Not too bad a time to write part of a post. It is midnight and the end of another happy night at the Inn. There was never a wait for tables but busy enough with some great compliments about the food. The curtain fitter from Aberdeen was a little surprised to see his neighbour from across the road also booked into the Inn. The French/English game of scrabble looked good and involved a bit of trust. Not been fishing the last couple of days although the weather has not been too bad. Yesterday I discovered I had left my engine room light on and flattened my batteries and today the health was not very clever, just had to cope with Dougal and Co and reboot the Filing Station before recovering in time to turn out for work. The light over Raasay took one or two of the diners out for a photo or two.
Feeling a lot better this evening, although having lifted 400 creels and sorted out one or two tangles, just a bit tired. A healthy tiredness all the same.A day at sea sorts out being fed up. Colours your judgement so nothing about de minimis, land reform and other matters out there. Have to say though, last night spent a little time outside the Inn after the food service finished and before going in behind the bar and sat on the fence in the stillness and listened to the sea lapping on the shore. That as much as anything puts a better perspective on things. Weather seems to be breaking a bit so may go out again tomorrow, making up for the flat batteries. It was flat calm and grey, but pleasant grey this morning.
Soon had the batteries reinstalled and wired up. Hassle getting them in and out of the engine room out of the holding box, half way down the engine room, across the hydraulic pump and up through the wheelhouse floor hatch, all for leaving the switch on.
Starting on the Bay the day was fairly uneventful with signs of Spring well underway. Saw my first “bonxie” last week
and again today along with the ever hungry cormorants.
Some quiet misty views over on the Applecross shore.
Working my way north and over to the Range the fishing was fairly good and at all depths. There was a mix of size and quite a few extra extra large. Struggle to get them into the box.
Planned to haul lots of creels but decided 400 was enough and made it back to the Inn by the back of five passing a few lazy seals on the way in.
Tailing some of the small langoustine for the 1/2 pints I noticed one of the carcasses had what we call green sack. This is the pre egg stage and is usually abundant in June/July.
This is way early in the season and there seems to be less of a uniformity theses days on the breeding cycle. I am seeing female carrying eggs at many different stages. You can tell by the colour of the eggs, the deep green being the newly laid ones and there are quite a number of those. What we do not know is is this a climate change factor or the sign of a stock under pressure and trying hard to reproduce.
Comments on: "Back on the Water." (3)
“the sign of a stock under pressure and trying hard to reproduce.”
for my education, how does that work, please?
I do not know if there is any science involved in what I have come across and I cannot reference it but there are ideas out there that stocks have an identity and when under numerical or environmental they react in ways that try to counteract these threats like breeding at any cost rather than seasonal time proven ways. The results like poor year classes often are the result but does not stop the stock reacting in “outlandish” ways, until the threat is diminished or removed….in the prawns case overfishing.
Got you, thanks for the answer.