105 arrivals for the period
Whitefish totalled 15,600 boxes from fourteen Scottish trawl landings. As is the custom the fleet sailed on 27th December allowing them to use up remaining 2025 quota and additionally target high prices at the first markets of the year. The majority of effort concentrated north west of the Butt of Lewis where there are rich pickings of squid, monkfish and groundfish. A couple of boats headed off to Rockall to try their luck for highly prized haddocks. Fishing has been good across all grounds and decent quantity and quality catches have combined with good market prices. It will be interesting to see how 2026 unfolds for the Scottish whitefish sector with quota restrictions in the North Sea forcing vessels to work west coast grounds.
Similarly, the shellfish sector got off to a very good start, benefitting from many fair days of weather between the intermittent south east gales. A total of forty-nine prawn trawlers landed their catches which combined with the local fleet’s efforts.
Non-fishing business was once again predominated by aquaculture activity which comprised a total of thirty-five vessels arrivals together with eleven other commercial craft. The recently launched ship Inter Alba finally arrived direct from her Turkish shipyard. Poor weather hampered the maiden voyage and she needed to seek shelter on a number of occasions en route. Inter Alba (pictured), the largest treatment vessel in the fleet, will use Ullapool as her home base for crew changing every twenty-eight days. The work boat Leane P and crew transfer vessel Vanguard are both day-running to the Aran250 jack-up rig in Little Lochbroom. The Aran250 is drilling test bore holes as part of the SSeN subsea cable project to the Western Isles. Coastguard tug Ievoli Black called twice for fuel and crew, FRV Alba na Mara and HMS Biter called in for layovers, log carrier Scot Mariner visited for fresh water, Norwegian bulker Aastun discharged 2,000 tonnes of road salt and finally renewables workboat Green Quest visited on her way home to Stromness.