Fishermen

Titch MacLachlan, left, and Justin Cameron are professional fishermen - they make their livelihood from what they can catch. Starting with small boats powered by outboard motors, they have worked and invested so that the vessels they take out today are well-found and fully equipped. Titch has been his own master for ten years, Justin for eight, and both have built thriving businesses.

In winter they keep their boats (Titch's Sylvia-T, left, and Justin's Harvester, right) at Port na Croisg near Glenmore, and most of their fishing is in Loch Sunart. During the summer their boats are moored in Kilchoan Bay, and they range across the Sound of Mull searching for their catches of lobsters and prawns (langoustines). They set fleets of creels (lobster pots), marked at each end by a floating buoy, which they check each day - except in extreme weather when they are forced to stay at home. Their catch is collected from the pier and transported south, to the tables of fine restaurants in London and to continental countries like Spain.

This is Justin's boat passing below Ormsaigbeg on a fine June day, but Ardnamurchan's waters are rarely so kind and can change in minutes. It's hard, dangerous work, and the sort of determination and enterprise these two young men have shown over the years is commendable: these are small businesses which take a sustainable catch and help remote communities like ours to survive.

Asked what had changed in the years he's been fishing, Titch commented on his recent catches of spider crabs, which are common further south - it's another sign of a changing climate. Asked what he saw as his biggest problems, Justin commented, "Trawlers - not all of them, the ones that don't care and damage our creels - and the lack of women."