Isles of Scilly Fish and Fisheries - Cornwall Wildlife Trust

5.4.3) Soft-eye pots.
These are similar in shape to parlour pots but consist of a single compartment with two
side entrances. These are both tapered netting sleeves, offset, one on each side of
the trap.
All types of pot catch both crab and lobster; the Edible or Brown Crab (Cancer pagurus)
is the main catch, but Velvet Crabs (Necora puber) and Atlantic Lobsters (Homarus
gammarus) are also taken. Lobsters are more frequent further offshore, on hard
bottom and in tide-swept channels.
Most fishermen work more than one type of pot; one uses a heavier inkwell pot at
either end of a string of pots with lighter soft-eyes in between.
5.5) Bait.
The islands’ fisheries are so dependent on trapping that the availability of bait for the
pots is of major importance. Most mainland pot fisheries primarily use unsaleable
bycatch from other fisheries especially trawlers. This bycatch was used in St Mary’s,
but was limited due to the small amount of trawling. Next season the only bait from
this source will be that which can be bought from visiting trawlers.
Some local boats use set nets, trammel nets, and mullet nets to catch fish, especially
wrasse and mullet, to be used as bait.
However, the majority of vessels have to buy fish from Newlyn to use as trap bait.
This is mainly bycatch in the form of gurnards and Horse Mackerel (Trachurus
trachurus), but can also be mackerel (Scomber scombrus). The fishermen also
purchase the “frames” of mackerel and bass from fish processors. These “frames” are
the heads and skeletons left after the fish has been filleted.
5.6) Shrimping
The local “shrimping” season is from July to September, and takes place during low
water spring tides. Shrimping in the islands is carried out in shallow water with a push
net and is targeted at prawns (family Palaemonidae). True Brown Shrimps Crangon
crangon do get caught and sometimes eaten, but most are discarded, and some
people were not even aware that they were edible.
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