Marine News

from John Kinsman

At on the summer solstice, Friday June 21st, Tobermory’s lifeboat crew went to the aid of a diver suffering from decompression sickness, known as ‘the bends’ The call came from 14 miles north of Tobermory on the Isle of Mull. The man was successfully transferred to the lifeboat where he received care from the lifeboat volunteers, and he was then taken to Oban and transferred to the Scottish Ambulance Service shortly after midnight.

Two days later the lifeboat was called out again to assist a 30ft prawn trawler suffering loss of power off Salen in Loch Sunart. Despite 35 knot north-westerly winds, the trawler was towed into Tobermory.

£9,500 fine for under-sized scallops

On June 26th a court in Brighton ordered the Scottish owners and master of the Georgia Dawn (INS140) to pay a total of £9,042 for landing scallops below the minimum landing size. Marine enforcement officers in October of last year found 1.4 metric tonnes (almost 12% of the total catch) of scallops retained on board that were below the minimum landing size of 110 mm.

Ormonde Fishing Ltd of Gallow Hill, Rosshire, Scotland, owners of the boat, paid most of the fine, but the master, David Patience of Peterhead, was fined £500 plus a £50 ‘victim surcharge’. Not that it did the juvenile scallops much good.