mile, round a beautiful bit of coastline, ending up at Port Isaac (a very quaint little Cornish harbour).  The Fisherman’s Friends are rumoured to be performing on stage, we will have our baby lobsters on display and there will be stalls and food to hand.  Not to mention the scattering of pubs next to the beach.

The official event website will be going live very soon so I will keep you informed.  I might even dig out a photo of Dom and I having completed the swim last year!

The new broodtank arrives

We had thought about the dimensions and whether we could fit it through the door, honestly!!  But to be fair it would have been difficult to get round corners, so our lovely kindly neighbours agreed to crane it into the back door, at low tide from the slipway.

The white side that you can see is the acrylic window so that visitors can see into the lobster maternity ward.

Dramatic changes ……..

 

The shop facelift is starting to shape up. What a transformation.... on the left is the old shelving. The story goes, that when these shelves were built they were trying to come up with inspiration for the shape and decided to draw round Lucille's pregnant belly - hence the curvy shelf. Sorry Lucille....

Having lost half our retail display space, with the new viewing area into the hatchery, we had to come up with a new design for our shop area.  As you can see it looks fantastic already and I think we have got even more space than before.  Painting and LED lights are in progress this morning.

We are also preparing another space for a new education display.  Work will start on that this afternoon.

The builders are in

I’ve only been out of the office for two days and already it looks fantastic.  The 2m x 2m viewing area is going to make a dramatic difference to the visitor centre. 

On the right hand side you can see the low wall for our new brood tank which will have an acrylic window, allowing you to see the mummy lobsters in their caves and hopefully the eggs on their underside.

Thought you might like to see a photo of all the rubble and it even captures the amount of dust in the air.

Thanks to Save our Seas Foundation who have funded these developments.

Building works start tomorrow…..

View from the Visitor Centre                      View from within the Hatchery

We’re busy preparing for the big knock through tomorrow, from the Visitor Centre into the Hatchery.  The idea is to give the visitor a more ‘up close and personal’ experience with the baby lobsters. 

The viewing area will allow you to look directly into the holding trays where the juvenile lobsters are grown on.  We are also expecting a new broodstock tank for our maternity ward, which will have an acrylic side panel, allowing you to see the eggs on the underside of our mummy lobsters.

The visitor centre should only be closed for one day (19th January 2011), while they knock through the hole and after that, we can remain open while the rest of the work is completed.  Watch this space……..