195 arrivals for the period
Whitefish totalled 28,700 boxes from twenty-one Scottish trawlers, eight Anglo long-liners and two freezer netters. The Scottish fleet continue to fish for haddocks and monkfish at Rockall, with skippers reporting more abundant better quality haddock on the grounds. The current sky-high fish prices thankfully justify the additional expensive of steaming 300 miles west to the remote fishing grounds. The Anglo fleet had a recent flurry of activity in local waters, with boats landing good catches of hake, ling and monkfish. Many of the boats have returned home for their summer break.
Shellfish was very busy with eighty-seven landings from prawn trawlers combining with the continued efforts of the resident fleet. The east coast boats will be returning home in the coming weeks for their annual overhauls.
Non-fishing was also hectic with fifty-three aquaculture vessels in for fuel, crew, stores, equipment, ice, smolts and to land salmon. Seven cruise liners made scheduled calls in mixed weather: the passengers love the village offer with loads of positive feedback from the vessels. In addition, the MCA tug Ievoli Black called in for crew, the Dutch tall ships Thalassa and Flying Dutchman called in for passengers, the superyacht support boat Power Play came in for fuel and the Calmac ferry Glen Sannox made five calls to assist with passenger backlogs. Glen Sannox is currently the ferry fleet resilience vessel based in Stornoway, tasked with assisting on the network should another vessel be taken out of service with technical issues.
Leisure traffic was plentiful in June despite the mixed and at times disappointing weather. Fifty yachts and motor boats made use of the pontoons with a further twenty-two on harbour moorings. With sailors arriving from America, Norway, Ireland and more local waters it is lovely to have this additional string to our bow. The largest sailing yacht SY Aurelius (pictured) at 34m and 88 tonnes spent a week alongside on the breakwater. The 43m main mast looked magnificent as it towered over the village.
Harbour projects continue with the renovation of the former Caley Oils building next on the list. Prior to finalising the design and submitting the planning application, we will share our vision with the community looking for feedback and comments.