80 arrivals for the period
Whitefish totalled 4,000 boxes from a single Scottish trawler, three Anglo long-liners and two freezer netters. Scottish effort was restricted to the Avoch trawler Adventurer making a single landing of monkfish and groundfish from the shelf edge before heading east to dry-dock. A number of Anglo vessels have moved grounds and are currently fishing west of the Butt of Lewis for hake and monkfish with decent returns for their efforts.
The 40 metre Scottish trawler Atlantic Challenge – built in 1999 for the Buchan family from Peterhead – has been a regular customer of the harbour over the decades. The largest whitefish vessel in the Scottish fleet, the owners built the vessel when fuel was 8p per litre and have managed to keep the vessel profitable despite fuel reaching 70p per litre. Last month the owners decided to sell the vessel to Namibia where she will fish for hake, landing weekly to their own processing factory. I spoke to the skipper last week as he went down the Minch for the final time heading for Las Palmas for fuel and then on to his final destination – a 6000-mile adventure. The crew will remain with the vessel until February to show the new owners the ropes before returning to Peterhead for a rest. Hopefully in time another vessel will be purchased and continue to fish west landing here.
Shellfish was fairly busy with forty-one prawn trawl landings combining with the efforts of the resident fleet.
Non fishing was once again predominated by the aquaculture fleet with twenty-eight arrivals from a range of service vessels for crew changes, fuel, equipment and layovers. Additionally the coastguard tug Ievoli Black called in for her monthly crew change, the personnel carrier Vigilant carried out day-running to Dundonnell for SSEN and our old friend the Dutch tall ship Wylde Swan called in on her way south to Cape Verde.
Harbour projects received a boost this week on receipt of a better-than-expected environmental report for the former Caley Oils building. Whilst there is legacy residue in the gravel foundation, the results confirm that the levels are very low and should not impact development. The West Shore St pavement, road and boardwalk works have been pushed into mid-January 2026 to avoid any issues for festive revellers who wish to access the creel tree.