WILDLIFE projects in Loch Broom and Coigach have received more than £6000 in a round of heritage project grants aimed at the Coigach and Assynt areas.

Coigach & Assynt Living Landscape Partnership's (CALLP) community grant scheme has awarded £2930 to the Ullapool Sea Savers, and a further £3434 to a High Life Highland project centred on the local area.

Source: Sound Cloud

An underwater robot which got stuck in strong currents off the Outer Hebrides has been recovered by a fishing boat.

The Spanish vessel had been fishing in deep seas when it was asked by scientists from the Scottish Association for Marine Science (Sams) in Oban to pick the equipment up for them.

Source: Press & Journal

Plans to hold a beach-based seafood, music and art party had to be cancelled as the country went into lockdown. However, on learning that local prawn fishermen are facing severe financial difficulties following the collapse of the French and Spanish markets, the children decided to arrange a socially distanced prawn appreciation party instead.

After buying two days’ catch of prawns from a local creel boat, the children – with help from a couple of parents – inspected and then divided the catch into small bags, made from recycled plastic and donated by the local Tesco store. They offered these for free online, and distributed them around the village. Ullapool households then posted photos of the meals they cooked on social media.

Janis Patterson, who organises Ullapool Sea Savers, said: “Although conservation and protection of the seas and marine life are the kids’ main objective, we also recognise the importance of a healthy fishing industry as part of the system, and the place of that industry at the heart of Highland communities. In the past we have visited boats in both Ullapool and Gairloch, and we know a lot of the fishermen and their families personally.

Source: Fishing News

34th Lochbroom Community Update for COVID-19 for 5th May 2020, features interview with three of the Ullapool Sea Savers (Maia, Josh and Caillin) and Noel Hawkins. They talked about their recent ‘Prawnageddon’ action where they bought c. 70 kg of prawns from a local fisherman (Jerry Burne), sorted them (at DM Seafoods’ premises) and then offered them and delivered them free to people in Ullapool. The action was funded by the National Lottery and replaced a previous mini-festival of the sea that had been originally planned but had to be cancelled due to lockdown restrictions.

The programme also has more details on the outbreak of COVID-19 in the care home in Portree on Skye..

(Recorded evening 04.05, broadcast 05.05; update by Lisa MacDonald; Ullapool Sea Savers interview by Dave Heaney).

The whole program is great and the interview starts at 5 minutes in..

Source: LochBroom FM