Harbour News

The harbour has had a busy fortnight with fishing boats cutting trips short to target the higher priced pre Christmas markets.

Whitefish landings totaled 4340 boxes from 3 Scottish and 10 Spanish vessels with monkfish, hake, ling and black sea bream the main species.  A previously unheard of species this far north and west the black sea bream has been landed all year by the Spanish fleet as a lucrative by-catch.  At this rate it won’t be long before sea angling for tuna (a close relation of the humble mackerel) will be the latest ploy to hit the North Minch.

The shellfish fleet continues to fish well with the regular crabbers landing 56 tonnes for the fortnight, whilst the local prawn fleet report patchy fishing but good prices.  Over the fortnight 9 visiting prawn trawlers from Skye, Barra and Mallaig landed and consigned their catches to the east coast.

The non fishing sector saw the Anglian Prince in for fuel, stores, crew change and electrical repairs.

As many of you will be aware the freight ferry Muirneag collided heavily with the end of the ferry pier (berthing dolphin) in the early hours of Wednesday the 2^nd December.  The boat came off lightly with a couple of dents whilst the fendering system and concrete structure of the dolphin both suffered serious damage.  The morning Isle of Lewis sailing was cancelled until the pier could be inspected in daylight to assess the extent of the damage.  Engineers surveyed the above sea damage and dived on the structure to inspect the sheet piling.  A repair plan has been drawn up and agreed by all parties concerned with work commencing last Monday 14^th.  In order to maintain the service particularly over the festive holidays both ferries have had their respective passage plans altered and have been ordered to avoid using the dolphin as a berthing aid, this may well lead to disruptions in service during periods of stormy weather.

Ullapool Harbour Trustees would like to thank Roy Macgregor for allowing the Harvest Lily to be decorated for Christmas. In the main most people seem pleased that the harbour has made the effort to brighten up the centre of the village with many positive comments filtering back to the office.

Aged 15-25 years by July 2011, interested in a life changing challenge crewing aboard a Tall Ship sailing the west coast of Scotland then contact the harbour office or check out the sail training website. www.sailtraininginternational.org   

No sailing experience is required just an enthusiasm for fun and adventure.  Please contact the harbour if this type of adventure interests you, there will be a dedicated Tall Ships page on the harbour website soon with regular updates of how things are progressing.  

Ullapool Harbour Trustees have recently purchased 2 acres of commercial land within the Morefield Industrial Estate to develop as a business park and rented storage area.  In order to construct a draft business plan would interested parties please contact the harbour office over the next 4 weeks to discuss their requirements, no obligation at this stage.  Container storage, rented compounds, boat storage, cold store and individual business developments are some ideas coming forward.