Hot on the heels of the General Election for the UK parliament, we hosted a Scottish Ministerial visit on Wednesday 17^th July. Tom Arthur MSP, who is Minister for Employment and Investment was on a summer tour, and meeting with businesses in the Skye and Lochaber areas who operate either as social enterprises or with wider community benefit. We were able to share with him our plans for development, as well as some of the facts and figures from our Economic Impact Assessment.

Over the last few months I have been mentioning how we have been busier than in recent years with visiting fishing vessels. I mentioned previously that the Fishermen’s Mission were not renewing their lease on the space that they occupied in the Mission Building, and this month we received information to circulate on how to contact them now that the office is closed. If you need support from the Fishermen’s Mission, the information gives a freephone number – 0800 634 1020 (press option 2) or email enquiries@fishermensmission.org.uk.

As well as the Inner Harbour being busy with fishing vessels, it has also been busy in the Outer Harbour. Our first draft of the funding application for the overnight ferry berth has been submitted to Transport Scotland, and we’ve had lots of data on usage of the berths to back it up! As well as the Ronja vessels discharging to the Harvest Station, the Aqua Vikness and Aqua Harvester have been bringing in salmon for onward processing, and Inverlussa’s new well boat, the Isaac McKinnon has been in and out throughout July. The Isaac McKinnon, which was formerly the Ronja Viking, was bought by Inverlussa in June 2024, and is contracted to MOWI Scotland to move fish to and from their recently established post smolt facility in Loch Etive. 

The disruption to ferry services continues, with the MV Loch Fyne having to be removed from service on the Largs-Cumbrae route because of an issue with the propulsion unit. This will require approximately four weeks to resolve, contingent on the arrival of spare parts, at the earliest w/c 5^th August. It had been hoped that the MV Loch Fyne would return to Mallaig from around 13^th August, but it is more likely now that this will be early September. The MV Lochnevis is due to go for her annual refit from Monday 2^nd September, which means that the MV Loch Bhrsuda will have to cover the Small Isles route, and that the MV Coruisk will likely have to operate as a single vessel on the Mallaig-Armadale route for a period in September.

July has continued to be busy over at the Marina, and we have welcomed a few larger vessels this year, including the 21m catamaran ‘Sea Tilt’, which, with its black hulls, mast and sails, stood out against the rest of our visiting vessels at the start of the month. The ‘Blue Clipper’ has been and gone for the season, but not before Audrey and I were invited down to meet the crew and have a tour aboard. The ‘Provident’ was also alongside that night, so it was nice to spend time with crew of both boats, that we normally only see briefly as they nip in and out of the office collecting mail etc.! The Provident has one more trip into Mallaig, before leaving for Oban on 9^th August. The ‘Eda Frandsen’ is with us for the month of August, so Summer is not quite over yet! This summer we’ve also had a couple of visits from the ‘Lady of Avanel’, and we are expecting the ’Grayhound’ later in August for a couple of trips, so look out for her! She was launched in 2021, and is a 5/6 scale replica of a three masted Customs Lugger from 1776. She carries a licence for worldwide travel and is armed with two working cannon!!

The 200th Anniversary RNLI celebrations continue, and we are looking forward to hosting the Music Shed Community Choir on Sunday 11^th August. The Community Choir have been practising some sea-themed songs and are having a mini-tour, starting at Corpach in the morning, then on to Arisiag, before three performances in Mallaig.

We are looking forward to welcoming back the Screen Machine later in the month, on 28^th and 29^th August.

Finally this month, congratulations to Mallaig FC, who won the Ross Cup on Saturday 3^rd August, beating Fort William 3-1 at Kyleakin.

Jacqueline McDonell

By the time you read this, the election will have been and gone, and we will have a new government. The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation welcomed two of the prospective candidates for our area to Mallaig Harbour on Friday 28^th June to talk to them about issues pertinent to the industry.  

We have continued to be busier than during the past few years with visiting fishing vessels, so the Harbour has had a bit of a buzz about it from this. For the first five months of the year there have been over £2million worth of landings through the Harbour, which compares well to last year’s £1.25million at the same time! Unfortunately, it hasn’t come without a bit of hassle, including the toilet in the prawn market having to be closed temporarily as the cistern was hauled off the wall. Hopefully this is an isolated incident.

We hoped last month that the disruption to ferry services was past, but unfortunately this was not the case. From mid-June, the MV Loch Fyne was redeployed to cover the Largs-Cumbrae route, initially leaving us with only the MV Coruisk for a few days until the MV Loch Bhrusda arrived to supplement the timetable. Latest information is that the MV Loch Fyne will remain on the Largs-Cumbrae route for the whole of July, until the MV Loch Shira is back on service, and will then require some modifications before returning to Mallaig, hopefully from around mid-August. This does mean that there is slightly reduced capacity on the Mallaig-Armadale service, and that some sailings are not available to coaches so please check on the CalMac website before you travel.

Some more drilling was undertaken in the Outer Harbour in preparation for the overnight ferry berth works, and thankfully this didn’t flag any major issues, so we are still working away in the background to try and make this happen over the winter months.

Yachting season is in full swing, with lots of foreign yachts around this year – many of them French. Eda Frandsen has been in Stornoway for a few weeks, but is now back operating from Mallaig, and the Provident, Blue Clipper and Lady of Avanel have all been in the Harbour at various times. We are gearing up for the group of yachts displaced by the Ocean Clipper Race being in Mallaig, and are hoping to have our annual Marina Fun Day to coincide with their visit, on the 13^th July. As usual, there will be a barbecue and some children’s activities on the day. Our hanging baskets are back up providing a bit of colour round at the Marina – thanks to Jill from Ardshealach Lodge for replanting these for us. We’ve also added another splash of colour with a lifebelt personalised for us by Dawn at Magpie Makes, so although the weather might not have been very bright, at least the Marina Building looks welcoming!

Our AGM went well on Friday 14^th June, with a good attendance on the day, and some interesting questions, both about the Economic Impact Assessment, and the wider Harbour Operations. We are grateful to Mark and Leeanne from MKA Economics who came along on the day, as well as to all those who attended and gave us feedback. At the AGM we re-appointed Helen Wedd, David MacDonald and Sandra McLean to serve a further three-year term as Board Members, and Gavin Davis was re-appointed as Chair. Gavin’s appointment was for a period of four years, as at the end of the four years he will have served the maximum term and will have to step down from the Board.

It has felt like a month of meetings, most of them done online, but on 27^th June, Arijit and I attended the Scottish Ports Group Meeting. This was held in Inverness, and included a coach tour around the various ports that will make up the Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport. These are Global Energy Port of Nigg, Port of Cromarty Firth, Highland Rural Deephaven, Port of Inverness and Haventus Port of Ardersier.  Some of them are more advanced in their operations than others, but there has been much talk about the Green Freeport, and it was incredible to see the scale of the facilities that are part of it. Ardersier at the moment is effectively a huge building site – but one that you could almost fit the whole village of Mallaig into – never mind just the Harbour! There is an interactive map on the website www.greenfreeport.scot for those who are interested in finding out more, but even the headline numbers of 520 Hectares of industrial land (1,280 acres or 853 football pitches!) and 3.564m of quayside are quite incredible!   

Last, but not least, we lease two of our offices above the Prawn Market to Studio Mustard. They were doing some work around the Harbour for another local business, and shared with us some drone photos of the Harbour. You can see them all on our Facebook page, but I’ve shared one here. It might be the only time there is ever an aerial shot of the boatyard so empty! Harland and Wolff are still developing their plans for redevelopment of the site, and have advertised for two apprentices on their website. These apprentices will spend their first year full time at Inverness College before being brought on site for further training.

Jacqueline McDonell

The visiting fishing vessels continued to land throughout April and May, so it’s been a good start to this year in terms of shellfish in particular. White fish remains a much lower proportion of landings than it might have been historically, and although the trend is still downwards in general, there are some grounds for optimism. The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation have recently published a report into Industry Trends and Attitudes, which includes consideration of the wider impact of fishing to our coastal communities alongside the environmental impacts, and the advances in technology within the industry. It ends with a plea to political parties, and those standing for election to:

• Take time to understand the detail and nuance of the Scottish fishing industry and our complex marine systems.
• Champion the nutritious, sustainable, climate-smart food that it produces
• Support fishing being properly protected in our increasingly crowded seas – striking the right balance between conservation and sustainable harvesting, and ensuring that we have food security as well as energy security.
• Recognise that Scotland’s fishing sector is an important part of how we reach net zero
• Commit to working with us (Scottish Fishermen’s Federation), as we collectively seek to secure all our futures.

You can access the full report from the news page of their website – https://www.sff.co.uk/news/.

Hopefully we have seen the last of the disruption to ferry services for the moment. The Coruisk has returned from supporting services on the Isle of Mull while their ferry provided additional capacity for Féis Ile, and there are no further proposed redeployments for the moment.  However, we have been discussing with community representatives on Skye the idea of reinvigorating the ‘Sound of Sleat Transport Forum’ or something similar so that there is a united voice from our communities to respond to consultations and proposed redeployments. If anyone locally would be interested in being part of a ’Ferry Users Group’ or similar, then please get in touch with me and I can keep you informed. It’s likely that this will not happen until the end of the summer season.

The tenders have been returned for the overnight ferry berth, and some additional investigative work will have been undertaken by the time you read this.

I mentioned last month that the Marina had a fairly quiet start to its re-opening, but things have picked up since then, and we have already had a few nights where we have been at full capacity. The moorings and anchor chains have been replaced where necessary and the works to replace planks are ongoing. We have welcomed the Eda Fransden back for her first couple of trips this season, so it feels like the season is in full swing already!  Some of you may be aware that the Ocean Clipper Race is coming to Oban between the 12^th and 21^st July. We are already aware of one group who are coming to Mallaig for the weekend as a result of being displaced from Oban at this time, and we are expecting to be very busy throughout this week, so we may not be able to accommodate passing yacht traffic to the same extent as normal.

We had a good day of weather for the RNLI Gala day on 25^th May, and the Northern Lighthouse vessel ‘Pole Star’ was a huge attraction on the day. Cameron MacDonald kindly shared these drone photos with us, and the view from the Bridge looking back to the Harbour on the day gave a totally different perspective. It was a great day overall and between takings on the day and donations received, over £6,800 was raised for the RNLI locally, not including the takings from the RNLI shop stall on the day, which took in a further £1,200.

Proposed changes to parking restrictions in The Highland Council car parks – West Bay in particular, have led to lots of recent enquiries about parking on and around the Harbour. At the moment, all our permit spaces are allocated and we have a waiting list of around 30 people, many of whom have been on the list for several years. We do go through the list annually and re-allocate spaces where possible, but turnover is very low. We have no plans to create any additional parking – in fact it’s more likely that spaces will be reduced as development takes place, so we would encourage Community Councils and other community organisations to make their voices heard with The Highland Council.

Our AGM is on 14^th June, and the focus this year is the Economic Impact Assessment undertaken on our behalf by MKA Economics. We’re grateful to everyone who participated in the process, sharing their time and information to make the final document as comprehensive as it is. The intention behind the Economic Impact Assessment is to have evidence to support future funding applications for developments around the Harbour, and the headline numbers from the final report are impressive. Rather than a wordy description, we have captured these into some key facts about the Harbour, which are included here.

Jacqueline McDonell

The visiting fishing vessels continued into April, which has been a good boost for the Harbour, and has made it look pretty busy on occasion! March’s landing figures were the highest March figures since 2017, so we’ll be delighted if visiting boats continue to land throughout the year.

The challenges with ferry services continue. The MV Loch Fyne has been operating a single vessel service since 14^th April, and we haven’t had any sailings of the Lord of the Isles since then either. There have also been some days this month that the Loch Nevis has been unable to sail due to technical issues, so it’s been a quiet start to the season. Today we have been informed that there are further delays to the MV Finlaggan’s annual overhaul, and that she is not now due back on service until at least 15^th May, which will mean a delay to the return of the Coruisk and Lord of the Isles.  We are still working towards our plan for another overnight ferry berth, and the project is out to tender at the moment. The closing date had to be extended until 8^th May, and we have spent part of the last month showing prospective contractors around the works and answering queries so fingers crossed for affordable tender submissions! We met with Transport Scotland on 22^nd April to talk through the proposals for the berth, and some of our other concerns about ferry infrastructure locally.

Our new Deputy Harbour Master, Arijit Mukherjee, started at the beginning of April, and many of you will have already met him out and about with Pimmy. Arijit has spent time at sea, but also lectured in ship stability in Glasgow for a number of years, so brings a wide range of experience to the Harbour Authority. We are members of the British Ports Association, and their Scottish Ports Group meeting took place in Bishopton on 18^th April, so this was a good opportunity for me to introduce him to colleagues undertaking a similar role in other Scottish Ports. We’ve taken the opportunity of having to reorganise the office to accommodate Arijit to give it a much needed coat of paint and get new flooring. This has led to complete disruption for a week or so, but will be worth it in the end!

Another project for the wider Harbour Buildings has been the redevelopment of the former ‘An Cala’ Café into the West Highland Tea Studio. Rachael and her team have worked hard to get the building organised and area almost ready to open the new tea studio. Even the exterior has had a makeover with composite cladding to make it stand out. It’s looking really good, and we wish Rachael good luck for the opening later in the month!

The Marina has re-opened for the season, and although it has been a fairly quiet start, it has been nice to see yachts back. It’s also great to have Gena back for the season, and Kenny Harris, who has returned to cover days off. There’s lots of work going on at the pontoons, with planks being replaced on the walkways, and a visit from North West Marine to check mooring chains and anchors. Anyone who has used the Marina since it opened has probably come across Jim Fowler, who was one of the first berth holders and who sailed round the pontoons when they were installed making sure all the berths were accessible. Jim and his wife Pat have sold their house locally to move closer to family, so we’ll be sad to see their yacht Seraphia depart the pontoon for the final time in early May. 

The RNLI Gala day will take place on 25^th May. This will be the first year in many where it hasn’t been a joint Gala with the RNMDSF, but the plans are well advanced, and it should be a great day. There will be some restrictions on the Harbour that day to ensure everyone’s safety, but those who have parking spaces behind the Prawn Market / shops will still be able to access these.

This is also the time of year where we look at Board membership in advance of our AGM in June. This year, we have three Board Members who have just completed their first term and are eligible for a second term. All three have indicated that they are keen to remain on the Board, and have re-applied. However, we are always interested in hearing from others who would like to apply to become a member of the Board. If you are interested, then please drop me an email at jacqueline@mallaigharbourauthority.com and I can send on some details.

Our AGM this year is on Friday 14^th June, and we always open this meeting to the wider public. This year we have invited Mark and Leeanne from MKA Economics to come and talk through the findings of our Economic Impact Assessment, which has now been finalised to include some case studies, and which we hope to share more widely after its approval at our AGM.

Jacqueline McDonell

It’s been another mixed month of weather, but a bit more activity on the fishing side. On Thursday 21^st March we had gales which brought 11 visiting fishing vessels as well as three local boats into the Harbour. It’s the busiest we have seen it for a good few years, and as I write this quite a few of them are back in, having landed again. There are more gales forecast for the weekend, so the Harbour will be full again.

Seafish are undertaking a series of consultation events on the current and future management of Nephrops fisheries in the North Sea and waters around the west coast of Scotland. These are to support the development of Fisheries Management Plans for these areas. An event will be held in the Harbour Building meeting room on Friday 12^th April from 6pm-8pm. Seafish want to hear from anyone with an interest in Nephrops fisheries and their management, and no prior registration is required – just come along to the meeting.

The congestion in the Harbour is compounded by having the Loch Fyne and Loch Bhrusda back, and berthing overnight in the Outer Harbour. It’s great to see the ferries operational again, although a bit disappointing that we have once again started the season without the Coruisk. We are expecting the Coruisk back on Friday 5^th April, but then she is being redeployed from the 14^th April until the 11^th May to cover the Oban-Craignure run. During this period, we will also lose the Lochboisdale sailing, as the service will be running to Oban instead. This has already generated some negative press, as many local businesses are having bookings cancelled as potential visitors to the area have to rearrange their holiday plans. The consultation on The Islands Connectivity Plan and Vessels and Ports Plan is still open for another month – until 3^rd May, so this is a good opportunity to make your voice heard if you have strong views about the ferry services. To access the consultation, search for Islands Connectivity Plan on www.transport.gov.scot.    

Some of our Board Members accompanied me to Portree on 19^th March to attend an event organised by HIE and Lochaber Chamber of Commerce bringing people together to discuss their vision for the West Coast, including Lochaber, Skye and Wester Ross. It was an interesting day, and great to see how other businesses such as Kishorn Port Limited are trying to put the area on the map. As usual, affordable housing was top of the list of concerns for people, and the impact that the lack of housing has on attracting new staff to the area. One of the speakers was Catherine MacLeod, who is originally from Mallaig and who has been a political journalist and Political Advisor, most notably to Alistair Darling in the Treasury during the financial crash. She was urging businesses to make Westminster aware of the issues and challenges faced in the West Coast, so hopefully this event will be the start of a process to do this with a united voice. There was a lot of discussion in the afternoon about the opportunities that could arise from the Cromarty Firth Green Freeport, and how the West Coast can benefit from these, as well as how to harness the benefits from offshore wind licences. As a Harbour, we need to be able to recognise opportunities and be able to maximise any benefits, which feeds into the work we wanted to do in developing the Outer Harbour.

I had hoped last month to be able to introduce you to our new Deputy Harbour Master. Unfortunately, his start date was delayed, so this will have to wait until next month.

We also received notice this week that the Fishermen’s Mission has taken the decision not to renew the lease on the Mallaig Centre, which will result in there not being facilities available for visiting fishermen. A press release explaining why is published elsewhere in WestWord. This is not entirely unexpected, given the loss of their local staff member at the end of November, a post which has not been readvertised. As with many other organisations, the RNMDSF is having to make tough decisions about how to use limited funds, and has moved away from providing similar centres in other Harbours. In anticipation of this announcement, we have already had a look at whether we might be able to improve the facilities within the Prawn Market, and at least install a shower, and we will work with local fishermen’s organisations over the coming months to establish what demand there is for facilities locally.

This month we also met with MOWI in Fort William after the announcement of changes to the way that the Harvest Station will be operated, which will result in a reduction to the staff employed there. Whilst the consultation period between MOWI and their staff is still ongoing, and they were not able to share details of this, MOWI were able to give reassurances that they remain committed to Mallaig as a base for harvesting salmon in the future.

Finally this month, after the launch of ‘Mallaig Clean’ last month, I was invited back to talk to the children of Mallaig Primary at their assembly, about how the Harbour manages and tries to reduce waste. The children were very knowledgeable about the impact litter can have on the marine environment, and what can be done to help, and are very enthusiastic about the part that they can play in reducing this impact. We are hoping at the Harbour to support the Small Isles with more recycling of beach waste towards the end of the month. The sailing yacht Selkie is going to help access some of the trickier areas of shore around the Small Isles and this waste will then be brought to Mallaig for sorting and recycling.

Jacqueline McDonell

It’s been another mixed month of weather, with not much activity for the fishing boats, although this week is looking more promising, and as I am writing this we have quite a few ice orders in for boats hoping to head out to sea. We’re also expecting the first of the landings from visiting Irish boats in the next couple of weeks, which will boost the landings figures!

Our meeting room was used to host a meeting chaired by the Regional Inshore Fisheries Group (RIFG) on Thursday 15^th February. Regional Inshore Fisheries Groups aim ‘to improve the sustainable management of inshore fisheries and to give commercial inshore fishers a voice in wider marine management developments.’ A new structure for RIFGs was established in January 2023, and Marine Scotland is now consulting on their impact, remit and organisation, as well as options for the future. The survey is open until 30^th April 2024, and should take around 15 minutes to complete. If you have an interest in the inshore fishing industry, then please take some time to complete it. You can access it from this link https://t.co/YMdYd46jMH .

We’ve had a draft of the Economic Impact Assessment, which has provided some good information, and we’re grateful to those who gave their time to input to the study. As a Board, we have decided to commission some case studies to sit alongside the main document, and these will be ready by the end of March. Headline figures from the report are that Mallaig Harbour contributes to 200FTE jobs in the local area, generating a turnover of £30.94 million for the businesses and organisations using the Harbour, and a total GVA of £12.03 million locally. We know that these figures don’t necessarily mean much in isolation, and this is where the case studies will help to present a better and easier to understand picture of the impact associated with the Harbour.

The 200FTEs noted in the Economic Impact Assessment included 27 employed by MOWI at the Harvest Station, and some of you will have heard locally that this number is under review. MOWI is currently reviewing its overall salmon harvesting procedures, which will affect staff requirements in the Harvest Station in Mallaig, and the company is going through a consultation process with those staff who will be affected. This process is ongoing so the details of what this will mean for the Harvest Station, and for operations through the Harbour more generally are not yet known.

We have issued the tender documentation for the Overnight ferry berth this month, with the aim of having everything in place to start construction in the Autumn. CMAL have published a question and answer document relating to the replacement vessel for the Lord of the Isles, and this is available on their website, https://www.cmassets.co.uk/project/mallaig-lochboisdale/. Transport Scotland have also published their Islands Connectivity Plan Strategic Approach, which sets out a long term vision for how ferry services, supported by other transport links, will be delivered and improved in the future. As part of this, a consultation is open on the Vessels and Ports Plan. This consultation is open until 3^rd May, and is available on Transport Scotland’s website, www.transport.gov.scot, and search for ‘Islands Connectivity Plan’. The Vessels and Ports Plan makes very little reference to Mallaig, and the works needed to ensure the Harbour infrastructure is fit for new vessels as these are built. It does make reference to ‘Additional developments’, which include the Small Vessel Replacement Programme Phase 2, which is where any replacement vessels for Mallaig-Armadale would come in, and to the Small Isles vessel replacement project and associated works, but doesn’t specify what these might be. It goes on to give a bit more detail on the Small Isles replacement, which it is hoped would be in place before 2030/31. This seems like a long time away, but consultation will have to start soon to achieve this. CalMac’s difficulties continue, with increased works identified for the MV Coruisk, MV Caledonian Isles and MV Isle of Mull during their annual overhaul periods. This, combined with the ‘Route Prioritisation Framework’ published in 2023, means that it’s possible that the MV Coruisk may have to be deployed elsewhere in the network rather that on the Mallaig-Armadale route for the start of the summer season. Nothing has been confirmed as yet, although CalMac hope to publish amended timetables on 5^th March.

In more positive news, I was invited to attend the launch of ‘Mallaig Clean’ up at Mallaig Primary school on Monday 26^th February. The Eco-Group children and their teachers and some parents have worked really hard to establish ‘Mallaig Clean’, to help make Mallaig ‘a clean and green town that everyone can enjoy and be proud of’. I’m sure you will be able to read more about their efforts elsewhere in West Word. I was also invited to go back and talk to the children about Marine Litter in particular at their Friday assembly. The children had loads of good questions for me about marine litter, and were able to share lots of information about the damage it does to our environment. We’re hoping to be able to work with the Scottish Islands Federation to remove some more marine litter from the Small Isles and Skye this year and recycle it into something useful so hopefully we can continue to work with the school and ‘Mallaig Clean’ into the future. It was really great to see how enthusiastic and knowledgeable the children were. They can’t clean all of Mallaig on their own though, so there is a section of the website for anyone who wants to volunteer to help!  

Our new Deputy Harbour Master came and spent an afternoon with us on 16^th February, and he hopes to start officially on Tuesday 26^th March. He’s currently based in Glasgow, and has previously lectured at the Nautical College as well as serving at sea. There’s a lot to learn so he will be working alongside Pimmy for the first few months to understand how everything operates. We’ll introduce him more fully next month!

Jacqueline McDonell

The Sprat pump has been dismantled and removed for another year. There were some landings of Sprats the first week the boats were back at sea after New Year, but only for a few days. Since then, it seems like it has been endless gales, with very little opportunity for the boats to be at sea in January. That is, apart from the few days of snow we had! The beginning of January also saw the sale of the Rebecca Jeneen, which will be a loss to the fishing industry locally. Looking at the figures from last year, which incorporate all species landed through Mallaig, 2023 was on a par with 2022, 2019 and 2018.

Some of you may have seen the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation’s publicity around their ‘Pride in the Seas’ exhibition, which features accounts and portraits from 12 advocates for the Scottish Fishing industry, including two from Mallaig, Willie-John McLean and Erin MacKenzie. As well as a social media campaign, the portraits are due to be exhibited at the Scottish Parliament later in the year. You can find more details on their website, www.sff.co.uk.

It’s been another one of those months with a lot going on in the background, but not much visible progress yet. MKA Economics have been working on the Economic Impact Assessment, and will present their findings to our Board on Friday 9^th February. We have to say thanks to all the local businesses and organisations who took some time to answer Mark and Leeanne’s questions about how they interacted with the Harbour and what the constraints and opportunities are associated with the Harbour as it stands. It’s been an interesting exercise to go through, not least in the context of a reducing population for Mallaig over the last 20 years. Hopefully we will be able to share the headline findings next month.

We’ve also been working with CMAL and CalMac to look at the detailed design for the overnight ferry berth, and the implications of the replacement for the Lord of the Isles on the existing infrastructure in Mallaig. The Marine Licences we have allow us to undertake works in the Outer Harbour until March 2026, but we’re aware that building an overnight berth for the ferries will have to be done while the winter ferry timetable is in place, so we are lining everything up to enable us to do this at the end of the year.

Jacqueline McDonell

Happy New Year everyone! After a relatively calm period at the start of December, the wind and rain returned for the end of the month. Thankfully, we weren’t hit as badly as some other parts of the country by Storm Gerrit, but it was still wild enough to mean that we had a full Harbour over Christmas, with boats sheltering from the worst of the weather.

We welcomed the New Year again this year with another amazing firework display by the Ronja Commander from the end of the Outer Breakwater. There were a couple of test fireworks at 8pm and 10pm, then a full display at midnight, again supplemented fireworks from the other side of the bay, organised by some local residents. It’s becoming quite a tradition, and not even the rain that had come on by midnight seemed to dampen this year’s display!

The month started with us welcoming two new vessels to the Harbour. Scottish Sea Farms new crew transfer vessel, the Bo-Ruag, which was built and designed by Flugga Boats in Shetland arrived first (actually at the end of November). She’s fully enclosed and intended to make the transfer from Mallaig to the sites in Loch Nevis safer, faster and more comfortable for the staff. Meanwhile, Western Isles Cruises new Red Bay RIB, ‘The Bigger Dipper’ arrived in Mallaig on 5^th December, designed to take over from the Arwen in carrying the school pupils to the small isles, as well as undertaking other charter work.

Landings of Sprats continued throughout December, with the Caralisa once again the only vessel fishing for Sprats. It’s been good to see the activity, even if it meant that Caralisa Fresh Prawns and Fish wasn’t able to supply prawns for Christmas dinners this year! The pump is still in-situ, ready to see what the start of January brings.

As I mentioned last month, we have commissioned MKA Economics to undertake an Economic Impact Assessment, and they were in Mallaig for a few days at the start of December to meet with some of the key stakeholders. It was an interesting process for me, running through the history of the Masterplan and the developments to date taught me that I assume people know much more than they do about our plans! Although our ultimate aim as a Harbour Board is still to be able to build a new North Breakwater and relocate the ferry operations to this area, we are realistic about when we might be able to achieve this. In the meantime, we will continue to try and move forward with smaller projects for the benefit of those using the Harbour. Some of these are pretty straightforward, but some, like the new berths and dredging in the Outer Harbour will still require significant investment, and we are hopeful that the Economic Impact Assessment will give us the evidence we need to secure the grants required to make these projects a reality. When we published the Masterplan, the Outline Business Case that accompanied it had a resident population for Mallaig of about 900. As of 2011, 442 residents were recorded as being in employment, and Mallaig Harbour was the main employer, supporting approximately 200FTE jobs. Given the publicity recently about the reduction in the population in Mallaig of 18% between 2003 and 2020, and the changes in the fishing industry during this period, it will be good to revisit this, and have more up to date figures. The population reduction, to 680 in 2021, seems slightly surprising to me, and some of you may have seen me on BBC Alba earlier in the month talking about this along with Michael Currie and Dawn MacPhie. 

You may have also seen that the public consultation for the next Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service (CHFS3) opened on 15^th December, and runs until 8^th March 2024. Scottish Minister’s preferred option would be a direct award of the new contract rather than a competitive bidding process. This would be subject to satisfactory due diligence being undertaken. The consultation is an opportunity for those who have asked for change to contribute and help the Scottish Government shape the future of these ferry services, which are vital to our islands. You can access the consultation from Transport Scotland’s website, www.transport.gov.scot/consultations/

Still on ferries, the two new vessels being built in Turkey to serve on the Little Minch Routes (between Uig, Lochmaddy and Tarbert) have been named MV Claymore and MV Lochmor after a public vote on a shortlist of eight names. Having started my working life commuting from Mallaig to Eigg on the original Lochmor, you can guess where my vote went! These two vessels are due to be delivered to CMAL in 2025, and will have capacity for 450 passengers and 100 cars or 14 commercial vehicles. These are two of the six larger vessels being replaced at the moment, and CMAL also hope to start the process of replacing the smaller vessels in 2024, beginning with seven of the ‘Loch’ class vessels in the first phase. New vessels for Mallaig would come in the second phase of this small vessel replacement programme. 

Jacqueline McDonell

November felt like a busy month, with quite a lot going on behind the scenes. More visibly, the Sprat pump was installed on 10^th November and there were regular landings of Sprats by the Caralisa throughout the month, starting on the 13^th November. It always creates a wee buzz at this time of year having Sprats landed on the pier, so let’s hope it continues for a few more weeks.

On 7^th November, Board Member David MacDonald and I attended the British Ports Association and Scottish Chamber of Shipping Parliamentary Reception at Holyrood. It was great to meet with others in the industry, and to hear some of the wider picture of what is happening at various ports. We also got a tour round the parliamentary chamber, courtesy of Kevin Stewart MSP, and even the opportunity to sit in the First Minister’s Chair! Part of the event was to celebrate the launch of a new document, ‘Scottish Ports – Gateways for Growth 2023, which has been produced in conjunction with Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. For those who are interested, you can download it from the British Ports Association website, www.britishports.org.uk 

We have commissioned the Economic Impact Assessment, and MKA Economics are in the process of contacting some of the key stakeholders around the Harbour. They were in Mallaig for a couple of days from the 6^th to the 8^th December meeting stakeholders and gaining an understanding of the Harbour workings, and the intention is that the final report will be ready to be discussed at our Board Meeting in February, before being published more widely.

On Wednesday 16^th November, we attended a public engagement event hosted by CMAL on the plans for the replacement vessel for the Lord of the Isles. The team had been in Lochboisdale and then hosted an event in the Mallaig and Morar Community Centre. The presentation is on the CMAL website, https://www.cmassets.co.uk/project/mallaig-lochboisdale/, and shows the proposals for the vessel, which would be built recognising the constraints of operating into the existing linkspan in Mallaig.  It’s proposed that the vessel would be a similar size to the Lord of The Isles, and would be designed to carry 300 passengers, 52 cars and 7 HGVs. Feedback closed on the 30^th November, but there will be further opportunities to have your say in the New Year.

At the end of November, Karen Calder stepped down from her role with the Fishermen’s Mission, ready to take up a new role at Mallaig Pool and Leisure. Karen has worked hard for the Fishermen of the area, and their families when necessary, and will be a big miss to the wider Harbour community. Our loss is the Pool’s gain, and we all wish her the very best with the new challenges that lie ahead for her.

We’ve been working with UHI North West and Highlands to try and progress the project to build a new Marine Training Centre on the site of the old Marine World as you come onto the Harbour. This project has been talked about for a long time, and has evolved to hopefully include a centre for off-grid renewables excellence. UHI have been looking at various funding options to progress the project, and recently submitted an application through The Highland Council to the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund Scheme. A decision on the funding will be made in January or February next year.

Scottish Sea Farms have restocked some of the cages in Loch Nevis, and planning to operate slightly differently, leaving their main vessels at the farms, rather than in the Harbour. To do this, they have bought a new crew transfer vessel, which arrived in Mallaig for the first time on 30^th November.

We were alerted to a fire on Lovat Beach on Sunday 3^rd December, the result of some local children setting fire to a tyre under the wooden platform in the centre of the village. Thankfully the Lifeboat Coxwain was passing and was able to drag the tyre out from beneath the platform so that no damage was done to the structure. At the time, the Fire Brigade were off service, so when it was reported to them, they were slower in being able to respond than they would have liked. Had it not been for members of the public and of the other emergency services such as the Lifeboat acting quickly, this could have been a very serious incident. We would ask that parents please remind their children that starting fires is dangerous – regardless of how cold it is, and that they need to have respect for the public areas around the village. Children and their parents should also be aware that we have CCTV around the Harbour so we are able to look back and see what has gone on over the weekend, even when we are not in the office. We have written to the parents of those concerned and would hope that this is an isolated incident.

Mallaig Community Council once again hosted the Christmas Tree Lights switch on, on the afternoon of Friday 1^st December. As usual the Harbour staff helped with installing the Christmas lights and getting the Christmas Tree in place in the run up to the switch-on. We’re always grateful to the staff who are prepared to go beyond their normal roles to help with community activities such as this. It was a team effort, even if Audrey had to relinquish her normal role in the proceedings on the afternoon of Tuesday 28^th November, for the very positive reason that she became a Granny again! Congratulations to Ross McKay and Helen Webb (who is also one of the Harbour’s Board Members) on the birth of David John McKay, at a very healthy 9lb 9oz!

Finally, we’d like to wish all Harbour users, and the wider community, a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year when it comes.

Jacqueline McDonell

It’s the beginning of November, and after some remarkably good weather compared to the rest of the country, it feels like Winter has arrived! We are hosting the Screen Machine once again, and some of you may have already seen their plea for support for their request for financial assistance from the Scottish Government to keep the Screen Machine in operation. We have written a letter from Mallaig Harbour Authority, as the host for the Screen Machine in Mallaig, in support of this request. If you enjoy their visits to Mallaig, there is still time for you to do the same.

The Harbour always feels much quieter when the winter CalMac timetable starts, and this year is no exception. The Lord of The Isles was sailing to Mallaig this week, but is then off for her annual refit, and won’t be back until the end of November. We’ve received the Design Statement for the proposed overnight berth from our Engineers, Wallace Stone, so we have a bit of work to do over the winter to make sure it suits all the different needs, and then to persuade Transport Scotland of the benefit of funding it!

It’s the time of year when Marine Scotland publish their annual landings data for the year. The headline figures for the Mallaig District this year were that 1,385 tonnes were landed, with a value of £5,935,000. This was an increase in value of 22.8%, the second highest of any Scottish District, and a very slight decrease in tonnage of 0.4%.

It’s worth noting that these figures from Marine Scotland are for the Mallaig District, and not just the port. The district covers the whole of Ardnamurchan, the Small Isles and the North Shore of Loch Linnhe to Fort William, so not all the fish included in these figures was landed into Mallaig. However, we are always asked to comment on these headline numbers, so we do a bit of our own analysis. Our records of reported landings from the vessels through Mallaig, which are by financial year rather than calendar year, actually showed an increase in the quantity of landings between the y/e March 2022 and 2023 of 40%, from 522,215kg to 733,829kg. From this, it’s evident that only around half the landings into the District are actually made through Mallaig.

From our figures, average shellfish prices increased by 36.25% between 2021/22 and 2022/23, while average white fish prices decreased by 33%. The total value of landings through Mallaig increased from £2.4million in 2021/22 to £4.8million in 2022/23, an increase of 100%.

Once again, Peterhead topped the landings tables, with 154,883 tonnes landed, worth £191,060,000. I was through in Peterhead for the British Ports Association’s Fishing Ports Group meeting on the 5^th and 6^th October, and we were given a tour of the Peterhead fish market while the market was in progress on the Friday morning. It’s on a different scale altogether from Mallaig, as you will see from the photos.  The whole port is on a different scale – but it’s always good to go and see other Ports and to have the chance to discuss common issues. The scale of operations at various ports might vary significantly, but many of the challenges are similar. 

The Marina is now closed for the season, and Gena has finished for the Winter. As some of you will know, Chris Jones has been off for a period. We’re looking forward to having him back in the next week or so, but we’re also very grateful to Gena for holding the fort in his absence, and to Kenny Harris, Ross Carr and Ruairidh McDonell who all stepped in to help keep the Marina running smoothly at various times over the summer. Looking at the figures for the year this was our busiest season since the Marina opened, with 1,857 nights occupied by visiting boats over the season, as well as a number of regular charters operating from Mallaig.

Jacqueline McDonell