THREE generations of a fishing family are at risk of losing their livelihoods after being plagued by thefts and damage to their equipment.
The Henry brothers say they are on the verge of giving it all up and are discouraging their own children from following them into the business.
Cameron Henry said: "It's got that bad I could put a shotgun to my head. It's just so frustrating."
Netting and pots worth £3,000 were taken in two separate thefts within days of each other and on top of that, they claimed ships dropping anchor in Falmouth bay have damaged other pots, including 18 this week.
Cameron, who has been fishing off Mylor for more than 30 years with his brothers Ivor and Magnus, said they have had enough.
"Bills are going up so much and shellfish prices are virtually stagnant and it is slowly not adding up.
"We work a minimum of 12 hours a day and work hard but I am not sure we can carry on after having knock after knock.
"We want to give up but cannot afford to – we have three mortgages relying on it."
He said the brothers were also trying to dissuade their own children from following in their footsteps.
"I cannot see a future in fishing," said Cameron.
The netting was taken from Mylor Quay at the end of February and sometime over the next week 65 pots were taken from the family's Penryn-based storage compound.
Cameron said it has been subject to petty theft in the past so a secure steel door was fitted. However, he believed the thieves accessed the site via a farmer's field behind it.
The pots are easily identifiable as they have been designed and constructed by Cameron's father Bill.
They were new for this season and use black plastic water pipes, welded together with steel bars inside – although some of those taken were the earlier ones with blue pipe.
There are three sorts of pot taken, small ones used for crab and lobster, slightly larger ones, and prawn pots.
If anyone has any information about the thefts they should contact PC Lisa Coston at Falmouth Police Station on 101.
