The piling works for the overnight ferry berth are now complete, and the crane that seemed to be visible from the whole of Mallaig was dismantled and left on the 19th January, quickly followed by the long reach excavator that has been used for placing the infill needed on the linkspan berth after the discovery of the scour hole. These were replaced by a drilling rig to take samples of the materials within the circular cells before work starts on digging these out. You can now start to see what the berth will be like, and the difference it will make.
The Caralisa had hoped to continue fishing for Sprats, but the wild weather at the start of the month put an end to that, and the sprat pump has also been dismantled, ready to be removed. We still have a number of razor clam boats fishing locally and landing in Mallaig. Last year at this time, I shared a graph showing the value of fish landed locally, which was showing a gradual increase, and I am pleased to say this has continued. I should caveat this by saying that it doesn’t account for inflation. However, the total weight of fish landed has also been increasing slightly year on year, this year from 1,096,647kg in 2024 to 1,350,342kg in 2025, so the trend is going in the right direction!
CalMac have published their summer timetable for the coming season, and the Sound of Sleat Ferry Users’ Group were disappointed to be told that the MV Loch Fyne will not be returning to Mallaig at all this summer. The route will be served initially by the Loch Bhrusda as a single vessel service, then the Bhrusda will support the Coruisk. However, the Loch Bhrusda will also be supporting the Lochnevis on Saturdays, so there will be no vehicle service between Mallaig and Armadale on a Saturday when the Loch Bhrusda is operating a single vessel service, which includes Easter Saturday. The Ferry Users’ Group has written to elected members, and drafted a template for any local businesses who are concerned about the service to send on.
We have some work to do to the Marina Chains and Anchors after they sustained damage in the Autumn storms. The works will take about a week, and will require us to move some vessels about as the works are being undertaken, but will mean that the pontoons are ready for use when the season starts again in April.
Finally, the deadline for the first round of community funding applications for the coming financial year will be mid-March. Again, we have set aside a budget of £5,000 to be allocated to community projects in the coming financial year, with a simple application form to be completed and submitted four weeks before the meeting at which the request will be considered. Deadline: Meeting Date: 13th March 2026 11th April 2026 15th May 2026 12th June 2026 14th August 2026 11th September 2026 14th November 2026 11th December 2026
Funds will be available to groups based in the Mallaig Area, who operate on a not for profit basis, and are either constituted or incorporated, and who have a dedicated bank account for the organisation. The project being supported should have demonstrable community benefit for the Mallaig area. We can consider support to organisations who are open to a wider community area than purely Mallaig, as long as these organisations can demonstrate benefit to the community in Mallaig. Given the size of the budget, we don’t envisage that any single grant will be more than £1,000. All the information needed is on our website, or you can email me at jacqueline@mallaigharbourauthority.com for more details.
Jacqueline McDonell
