News from Mallaig Harbour: February 2020
The weather hasn’t improved any since my last news, whichmeant that the sprat pump didn’t get any further use, and was finally removedon 24th January. On the 13th and 14th Januarythere were big tides, which, along with the storm surge, led to both thelifeboat and the passenger access pontoon being above the height of the pier.Thankfully there was no damage done, but it made for some pretty impressivephotos. Unfortunately, because they were taken in the dark, they won’treproduce well in Westword, but you can see some of them on our Facebook page.
We’ve been using this quieter period to catch up on somemaintenance, especially around the Marina, but we are also hoping to do somework, including replacing ladders, in the Outer Breakwater – if the weathercalms down enough! We have also received the report from Resource EfficientScotland with recommendations for how we can reduce our energy consumption. AsI indicated before, the most visible aspect of this will be changing the lightsaround the Harbour to LEDs, which has been calculated to save 35,000kWh ofenergy and 9 tonnes of CO2 annually.
I’ve been mentioning that this is the Year of Coasts andWaters 2020, and there are various events going on throughout Scotlandthroughout the year. We are hoping to host an event on the 27thJune, in partnership with the Road to the Isles Marketing Group; RNMDSF and theRNLI. This will be a great community gala day, with various additional elementsto really celebrate our Coasts and Waters. More details will be available inthe run up to the day, but in the meantime, please mark the date in yourdiaries, and if anyone has any suggestions of what they would like to seeincorporated, or would be willing to help with anything either in the run-up oron the day, then please get in touch.
We have also received information from the Highland andMoray FLAG (fisheries local action group) who are looking for participants whoare involved in the fishing industry in the Highlands and Moray, and who wouldbe interested in visiting the Jammerbugt FLAG and the Guild of ThorupstrandCoastal Fishermen in Northern Denmark. The fishing community in Thorupstrand,in northern Jutland, is one of the few examples of small-scale fishing stillsurviving in Denmark. The area has faced similar industry challenges toHighland and Moray in terms of lack of young fishermen coming into theindustry, decommissioning impact, difficulties accessing quota, and changingmarkets. Through an innovative project and co-operative working, theFishermen’s Guild and the Jammerbugt FLAG have taken steps to protect theindustry, including attracting young people into the industry, community ownedquota, sustainable gear adaptations, boat building, and their own seafoodbranding initiatives. The visit would be fully funded for successfulapplicants, and you can find more information, and a short questionnaire tocomplete if you are interested at http://www.highlandmorayflag.co.uk/
We had our first Board Meeting of the year in mid-January,and the next one is scheduled for mid-March. As with every year, there will be Boardvacancies, which will be advertised immediately after the March Board meeting. Weknow that it is quite a tight turnaround for applications each year, so I’mhappy to have an informal discussion with anyone who thinks that they might beinterested in applying even before the positions are advertised.
Finally, most of you will know that our Harbour Master had abig birthday on Wednesday 29th January. We celebrated with home-madeProsecco and Strawberry cheesecake kindly made by Grace. Happy Birthday Pimmy!
Jacqueline McDonell