67 arrivals for the period
Whitefish totalled 6,400 boxes from five Scottish trawl, three Anglo freezer netters and a single landing from a long-liner. The traditional Autumn Rockall haddock fishery has not materialised this year with vessels preferring to work further north for higher value species. The haddock stock at Rockall had a very successful recruitment in 2023 resulting in huge numbers of juvenile undersize fish on the bank. During the 2024 spring haddock fishery boats struggled with the bulk of small fish and buyers likewise withdrew interest. For 2025 the haddock quota for Rockall has increased seven old so hopefully the fish thrive over the winter and boats will have a productive and lucrative fishery next year. The freezer netter landings mostly comprised processed-at-sea monkfish from deepwater with the single long-liner landing hake and ling from the shelf edge.
Shellfish activity was fairly busy. There were twenty-nine landings from visiting prawn trawlers which as ever combined with the efforts of the resident fleet.
Non-fishing saw twenty-six arrivals; nineteen from the aquaculture sector for fuel, crew changes and day-running, four visits from survey vessels, MCA tug Ievoli Black in for crew, Dutch tall ship Tecla for a rest and the cruise ship Sirena in for the final visit of 2024.
Tecla the 28 metre 109-year-old former herring drifter offers adventure voyages, in particular ocean crossings and polar expeditions. The family-run business has had a ten-year association with Ullapool harbour and now treats the village as their second home. Their latest year-long adventure started when they departed Ullapool on the 24th October, heading for Tenerife, Azores, Port Stanley, Chile, Antarctica, Patagonia, Tahiti, Aleutian Islands, North West Passage, Greenland, Iceland and back to Ullapool. Check out their website if you fancy the adventure of a lifetime. https://www.tecla-sailing.com/
Cruise vessel visits have grown well beyond the capability of the blue stripy welcome marquee and portable toilets, with over 45,000 passengers and crew visiting this year. This winter a new purpose-built cruise pavilion will be constructed in the same location. The new open plan, insulated and heated facility with fully accessible toilets will be available for the 48,000+ pax and crew expected in 2025.