Skipper Adam Cowan-Dickie is one of Brixham’s most experienced skippers with a reputation behind him for consistent results and for running a tight ship. Over more than twenty years he has skippered a number of Brixham trawlers, mainly larger boats, and took over Margaret of Ladram when it was flagged to the UK from Belgium. He is quick to stress that there’s much more to a successful boat than the skipper. He is certain that Margaret of Ladram has the ideal combination of a company behind it that provides all the support needed, the presence of a ship’s husband who ensures that everything is in place to get them back to sea quickly, and a first-class crew including mate and relief skipper. ‘This an experienced crew here,’ he said. ‘Some of them have been with me a long time on previous boats and came with me to this one. We are all good friends and I can rely on them. With the crew, the support from the company, I’m just here for the ride as all this makes my job so much easier.’

Skipper John Joll is known to everyone on the quay as Jon-Jon, a name he says stuck after he was one of four Johns working on the same boat. ‘Every time someone called ’John!’ we all looked round, so we all got an extra name and mine stuck,’ he said. ‘I’ve been doing this for more years than I care to remember. ‘I’ve gone from being the youngest on board to being the oldest,’ he said. ‘It’s quality we’re after, not volume – turbot, monkfish and sole. It pays to catch a bit less and catch the quality. If the fish isn’t the top quality the buyers at the auction want, then we’ll move on – but it’s not always that easy. Turbot and megrim are deeper to the west, but we can’t always work the same places, and that’s why I’m forever searching for fish, trying to do better than the last haul. There’s a determination to always do better, and that’s why I’m always searching,’ he said.

Trevor won’t stop fishing. Nothing can stop him from going to sea; he runs his vessels like clockwork, and it pays dividends. Trevor’s career in the fishing industry began in 1978, as a Deckhand in Portsmouth. He achieved his Fishing Masters Certification, and began skippering vessels soon after. In 2010, he moved to Brixham, Devon, and started to work with Graham Perkes. Trevor’s particular focus became Beam Trawlers, and so, in 2020, he accepted the position of Skipper on the Georgina of Ladram as she is a great example of this type of vessel.

Skipper Simon Porter is one of the South-West’s most experienced static gear fishermen, and has spent practically all of his career netting, now operating Karen of Ladram from Newlyn and working with a core crew who have stayed with him over several successive boats.