Trawlermen: Hunting the Catch

This series charts the contrasting fortunes of British fishing boats over the course of one brutal week. Each skipper must hunt the catch 24/7 if they are to earn a wage for themselves and their crew. It's the most dangerous job in Britain, and failure means risking your life for no reward.

In this episode, it's the last trip before Christmas and, with demand surging, fish prices are rising. Off the south coast of Cornwall, Ocean Pride is heading out in pursuit of pollock among the old sunken shipwrecks of the English Channel. 380 miles away on the Yorkshire coast, crabber Tydus is preparing to head out with hopes of a big pay day. The aim is to put six tons in the tank, a catch that this week could fetch well over £30,000. Off the south coast of Devon, Margaret of Ladram, one of Brixham's most successful beam trawlers, is on the hunt for one of the most lucrative species in British waters, Dover sole.

Off the coast of Yorkshire, Siwrengale is heading out for the beginning of the North Sea whelk season. Skipper Darren Warters is on the hunt with sons Regan and Lewis. Asian demand has created a lucrative fishery in this small patch of the North Sea, but winter storms have badly damaged their pots. Miles of rope must be untangled before they can begin fishing in earnest.

South east of Shetland is ‘Long Hole' - the deepest waters in the North Sea. Reliance III is the only boat for miles around. In this secret spot, skipper John Clarke is hunting for whiting. But the whiting trade is one of the most volatile in fishing. When his grounds are discovered by rival boats, John is forced to move on.

Endeavour 5 is far off in the North Atlantic, hunting for squid along the continental shelf. The brand new £8m boat was part-financed by a huge bank loan and built to withstand the toughest conditions off Scotland's west coast. When the squid prove elusive, the pressure starts to mount. But could the arrival of a winter storm see Endeavour's rivals forced back to harbour, giving it a monopoly over the squid grounds?

Scalloper Golden Promise is pushing force-6 winds to get to newly opening scallops beds ahead of his rivals. With the boat first to the grounds, they are in for a big pay day – but only once they cover the £8,000 fuel expenses to get here.

Family-owned trawler Adenia leaves Lerwick aiming to land 1,000 tonnes of mackerel in Norway in just three days' time. Shetland skipper George Anderson has 11 crew, eight of whom are family, and he is hoping the fish will meet the grade to sell into the lucrative Asian sushi market. If it does, George and the crew could be in for a million-pound pay day.

Skipper Ivan Toms and 25-year-old son Rhys fish Maxine's Pride, one of the smallest and oldest trawlers in the UK fleet. In recent years, fishing has been a struggle, with little money to reinvest in the 35-year-old boat. Fishing Cornwall's inshore waters - reserved for smaller fishing boats - can they catch enough to give themselves a wage and put money aside for repairs?

300,000 square miles of ocean. Three GPS-tracked voyages, filmed around the clock. One week at sea.

Crabber Tydus has had a terrible year, missing months of fishing due to breakdown. With the boat finally fixed, skipper Stiggy pushes the crew to work around the clock to fill the tank with ten tonnes of crab. After covering expenses, Stiggy gambles and moves his pots further south. Can Tydus overcome injuries to its crew, and can Stiggy keep the boat bodged together to finally pull off a profitable trip?

Trainee skipper Michael Bruce is learning the ropes under his father, experienced trawler skipper Peter Bruce. Their boat, Budding Rose, fishes as a pair trawler, towing a large net in close-proximity with a second trawler. Hunting for white fish in the North Sea, Michael takes the
wheel in bad weather and must prove himself by manoeuvring the boat within throwing distance of the other vessel if they are to connect the nets.

Strong tides have kept the Newlyn netting fleet in harbour for the past ten days. One boat, Karen of Ladram, is first out ahead of the competition. The first boat back with a haul of hake will have a monopoly at the market and could double their prices. But the trip is thrown into jeopardy when a crew member's health deteriorates, and their catch is decimated when seals get to the fish first.

Sharon Vale is hunting for haddock in the Irish Sea, with rookie deckhands Raj and Damon from India. Teaching his new recruits on the job, skipper Trevor Annett heads to ‘the peaks' - a treacherous undersea ridge of rock, but a haven for haddock. Will the gamble pay off?

Three hundred thousand square miles of ocean. Three GPS-tracked voyages, filmed around the clock. One week at sea.

Emilia Jayne hunts for cuttlefish in the world's busiest shipping lane. Cargo ships have right of way here, but lucrative cuttlefish swim in these grounds too. After finding good fishing at the start of his week-long trip, can skipper Luke Selvey keep the secret to himself?

Margaret of Ladram is Brixham's most successful trawler. This week, skipper Adam Cowan Dickie is gambling – he's leaving his home waters of the English Channel behind and steaming 20 hours to the Bristol Channel. His target is Dover sole, one of the most expensive fish in British waters. Struggling to cover his expenses, Adam ups the stakes and targets an ancient ship wreck and the notoriously soft ground of the ‘gravel pits'.

Westro skipper Stephen West is the youngest skipper in Scotland's prawn fleet. This week, he goes it alone and fishes far away from the rest of the fleet, heading into storm force winds. As the early hauls of the net end in failure, Stephen has a decision to make: continue to tow for prawns or cut and run to the rest of the fleet further north and join forces with his brother Andrew on Forever Faithful.

Three hundred thousand square miles of ocean. Three GPS-tracked voyages, filmed around the clock. One week at sea.

Storm Arwen hits the UK, with the potential to affect the country's entire fishing fleet. In the North Sea, pair trawlers Victory Rose and Our Lass must come together each time they haul, making them vulnerable to collision in bad weather. As the storm approaches and grows, the boats start to roll, and James has to decide whether to take shelter in Shetland - where he and his fish could be trapped for days - or steam back to harbour in Peterhead to land what fish they have.

Four hundred miles south, Siwrengale is heading out of Bridlington harbour with dad Darren and his sons Lewis and Reagan in search of crabs. On the 40-foot crabber, they have just three days to earn a living before the storm chases them back to harbour. With the boat struggling, Darren decides to hunt for lucrative lobster to get some money in the bank, but as the storm hits and the boat starts to roll, the crew struggle to stay on their feet.

With the storm due to hit the following day, Revival is leaving it late and heading to local grounds to get prawns in its hold quickly. But as the plan falls apart, skipper George Jack must decide whether to stay here or move to grounds further away from harbour and into the storm to search for a different catch.