Margaret of Ladram Breaks Brixham Port Record

Their Skipper Adam Cowan-Dickie - whose son Luke plays rugby for England and Exeter Chiefs - turned the boat straight around and went straight back out at sea, he didn’t even wait to see what his record catch made. This was Adam’s first trip back on board after recently returning from watching Adam play for England in Japan.

Adam said “I’ve been managing my sole quota and my day’s at sea for the last 11 months just so I could try and break this record, I found this little patch of good fishing just before the World Cup started but I was unable to fish it because of bad weather, I obviously couldn’t miss the chance to watch my son playing in the World Cup so I was keeping my fingers crossed while I was away watching Luke that no one else would find it. After being in Japan for so long I ended up spending a small fortune so I really needed to land this catch!”.  “What many people don’t realise is that this was a sustainable catch, I have my sole quota which is based on what can be sustainably caught given to me in January every year, it is then down to me to manage my yearly quota how I want throughout the year. Because of 15 years of careful management the sole population off Brixham has been increasing year on year. Our quotas are set by a scientific study of the Fish population which is reviewed every year based on sole monitoring to allow us to fish sustainably”. “This record wasn’t just broken by me, this was a team effort and the result of years of hard work, right from the massive financial  investment put in from the vessel’s owners at Greendale, all my crew and shore support staff as well as the team at Brixham who sold the fish for us to be able to break the record.  

 The 33 meter beam trawler Margaret of Ladram which landed the record haul has been the jewel of the Greendale fleet since the Exeter based company bought her from Belgium in 2012. After a large extensive refit, a new main engine and a complete machinery overhaul she has sailed under the British flag since September 2015 when Adam Cowan-Dickie took command of her and she moved to Brixham.

 Barry Young Managing Director from Brixham Fish Market said: "It is fantastic news that the Margaret of Ladram has broken our long standing Brixham port record for fish landed with a value of £126,000. Not only is Adam is a very good hard working skipper but he's managed to pin down the fish using a lot of skill and a bit of luck. Results like this don’t just happen overnight, this is the result of years of investment and hard work from everyone involved in the industry, this is a good sign that things are finally improving and hopefully if we manage to get a positive Brexit things can only improve for us further. There has been a bit of celebrating going on down on the quay today but not by Adam and his crew who are already back out at sea working hard on next week’s landing.”

 The boat is owned by brothers Robin and Rowan Carter who farm at Ladram Bay and Greendale and is named after their late mother Margaret Carter. The brothers have been involved in the fishing industry for over 50 years, starting out in the 1960s with one small, six-metre beach boat fishing from the beach at Ladram Bay. Today the Greendale fleet has over 20 fishing boats selling their catch’s daily via the Brother’s own Farm Shop at Greendale just outside of Exeter.