64 arrivals for the period
Whitefish totalled 12,000 boxes from eight Scottish trawlers, four Anglo long-liners and one Anglo freezer netter. A handful of Scottish boats are chancing their luck between the storms working at Rockall and the shelf edge. Fishing has been good with haddock and monkfish the target species. The Anglo liners continue to work along the shelf edge for hake and ling primarily and the freezer netter was operating in deepwater for monkfish.
The shellfish sector saw five prawn landings from visiting trawlers which combined with the efforts of the resident fleet, the recent poor weather has very much restricted their fishing opportunities.
Non-fishing activities have been busy and saw thirty-one aquaculture vessels call in for fuel, crew, equipment, shelter from weather and repairs. In addition, the research vessel Alba na Mara called in for a crew change, the offshore survey vessel Situla visited for equipment, the MCA tug Ievoli Black came in for fuel and crew, navy vessels Archer, Explorer and Example played war games and the Dutch tall ship Tecla returned from her 13-month adventure to undertake a few repairs. A regular visitor to Ullapool Tecla left here in September 2022 and visited Tenerife, Azores, Falklands, Antarctica, Chile, Honolulu, Canada, Alaska, NW Passage, Greenland, Iceland before making her way back to Ullapool. This is quite an adventure for the family of three who own and run the 30 metre former herring drifter built in 1915. This week a new generator has been installed, the wooden sea chests are being refurbished in our community workshop and with her inspection complete Tecla plans to sail later this week to Tenerife and beyond – returning here in June next year – what an extraordinary story.
Trustee applications closed this week. A number of new and interesting individuals came forward and we’d like to extend our sincere thanks to all who applied. Interviews will take place in November and successful candidates will take up office on the 1st December.
The harbour team are devastated beyond words by the recent tragedy. We extend our deepest sympathies to the family and all their friends and colleagues.