Director's Blog

Friday 19th February 2010

Wow! Where'd that week go?

The big event for this week was that our funding proposal/request went before The Shetland Island Council on Wednesday for consideration and, hopefully, approval.

The Council meeting was a long one...5 hours...with many important issues on the agenda to be discussed. Not least the current financial situation that all councils are finding themselves in and how to manage the reduced public sector funding as the country fights its way out of recession.

The decision this year was going to be even more difficult as I had decided to put before the Council a 3 year funding package rather than the previous one year budget. If this was approved it would allow us to approach projects and management of the centre in a more strategic way knowing that funding had been approved for the medium term. It would also remove the uncertainty that decends upon the Centre and its staff at this time of year, not knowing whether funding will be approved and if so, how much?

We hads been advised by virtually everyone that we were free to submit a 3 year plan but that it hadn't got a chance of being approved. It had been tried by others before and it was always turned down...but hey...if you don't ask, you don't get...or...nothing ventured, nothing gained...or my favourite...fortune favours the brave!

To cut a long story short, the 3 year funding package was unanimously approved!

This is absolutely fanastic...and actually only re-emphasises the Council's continual support for The Centre and what we do. So now we can move forward with purpose and certainty about our medium term future.

A good week!

...but very little running...hmmm...must rectify this over the weekend.

Friday 19th February 2010

I've at last managed to catch an episode of Discovery's new series "Swords: Life on the line"...and it is great!

This series enters the high risk world of New England's long line fishermen who risk all to catch an elusive prey in some of the most dangerous waters on the planet. They are uniformly tough and resilient and they need to be as every day could be their last.

They hunt swordfish -- magnificent giants of the deep that can weigh over a thousand pounds. The best time to catch these migratory fish is every autumn when they can be found in the waters around the Grand Banks off Newfoundland and the Georges Bank off the Gulf of Maine. These waters are also home to some of the wildest storms on earth. Cold fronts racing in from Canada meet hurricanes from the south and the results are a truly awe inspiring display of power by nature -- the most famous example being "The Perfect Storm" of 1991.

This series follows four boats (The Eagle Eye II, Big Eye, Seahawk & Frances Ann) that head into these stormy waters hoping to hit the jackpot. The skippers of the boats use every ounce of experience and knowledge they have to try and find the fish. The risks are incredible. It costs around $60,000 to make the month long journey and they need to catch thousands of pounds of fish just to break even. One big fish can be worth as much as $20,000 so a trip can turn from disaster to success in seconds. Each skipper has his best spots and knows how to read the waters and temperatures to try and find the best fish. Once the fish are caught, it's a race back to market where the first back gets the highest prices.

This job is physically and mentally exhausting. Twenty hour days are the norm. Six inch hooks fly off the deck attached to a 40 mile long line and can take a deck hand down 100 feet deep in seconds. Fishing gear can be dragged away and destroyed by monster trawlers from foreign fleets who have no respect for fellow fishermen. And even if the crew catches plenty of fish, they still have to make it home alive.

Thursday 11th February 2010

Since our new Da Haaf Coffee Bar opened in the foyer of The Marine Centre I have been receiving a lot of very positive feedback from customers via email, twitter and also on Facebook. Thanks to everyone who has sent feedback, it is much appreciated!

Following its recent renovations our specialist seafood restaurant Da Haaf is now open.

Da Haaf Restaurant winter opening hours are:

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 12 noon to 2.00pm (last orders 1.45pm) and Thursday and Friday evenings 6.00pm to 8.30pm (last orders 8.15pm).

To make a booking, please call 01595 880747 or email dahaaf@nafc.uhi.ac.uk

It is also well worth keeping an eye out for The Annual Fishermen's Mission Fish Fiesta on 19 March. Last years was a complete sell out and the seafood buffet was just phenomenal. People were trying to book tickets for this year at the end of the event last year!!!!!!

DA HAAF COFFEE BAR

Our new coffee bar in the foyer offers a variety of snacks including teas, coffees, sandwiches, paninis, homemade pastries, soups, salads and home bakes.

Opening hours: 8.30am to 3.30pm Monday to Friday.  Special requirements and advance lunch orders can be made by 10.00am each day.

Wednesday 10th February 2010

Tuesday 9th February 2010

I suppose I should start this blog entry with a comment or two about the recent weather we've been having in Shetland. Due to the prevailing wind coming from the North we have been having "frequent wintery showers" (thats how the weather forecast puts it) which in reality actually meant blizzard conditions and quite heavy snow falls for the first half of last week. People always asume that Shetland, due to it being so far north, gets a lot of snow...in fact nothing could be farther from the truth. Shetland usually only gets a few days of snow a year and the snow doesn't lie for very long at all...but this year's been different!

So with the snow comes the expected disruptions...school closures, transport problems but the roads have generally been kept very clear...although I did manage to place my wifes Land Rover Discovery in a ditch on the way into work last Monday! Nothing injured, except perhaps my pride!

This week couldn't be more different. As I write this the sky is a beautiful clear blue without a cloud in sight. The sun, although still quite low in the sky, is warm and buds are appearing on the bushes...a certain sign that spring is just around the corner.

I was lucky enough to have been invited to attend The National Life Science Award Dinner in Edinburgh last week. I was a guest of Pfizer International. The event was fantastic and was a celebration of the substantial impact Scotland is having in this key sector. There were over 900 guests and the short lists for the awards were very impressive indeed. How the judges made their final decision I just don't know. My thanks must go to Alistair Strachen at Pfizer for his kind invitation.

Louise Rosie our marketing co-ordinator has just put her head around the door and given me a telling off due to the fact that I haven't put a blog entry on yet for February. Ha! caught in the act...here it is!

...and last but not least I have been persuaded (by our very own Mr John Clayton) to become the third member of The NAFC Marine Centre team entering the Simmer Dim Half Marathon in June of this year. My training has started, 2 miles on Sunday and 1.5 miles this morning. Having bought a new set of bathroom scales and weighed myself I can honestly say that there are small planets out there that weigh less than me...but not for much longer. I'll keep you updated on my progress!