We have two creel boats based in Kilchoan, owned and worked by local men Titch MacLachlan and Justin Cameron. Titch's boat,
Sylvia-T, is on the left, Justin's
Harvester on the right. The boats are kept in Kilchoan Bay during the summer months, then moved to Port na Croisg, near the Ardnamurchn Natural History Centre, during the winter, where this picture was taken. They fish the Sound of Mull and Loch Sunart, a sea loch which extends some 20 miles inland. More on these two enterprising young fishermen,
here.
Jacobite is another creel boat often seen off our shores. Based in Tobermory, registered in Oban, and owned by the MacLean brothers, it's a bigger but very handy boat. The Diary has seen her working in the most atrocious weather, when a full gale has been blowing waterfalls up the cliffs. This picture shows her off Ormsaigbeg on a mucky November morning.
Wanderer II is an example of a bottom trawler which catches prawns and other fish by dragging a net or nets behind it. Her registration is CN 142, Campbeltown, she has a wooden hull and was built in 1972. These boats normally work open waters but they are seen in the more sheltered waters of the Sound when the weather deteriorates, when up to five trawlers and dredgers can be seen steaming up and down.
Vervine, BA842, registered in Ballantrae but often working out of Oban, is a scallop dredger which pulls a pair of weighted nets along the bottom to catch scallops. All fishing is dangerous, but this form is particularly so. The story of the
Aquila, another dredger, covered by the Diary
here, vividly demonstrates the risks fishermen take to provide food for our plates.
A quite different method of fishing for scallops is used by this boat,
Pegasus, pictured here in Tobermory harbour. Her scallops are hand-selected by a diver who is often seen at work off the Ormsaigbeg shore. Bottom dredgers like the
Vervine can do immense damage to sea-bottom environments, while this method selects only adult, ready-to-eat shellfish.
We have two creel boats based in Kilchoan, owned and worked by local men Titch MacLachlan and Justin Cameron. Titch's boat, Sylvia-T, is on the left, Justin's Harvester on the right. The boats are kept in Kilchoan Bay during the summer months, then moved to Port na Croisg, near the Ardnamurchn Natural History Centre, during the winter, where this picture was taken. They fish the Sound of Mull and Loch Sunart, a sea loch which extends some 20 miles inland. More on these two enterprising young fishermen, here.
Jacobite is another creel boat often seen off our shores. Based in Tobermory, registered in Oban, and owned by the MacLean brothers, it's a bigger but very handy boat. The Diary has seen her working in the most atrocious weather, when a full gale has been blowing waterfalls up the cliffs. This picture shows her off Ormsaigbeg on a mucky November morning.
Wanderer II is an example of a bottom trawler which catches prawns and other fish by dragging a net or nets behind it. Her registration is CN 142, Campbeltown, she has a wooden hull and was built in 1972. These boats normally work open waters but they are seen in the more sheltered waters of the Sound when the weather deteriorates, when up to five trawlers and dredgers can be seen steaming up and down.
Vervine, BA842, registered in Ballantrae but often working out of Oban, is a scallop dredger which pulls a pair of weighted nets along the bottom to catch scallops. All fishing is dangerous, but this form is particularly so. The story of the Aquila, another dredger, covered by the Diary here, vividly demonstrates the risks fishermen take to provide food for our plates.
A quite different method of fishing for scallops is used by this boat, Pegasus, pictured here in Tobermory harbour. Her scallops are hand-selected by a diver who is often seen at work off the Ormsaigbeg shore. Bottom dredgers like the Vervine can do immense damage to sea-bottom environments, while this method selects only adult, ready-to-eat shellfish.
Lovely page; pretty boats but I guess them and their crews do a dangerous job to bring us dinner.
ReplyDeleteBeing very harsh on scallop dredgers like the vervine, as mentioned above. Ever heard of anyone asking a farmer to stop ploughing their field? Divers taking away adult scallops are taking away the breeding stock. Areas that have been closed permanently for clam dredging to "preserve" the seabed have no longer got any scallops as these areas are controlled by large quantities of starfish. Just an opinion that people should think about.
ReplyDeleteScallop dredging has been going on in these waters since the thirties and if well managed is proving to be a very sustainable species, it gets bad press from people that dont know the industy,fishermen know what a storm can do to the sea bed, it can also move a fleet of creels weighing over a ton for miles,i could go on for ever, about the benefits of scallpo dredging and the employment from it from bankers to bakers the list is long so give this industry a bit better press.
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