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.

The documentary series returns. It's summer in Newquay, but Cornwall's most popular tourist resort has been in lockdown for months. With lost time to catch up on, and livelihoods on the line, the fleet steam into a summer like no other.

The Toms family resurrect the last boat built in Looe but find themselves on the outside of the modern fishing business. Fish merchant Sam Chapman is cutting out the middleman, buying in everything the Toms land.

Padstow is well known for its tourist industry, but there's another lucrative industry here. Padstow's fishermen land hundreds of tonnes of brown crab - most bound for the continent. But lockdowns bring everything to a standstill.