Falmouth Oyster Festival celebrates Europe's last sail-powered fishery
The festival marks the start of this year's dredging season.
A festival dedicated to Falmouth's native oyster has drawn crowds, celebrating a fishery that's survived for generations using nothing but sail and oar.
The Falmouth Oyster Festival marks the start of this year's oyster dredging season on the Fal estuary.
It's the only native oyster fishery in Europe to still harvest using non-motorised boats, and one of the only commercially viable native oyster fisheries left in the UK.
Elliot Kett, who runs the local food truck Kelp Canteen and led a panel at the festival, explained what makes the fishery so unusual.
"The rules and regulations on the Fal estuary dictate that boats aren't allowed to use motors, and so they have to use sailboats or they have to use punts or where you still row," he said.
"It's the way that all of the oysters would have been harvested 100 years ago before mechanisation."
Also on the panel was sixth generation oyster fisherman Paddy Vinnicombe, who works out of Mylor on the Fal estuary. He said the fishery's traditional methods are also the reason it's survived when others haven't.
"There were other oyster fisheries in the UK, much larger ones than the Fal. However, over years of overfishing those fisheries have all died off," Paddy said.
"The reason the Fal estuary fishery is still going is because we do this much more arduous way of fishing.
"You have to learn the methods which, yeah, may be difficult but once you pick them up and you learn it, it's a really enjoyable way to fish."
He added: "When you're out there on the estuary and you're surrounded by the beauty of the estuary and all you can hear is like the flapping of the sails - rather than a low murmur of engine and machinery working.
"You're kind of blessed that this is the method that we use."
Getting young people involved
Both Elliot and Paddy raised concerns about the future of the industry, with many of its fishermen now approaching retirement.
"Most of the fishery are ran by 65-year-old men and older, to be honest," Paddy said.
"It is a young man's fishery, but there's not many years left."
He said money is one of the biggest barriers to attracting newcomers, with around 80 to 90% of the fishery's oysters exported.
"Not many people can do a full time job without some sort of incentive, such as financial incentive, given the fact of we've all got to pay rent, we've all got to pay bills.
"If we get less of a demand than that or if, if there's no demand locally, then there's going to be no finances and no financial incentive for people to pick it up.
"Once the financial interest is there, it's then about kind of gateways into how we can help introduce younger people into doing the fishing."
Paddy said he's currently training two newcomers himself.
"Currently I've got two greenhorns who are on the boat," he said.
"We want them to enjoy it and we want them to stay with us, but we need them to be good at the job.
"We're giving them plenty of opportunity to come out here and learn it. "As long as they're happy to come out here and learn it, we'll be there to teach them."
Concerns over the potential dock development
The festival comes as concerns grow locally over plans to redevelop Falmouth's docks - which if approved, could see part of the harbour bed dredged ten metres deep to allow larger boats into the dockyard.
Elliot said there are fears the work could disturb pollutants that have settled in the harbour over many years.
"There's a lot of concern that there's heavy metals and things that have been chucked into the estuary, years gone by, that are going to be disturbed and could have really negative impacts for the oyster fishery and for the wider estuary," he said.
"Realistically, the oyster fishery is a very delicate fishery."
Paddy said he has no personal stake in the development going ahead, but recognised there were other perspectives to take into account.
"I would love it if they didn't do it, because there's no part of the dredge which benefits myself," he said,
"But I understand that I've got to look at it through their eyes, and also some locals might be for it as well," he said.
He said he believes there's room for compromise.
"I think ideally we need to compromise with one another, and Balaena the developer might be able to do a dredge, but does it have to be ten metres in one go? If they do the dredge, can the preventative measures be better?"
Elliot, whose food truck sources oysters, octopus and mackerel from fishermen working near Falmouth, said supporting the fishery is central to his business.
"A massive part of what we do at Kelp Canteen is sourcing the best local ingredients that we can, getting stuff from as close to Falmouth as possible, and really supporting local fishers," he said.
He said the festival helps people understand what makes the native oyster so different from the type usually found in restaurants.
"I think when you say a native oyster to most people, they're not quite sure what it is because it's not the main type of oyster that we see in restaurants and in fishmongers," he said.