0:00:06 > 0:00:09This is the dramatic West Coast of Scotland,
0:00:09 > 0:00:12one of the most stunning seascapes anywhere in the world.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18It attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every year...
0:00:20 > 0:00:23..but this isn't just a picture postcard environment.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30It is a place where people live and work.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32Come on, you're not even trying.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34We've got it.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37The often-tempestuous waters provide one of the few
0:00:37 > 0:00:40sources of income in this part of the world...
0:00:42 > 0:00:43..prawns.
0:00:48 > 0:00:49Traditional creel boats
0:00:49 > 0:00:53and modern industrial fishing machines battle with nature
0:00:53 > 0:00:59to bring this catch home, driving tempers to boiling point.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01He might have got a broken nose had he said no.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04I could lose two or three hours' fishing time,
0:01:04 > 0:01:06which is hundreds of pounds to me and my crew.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11This is what it takes to put one of the world's
0:01:11 > 0:01:13finest foods on our tables.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20This is a tale of tradition versus profit,
0:01:20 > 0:01:22of cheap food versus expensive,
0:01:22 > 0:01:25of fishermen versus fishermen.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28This is the story of the prawn wars.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42THEY CHAT
0:01:47 > 0:01:49It is the 24th of March.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52Skipper Alistair Philp, known as Bally,
0:01:52 > 0:01:54is bringing his boat into port.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59I'll put her in astern and then I'm going to knock her out of gear.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01It will just take the momentum.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03Kyleakin is a small harbour village
0:02:03 > 0:02:06just over the Skye bridge from Kyle of Lochalsh.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10It is a gateway to the thousands of square miles that make up
0:02:10 > 0:02:12the north-west fishery.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15Bally typically fishes in the Inner Sound
0:02:15 > 0:02:18between Skye and the mainland,
0:02:18 > 0:02:19but not today.
0:02:21 > 0:02:23I need her sort of parallel to the wall.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26Just let the momentum take her now.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29There's a type of paint that you put on the bottom of the boat
0:02:29 > 0:02:31each year and that stops seaweed and barnacles
0:02:31 > 0:02:33and things growing on the bottom of the boat.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35We haven't done it in a lot of months,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38so the bottom of the boat is covered in growth, we call it,
0:02:38 > 0:02:41and it slows us down and it causes us to burn a lot more fuel.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45Just take a turn, Dochus.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48Bally's crewman, Dochus Dochan, has been learning
0:02:48 > 0:02:50the ropes for the last four years.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Their boat, Nemesis, is crucial to their survival -
0:02:56 > 0:02:58both physically and financially.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04Nemesis needs regular maintenance.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07They use the tide to get the boat high and dry.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10Considering that we didn't actually put antifoul on last time
0:03:10 > 0:03:13we pressure washed, there is hardly any growth at all.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15If the whole hull is covered in barnacles,
0:03:15 > 0:03:16it creates a huge surface area,
0:03:16 > 0:03:21so it works best when it's smooth, like a surfboard underneath.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23This is one of the best dry harbours in the area.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26You can see from the paint marks all the way up the harbour wall
0:03:26 > 0:03:29each boat in the fleet makes a pilgrimage to this harbour
0:03:29 > 0:03:31once a year to do their own antifouling.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34The biggest concern here is because this is a spring tide
0:03:34 > 0:03:37and not only is it a normal spring tide, it is a March royal,
0:03:37 > 0:03:40so it is the biggest spring tide of the year until October.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44If we go too high up the beach and the tide goes out and comes back
0:03:44 > 0:03:47in again, it doesn't come in quite as far,
0:03:47 > 0:03:49they call that being neaped.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51The danger would be that you are literally stuck here
0:03:51 > 0:03:54till October, unless a crane comes and takes you out.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58The boat... There's a boat on the slip who did exactly that.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00He went to the top of the tide yesterday,
0:04:00 > 0:04:03painted the bottom of his boat and when the tide came back in,
0:04:03 > 0:04:06he intended to float it off but the tide didn't come in as far.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15However, as time and tide wait for no man,
0:04:15 > 0:04:18Bally and Dochus need to get a move on.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21In six hours' time, the harbour will flood again.
0:04:24 > 0:04:29Between November and March, we barely got 20 days at sea
0:04:29 > 0:04:32and most of them haven't even been very productive.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35The prawns have been what they call off,
0:04:35 > 0:04:37which basically means they are hard to catch.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42So, yeah, we are hoping that once we have done the maintenance
0:04:42 > 0:04:45on the boat and... In the next couple of weeks,
0:04:45 > 0:04:48hopefully the prawns will come on and we will be ready for them.
0:04:48 > 0:04:49That's the plan.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52- I think you missed a bit.- Where?
0:04:52 > 0:04:55- I'm teasing you.- Shut up! I'll be scraping your paint.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57I'll put the kettle on for you, how about that?
0:04:57 > 0:04:59Don't say I'm not nice to you!
0:04:59 > 0:05:01Oh, that is very, awfully kind of you.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08Almost 20 miles south is the town of Mallaig.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13Sitting on the westerly tip of the North Morar Peninsula,
0:05:13 > 0:05:17it has been a fishing port since the mid-19th century.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26This harbour is home to the Rebecca Jeneen.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30She is the newest boat in the Mallaig fleet
0:05:30 > 0:05:33and very, very good at catching prawns.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40The Rebecca Jeneen is a trawler - a much bigger,
0:05:40 > 0:05:42more powerful fishing boat than the Nemesis.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48I have always been proud all my life to be a fisherman.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50Fishing is a hard life but it is a good way of life,
0:05:50 > 0:05:52it has always been a good way of life.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54It is something you probably have to be born to -
0:05:54 > 0:05:57there's very few people come into the fishing industry
0:05:57 > 0:05:59that aren't born in a fishing community.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05Robert Summers has been at sea for 30 years.
0:06:05 > 0:06:10Seven years ago, he built his £1 million state-of-the-art boat.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15RADIO: Stornoway Coastguard, Stornoway Coastguard,
0:06:15 > 0:06:17here are the new gale warnings.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19Hebrides, gale force eight.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23Increasing - severe gale force nine later.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28Winter storms have battered the West Coast for months,
0:06:28 > 0:06:30keeping the fleet in port.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33It is now spring and the Rebecca Jeneen
0:06:33 > 0:06:35needs to start catching prawns.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38There is a mortgage on this boat and wages to pay.
0:06:39 > 0:06:44The crew are at sea for four days at a time, trawling 20 hours a day.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50This boat here is the best fishing tool I have ever been at sea in
0:06:50 > 0:06:54in my life. This boat is capable of catching more prawns
0:06:54 > 0:06:56and it's better at fishing than any boat I've ever been in,
0:06:56 > 0:07:00and we are catching less prawns now.
0:07:00 > 0:07:0515, 20 years ago in an old boat, in an old engine, with no sensors,
0:07:05 > 0:07:09no monitors, we caught a lot more prawns than we do now.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12So there is a decline in the stock,
0:07:12 > 0:07:15but there is a decline in stock all up and down the Minches.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17I don't know what is causing it.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19It is not overfishing, I know it's not overfishing
0:07:19 > 0:07:22because there's not the boats about to overfish the stock.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33But on this trip, there are plenty of prawns heading into the hold.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35Scottish fishermen target langoustine,
0:07:35 > 0:07:40a species also known as Dublin Bay Prawns or Norway Lobsters.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43They are bigger than most other prawns,
0:07:43 > 0:07:46have got claws and are pink when they're caught.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54Trawled prawns are kept on ice and stored in the hold
0:07:54 > 0:07:56until they reach port a few days later.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06Back in Kyleakin, the tide is rising.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10Nemesis and her new paint job are heading to sea once again.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17The general plan is, on the computer
0:08:17 > 0:08:20my gear is marked in red from the last time I hauled it.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24We came out of Kyleakin Harbour through the Skye bridge here
0:08:24 > 0:08:26and we're heading roughly north past the Isle of Crowlin,
0:08:26 > 0:08:28which you can see out the window,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31and then our gear is another half a dozen miles north of Crowlin again.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35We have got four fleets here. That will take us to nearly lunchtime.
0:08:38 > 0:08:44Unlike the Rebecca Jeneen, Nemesis is a creel boat using baited traps.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48They fish in different ways but both are after the same catch -
0:08:48 > 0:08:49prawns.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56So, this is 60 creels and they are all connected together
0:08:56 > 0:08:58on the same rope with a buoy at each end.
0:08:59 > 0:09:04This is the mud on the seabed and this is the top of the sea.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07We have a buoy and then a large end rope
0:09:07 > 0:09:10and then it goes to a single creel, and then there's a joining
0:09:10 > 0:09:12piece of rope and then another creel
0:09:12 > 0:09:14and a joining piece of rope and another creel,
0:09:14 > 0:09:17and this goes along the seabed for several hundred metres
0:09:17 > 0:09:21until it gets to the far end, where there is another riser
0:09:21 > 0:09:23or end rope and another float
0:09:23 > 0:09:26and we have a choice to pick up either float.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40The beginning of a haul is always a tense moment.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43Empty creels mean empty wage packets.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45If you don't see a prawn in the first three creels,
0:09:45 > 0:09:47you kind of get an idea of what's going to happen.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52So, that is our first prawn of the day.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58It is not a great start, but the few prawns Bally has caught
0:09:58 > 0:10:01in this haul go into what are known as tubes.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03Unlike trawled prawns,
0:10:03 > 0:10:06creel-caught prawns are kept alive for the premium market.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11It is like a factory job in some ways, you know?
0:10:11 > 0:10:13Like on a conveyor belt, you get fast.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20Yeah, probably not even a kilo of prawns came out of there.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22Not even a tenner's worth. Probably a fiver's worth.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25That was a short fleet and it is just as well it is a short fleet
0:10:25 > 0:10:27because it was... HE MOUTHS
0:10:30 > 0:10:31Once we have hauled a fleet of creels,
0:10:31 > 0:10:33we are going to redeploy them.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36The prawns seem to move around and there is not much rhyme or reason
0:10:36 > 0:10:42to it, so we have moved a little bit - only 100 yards or so -
0:10:42 > 0:10:46and we have moved shallower and harder and hopefully...
0:10:48 > 0:10:49..we will see an improvement.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54Bally really does need to see that improvement.
0:10:54 > 0:10:59Recently, stormy weather has made it difficult to fish at all.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02He has bills to pay - the cost of the boat, the fuel,
0:11:02 > 0:11:04the wages, the bait.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06It all adds up.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12Unless we can catch over £300-worth of prawns in a day,
0:11:12 > 0:11:14we won't even get £50 wages.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18Last time we went out, we caught about £100-worth of prawns
0:11:18 > 0:11:20and we didn't even pay for the fuel.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26So we may not get anything for today, but we have to try.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30The bait gets eaten out of the creels within ten days or so
0:11:30 > 0:11:32and so if we don't put fresh bait in the creels,
0:11:32 > 0:11:36then there will be definitely no point in going out next time.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39And there's another problem on the horizon -
0:11:39 > 0:11:42the 1st of April is just days away.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44For the last six months,
0:11:44 > 0:11:48Bally and the other creelmen have had the Inner Sound to themselves.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50From April through to early autumn,
0:11:50 > 0:11:53they will have to share it with other boats -
0:11:53 > 0:11:58trawlers hunting prawns and dredgers hunting scallops.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02These waters are about to get very crowded.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11But this isn't just a problem in the Inner Sound.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13All the way up the West Coast,
0:12:13 > 0:12:15there are different rules for different places.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21But it hasn't always been this way.
0:12:23 > 0:12:24I am off to meet the man
0:12:24 > 0:12:28who has been fishing these waters for over 70 years.
0:12:28 > 0:12:34Iain MacDonald first put a boat into Gairloch back in 1944 aged just 16.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36He has witnessed how the fish stocks have changed
0:12:36 > 0:12:39and has adapted to that change.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41It is said he was the first man to realise the potential
0:12:41 > 0:12:45of langoustine, that are now so prized throughout the world.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53I started myself and a dinghy
0:12:53 > 0:12:58and I had a couple of old herring nets and I went out behind the house
0:12:58 > 0:13:03here and there was a lot of herring going, so I filled the dinghy
0:13:03 > 0:13:05three days running with herring,
0:13:05 > 0:13:08rowed it to Gairloch Pier and sold it.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11That's how I bought my first boat.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15So when you started fishing all those years ago back in 1944,
0:13:15 > 0:13:17how abundant were the waters around here?
0:13:17 > 0:13:19If you fell out in the sea,
0:13:19 > 0:13:22you wouldn't sink with the amount of fish that was in it.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26- It was terrific.- And what was in the water, then? What kind of fish?
0:13:26 > 0:13:29- A lot of cod.- Yeah. - Tremendous amount of cod.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33They came in here in the spring to spawn.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35I crossed to Stornoway once...
0:13:35 > 0:13:38and sold it on the pier in Stornoway...
0:13:40 > 0:13:44..in little bundles - they all bid on it -
0:13:44 > 0:13:46and then sailed back here.
0:13:46 > 0:13:47We only did the one trip
0:13:47 > 0:13:52because the boat wasn't suitable for that sort of runs.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54In terms of actually sustaining communities,
0:13:54 > 0:13:56how important was the sea when you were a young man?
0:13:56 > 0:13:59Oh, very, very important.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03At the end of the season, when the fishing started to go off,
0:14:03 > 0:14:08there would be four crew in a boat and we had heaps of fish
0:14:08 > 0:14:14and each one took so many fish home and split them and salted them,
0:14:14 > 0:14:17that they'd have themselves for the rest of the year.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23Over time, catches of fish fell.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25Iain realised there was something else in the loch
0:14:25 > 0:14:29that might provide an income - prawns.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33I used to get an awful lot of them in the gill nets.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39- This size of prawn.- Right.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42Just...
0:14:42 > 0:14:44A good lobster size.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48And, erm...
0:14:48 > 0:14:50Then I started with the creels.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55You let all the small ones go anyway
0:14:55 > 0:14:57and next year there was prawns there again for you.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03And eventually the locals started eating them.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07I had a market in Edinburgh for them.
0:15:09 > 0:15:14I used to send them down to Edinburgh, but just as tails -
0:15:14 > 0:15:15we tailed the prawns then.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21The tail was that size and that in the round.
0:15:22 > 0:15:27And they were sold in America and Canada
0:15:27 > 0:15:29as baby lobster tails.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35That's how the whole thing started.
0:15:37 > 0:15:42The creelmen of Gairloch fished undisturbed until the mid-1980s.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48Up to that point, trawlers were not allowed in inshore waters.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52They were restricted to fishing more than three miles from shore.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55The Thatcher government changed all that
0:15:55 > 0:15:57and opened the waters to everyone.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02Tell me about when the three-mile limit laws were lifted.
0:16:02 > 0:16:03What impact did that have?
0:16:04 > 0:16:07That was the stupidest thing they ever did.
0:16:08 > 0:16:14They had such a bonanza, the trawlers did,
0:16:14 > 0:16:18and they came into all the inshore grounds and everywhere.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22OK, they did awful well for a couple of years...
0:16:24 > 0:16:28..sweeping up everything. But it didn't last.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33It was a disaster, that, and for years and years,
0:16:33 > 0:16:39I was able to be left in peace until they started lifting my gear
0:16:39 > 0:16:44and towing it away and dumping it so that they could trawl.
0:16:44 > 0:16:49Trawling was a very destructive method of fishing.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53That is why I went for creels.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58Leave something for the next generation,
0:16:58 > 0:17:00that's the way I look at it.
0:17:01 > 0:17:03Because if you don't,
0:17:03 > 0:17:05what is the point of being here?
0:17:10 > 0:17:15That decision in 1984 set the scene for a conflict
0:17:15 > 0:17:17that is still being fought today.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23RADIO: Shore waters forecast.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27General situation - Atlantic weather fronts will become
0:17:27 > 0:17:29slow-moving across the United Kingdom today.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35The beginning of April and it is a free-for-all in the Inner Sound.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40Creelers and trawlers are now battling
0:17:40 > 0:17:42for the same catch in the same place.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48The danger is that as the trawlers tow their nets along the bottom,
0:17:48 > 0:17:52they can become entangled in fleets of creels.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54You can see the trawlers in the distance and you can see
0:17:54 > 0:17:58the buoys here in the water, which are marking creel fleets.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01One of the problems is that these trawlers are working only half
0:18:01 > 0:18:05a mile off the shore, which means that the creels now have to be within
0:18:05 > 0:18:09half a mile of the shore or else they're in the way of the trawlers.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12It just leaves a significantly less area of ground
0:18:12 > 0:18:15for the creel boats to fish on, such so that the creels then start to
0:18:15 > 0:18:18trip over each other and often you are fishing somewhere
0:18:18 > 0:18:19just because it is safe,
0:18:19 > 0:18:23not because you want to fish there or because there's prawns there.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25In some areas, it is literally war.
0:18:29 > 0:18:31Bally sets about hauling the last fleet of creels
0:18:31 > 0:18:34from this lucrative stretch.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36I mean, this pot is quite a good one.
0:18:36 > 0:18:42It has got one, two, three prawns and a large prawn.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45If they were all like that, we would make a living.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49It will be another six months before Bally fishes here again
0:18:49 > 0:18:52but wherever he hauls, he's selective about what he keeps
0:18:52 > 0:18:55and what he throws back.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58The prawns themselves, the squat lobsters,
0:18:58 > 0:19:00the starfish...
0:19:01 > 0:19:06..and almost all the fish that we catch can go back alive.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08Literally it swims away again.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11The only time that is not the case is if the birds manage to get it
0:19:11 > 0:19:12before it gets away.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18I mean, technically these are legally landable
0:19:18 > 0:19:20and some fishermen do land them.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22But for us, we can catch them again later,
0:19:22 > 0:19:27so it makes far more sense on the smallest grade,
0:19:27 > 0:19:29which is practically worthless,
0:19:29 > 0:19:31to return them.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34I mean, that is a legally landable prawn.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38Personally, I would like to see the law changed on that.
0:19:38 > 0:19:39For that smallest grade...
0:19:41 > 0:19:43..I think it is like £5 a kilo
0:19:43 > 0:19:47whereas if we wait till it gets larger, it is worth £15 a kilo...
0:19:49 > 0:19:52..and it takes far fewer prawns to make a kilo.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57Not only that, you know,
0:19:57 > 0:20:00they are not mature for the point of view of reproduction.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02A prawn this size will have reproduced -
0:20:02 > 0:20:05it will have had eggs and spawned new prawns...
0:20:08 > 0:20:13Whereas the smaller ones may not have yet bred...
0:20:13 > 0:20:16and it just seems a bit mad to catch and kill them
0:20:16 > 0:20:18before they've even bred.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25Scottish langoustine are luxury items, prized the world over.
0:20:26 > 0:20:31The vast majority of live prawns go abroad, but the French and Spanish
0:20:31 > 0:20:35are prepared to pay top dollar for these West Coast delicacies.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41My favourite bit of the day - getting home!
0:20:43 > 0:20:46This blue van putting his reversing lights on now, that's for us.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57See, we're catching that many prawns, they thought they'd film it.
0:21:01 > 0:21:02OK, cheers.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12I'm catching a lift with John Maroney, just one of dozens of
0:21:12 > 0:21:16van drivers who are the first link in the langoustine logistics chain.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20We're going coast to coast - our destination, Dingwall.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24So, John - how many ports do you actually pick up from?
0:21:24 > 0:21:28Um, we've got about 30 boats and, er...
0:21:30 > 0:21:34..probably about 15 or 20 places over Skye and Lochalsh.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38So it can be a bit complicated to actually make sure you get to all the right places.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42Yes, there's a bit of logistics going to get everything organised
0:21:42 > 0:21:45and fitting the timing, the times with the boats.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48And you also have a situation where you're travelling to
0:21:48 > 0:21:50lots of different ports in the day.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53Yes, we can have some really busy days.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56And how do you coordinate between the drivers and the boats?
0:21:56 > 0:21:59Er, a lot of phone calls!
0:22:03 > 0:22:05Two hours after they've been landed,
0:22:05 > 0:22:08the prawns make their first stop on their journey to the continent.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16The langoustine are put into seawater tanks for storage,
0:22:16 > 0:22:18but this isn't just any seawater.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21Not only do the prawns come from the West Coast of Scotland,
0:22:21 > 0:22:26- but all the water comes from the West Coast as well.- Really?
0:22:26 > 0:22:28So you've got the Cromarty Firth just out there
0:22:28 > 0:22:30- and you're not using that water? - Yep.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33For whatever reason, the prawns want West Coast water,
0:22:33 > 0:22:35so we do what the prawns want.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37Keep the prawns happy and the customer will be happy, right?
0:22:37 > 0:22:38Exactly! Exactly.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42Once the prawns have had an overnight soaking,
0:22:42 > 0:22:45preparations begin for their onward journey.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49Managing director Ben Murray talks me through the process.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52What's happening here, Dougie, is once the prawns have been taken out
0:22:52 > 0:22:56of the storage tank, we open up the fishermen's tube
0:22:56 > 0:22:59and we do two things - we're checking the quality of the product
0:22:59 > 0:23:02and also making sure the grading is accurate for the end customer.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04We take them out of the tubes and repack them
0:23:04 > 0:23:08into polystyrene boxes with cardboard tubes again - and again, that is
0:23:08 > 0:23:12- to protect the products so they don't fight with each other.- Sure.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15It's important they go to the customer live, right?
0:23:15 > 0:23:19That's the whole idea behind the live shellfish sector,
0:23:19 > 0:23:21that's the barometer of high-quality product.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25It's arriving live at the chef's kitchen.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28So where are your markets, where are they going to go to from this point?
0:23:28 > 0:23:31France is our single biggest market, about 50%.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34Spain about 20% and the UK about the other 30.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36So when people are eating in the best restaurants in Paris
0:23:36 > 0:23:39and thinking that the prawns and langoustine
0:23:39 > 0:23:42- come from the Mediterranean, potentially they're Scottish? - That's correct.
0:23:42 > 0:23:44Is that a frustration for you?
0:23:44 > 0:23:47Would you like to encourage more people in this country to eat them?
0:23:47 > 0:23:50I'd like to encourage more people in the UK in general to eat them.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53There's still a market, I believe, in the UK that people could
0:23:53 > 0:23:57consume the Scottish langoustine rather than sending it abroad.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02These langoustine will be on a dinner plate on the Continent
0:24:02 > 0:24:04within 36 hours.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09But my langoustine lunch is a bit closer to home.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15For those of us who do want to eat langoustine, they can be found
0:24:15 > 0:24:18if you know where to look, not just at the most expensive restaurants.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22I'm told this pub here has some of the freshest sea-to-plate
0:24:22 > 0:24:23seafood anywhere in the country.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27I've arranged a lunch here at the Plockton Inn.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33It's owned and run by former fisherman Kenny Gollan.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37Also joining us is crewman Bally.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40Now, Kenny - why did you give up being a fisherman
0:24:40 > 0:24:43and become an owner of a restaurant?
0:24:43 > 0:24:46Too old for fisherman, too tired...
0:24:46 > 0:24:51All told, there's probably more money in selling prawns rather than
0:24:51 > 0:24:54- catching them.- Really? As simple as that?- Yes.
0:24:54 > 0:24:55What about yourself, Bally?
0:24:55 > 0:24:56You're obviously loving this,
0:24:56 > 0:24:59you spend your time catching these things.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02Yes, I'm really enjoying this cos I don't have to pay for them!
0:25:02 > 0:25:05Creel-caught prawns catch a premium price and so, you know,
0:25:05 > 0:25:08when you catch them and sell them off, it breaks your heart
0:25:08 > 0:25:10having to go and pay for them again, so this is good for me!
0:25:10 > 0:25:13I mean, we don't eat enough of these in our own country.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16Especially creel-caught prawns - they're far more expensive
0:25:16 > 0:25:19than trawl-caught prawns and in other countries,
0:25:19 > 0:25:22they queue up all day and pay fantastic sums of money for these,
0:25:22 > 0:25:24so it's good to see that they are still eaten locally.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26But we could do with a lot more of it - it would
0:25:26 > 0:25:28make our industry far more sustainable
0:25:28 > 0:25:30if more people in Britain ate seafood,
0:25:30 > 0:25:33especially if they ate premium, sustainably-caught seafood.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36Kenny, do you ever worry in the future because of the amount creels are worth
0:25:36 > 0:25:40and the trawling that's going on, maybe out there,
0:25:40 > 0:25:45- there won't be enough in 10 or 15, 20, 30 years' time?- Well...
0:25:45 > 0:25:48Firstly, in 30 years' time, if I'm worried about that, I'll be...
0:25:48 > 0:25:51Seriously worried! But, er...
0:25:53 > 0:25:57No, I think we've been talking about this for 40 years now, that
0:25:57 > 0:25:58prawns are going to run out.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01People tell us prawns are going to run out, and they're not.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06Not everyone shares Kenny's optimism
0:26:06 > 0:26:09and for the scores of villages and towns on the West Coast,
0:26:09 > 0:26:13a sustainable fishing industry is crucial
0:26:13 > 0:26:16to prevent them from becoming nothing more than tourist towns.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25But in some places, it's already happening.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28Fishing alone just isn't enough to survive.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34I think if I went to see a bank manager and asked him
0:26:34 > 0:26:37to borrow all the money I needed to buy a boat and a licence
0:26:37 > 0:26:42and all the gear to go with it, and then told him how much I'd actually
0:26:42 > 0:26:47expect to make in a year, I don't think he'd lend me the money.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54On Dry Island, on the edge of Gairloch, Ian McWhinney
0:26:54 > 0:26:57is the sixth generation of fisherman in his family.
0:27:00 > 0:27:05He still creels for crabs, prawns and lobsters, but to make ends meet,
0:27:05 > 0:27:10he's had to diversify into holiday cottages and shellfish safaris.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15Want to see what's coming up, Angus? This is a crab creel here.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17It's called a parlour creel.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21'Today, Ian has his first safari customers of the season.'
0:27:21 > 0:27:23It is called a kitchen, here. This is where you have the bait
0:27:23 > 0:27:27so the idea is they wander in one of these eyes here, on either side...
0:27:27 > 0:27:29Has something to eat here, in the kitchen
0:27:29 > 0:27:31and then leaves into the parlour here.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34This is the parlour bit, where everything gets trapped
0:27:34 > 0:27:35until we come along to lift it.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38This is what we're trying to catch here - a nice cock crab here.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42So what we do with this is, when we catch them...
0:27:42 > 0:27:45I'll make it safe for you, first. When we catch then...
0:27:46 > 0:27:49We have to cut their claws, like this.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52This is so they can't fight with each other, yeah?
0:27:56 > 0:27:59We're going to pop him in there like that.
0:27:59 > 0:28:00On Dry Island,
0:28:00 > 0:28:04Ian is running a lifestyle business based on his heritage.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08Elsewhere, fishing happens on an industrial scale.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18Mallaig, the night of 7 April.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22Another player is about to enter the fray.
0:28:25 > 0:28:27The scallop dredger Vikingborg
0:28:27 > 0:28:29is one of the oldest boats in the fleet.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35She steams through the night towards the island of Eigg.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38At first light,
0:28:38 > 0:28:42the crew are summoned on deck by experienced skipper Bill Simmonds.
0:28:48 > 0:28:51There's many different ways we can set up these dredges
0:28:51 > 0:28:54for different styles of fishing, different types of ground.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57There's a tension in the spring, you can slacken this off,
0:28:57 > 0:29:00tighten it up, put tension on, take tension off it.
0:29:00 > 0:29:06This drags along the bottom. And this works backwards and forwards...
0:29:07 > 0:29:11It should filter a lot of stones out of the way,
0:29:11 > 0:29:15so we leave the stones on the seabed,
0:29:15 > 0:29:17or as much as we can.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20- What about the clams? - And the clams...
0:29:21 > 0:29:25The clams should just flick into the bag.
0:29:25 > 0:29:30They should just be flicked up into here, then down into the back of it.
0:29:35 > 0:29:40It's not just creelers and trawlers that come into conflict over prawns.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42Scallop dredgers can also have an impact.
0:29:43 > 0:29:46Both prawns and scallops live on the seabed,
0:29:46 > 0:29:48albeit on slightly different ground.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52Even as far out as the Small Isles, where Bill is today,
0:29:52 > 0:29:54there's the potential for trouble.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00Mobile gear is... in direct conflict with static gear.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03There's a lot of...
0:30:03 > 0:30:07creels being towed away and there's a lot of people not happy about it.
0:30:09 > 0:30:14Albeit, some of us get on very, very well.
0:30:14 > 0:30:15We can cooperate with each other.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22Bill has decades of experience in these waters,
0:30:22 > 0:30:26but there's always new fishing grounds to explore.
0:30:26 > 0:30:29I'm just marking out some ground,
0:30:29 > 0:30:32this is the first time I've ever shot here.
0:30:32 > 0:30:35I'm going to take a gamble and try it.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40If I'm not catching, the crew aren't getting paid.
0:30:43 > 0:30:46Eight at the winch, seven in the water.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53Eight at the winch, seven in the water is the offset for the gear,
0:30:53 > 0:30:54the two sets of gear.
0:30:54 > 0:30:56We'll have...
0:30:56 > 0:30:5880 fathom of wire...
0:31:03 > 0:31:07At one point and seven... 75 at the other.
0:31:09 > 0:31:13We always work a 5-fathom difference in the gear.
0:31:16 > 0:31:20If not, it jumps on top of itself.
0:31:20 > 0:31:22If we don't watch what we're doing,
0:31:22 > 0:31:27the gear will hit the propeller and bend the blades. So I rely...
0:31:29 > 0:31:33I rely on my crew being vigilant...
0:31:33 > 0:31:35and keeping the gear away from the propeller.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45This industrial method of fishing for scallops is often
0:31:45 > 0:31:49criticised as unsustainable and detrimental to the seabed.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58This footage of a working dredge was filmed more than ten years ago
0:31:58 > 0:32:01by researchers at Plymouth University.
0:32:01 > 0:32:03It's not the Vikingborg's dredge.
0:32:07 > 0:32:11Dredging is a controversial method of fishing and for that reason,
0:32:11 > 0:32:15some restaurants won't serve scallops caught in this way.
0:32:16 > 0:32:21They will only buy scallops that have been hand-picked by divers.
0:32:27 > 0:32:29Back on the Vikingborg, Bill evaluates
0:32:29 > 0:32:32the catch from the newly-dredged stretch.
0:32:34 > 0:32:36Well, it's mediocre. No, it's...
0:32:37 > 0:32:40It's not something I want to concentrate on.
0:32:42 > 0:32:45So you can see our by-catch is minimal,
0:32:45 > 0:32:48there's just two or three starfish.
0:32:48 > 0:32:50The rest are stones, some clams...
0:32:52 > 0:32:57You know, we're really not doing that much damage to the seabed.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01As some people might make out.
0:33:04 > 0:33:05Anyway.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11My father and mother are scallop divers.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15We do have that joking love/hate about us,
0:33:15 > 0:33:21you know - they don't favour scallop dredgers because...
0:33:22 > 0:33:26..we take away their clams, but we do try and give them the space.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29As well as sharing the seabed,
0:33:29 > 0:33:32Bill feels he puts a lot into the local economy.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36I maybe spend 30,000 a year on fuel,
0:33:36 > 0:33:3910-15,000 on food.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42I'm constantly repairing this vessel.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45Last year, I put the new engine and gearbox into it.
0:33:45 > 0:33:47That was 40,000 it cost me.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50This year, I'm putting a hydraulic crane onto it,
0:33:50 > 0:33:52that's another 15,000.
0:33:52 > 0:33:56My winch there was 20,000.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59This is all money that's going back into the economy.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02Into the local businesses, you know?
0:34:02 > 0:34:04So we do a lot.
0:34:05 > 0:34:07I feel I do, anyway.
0:34:20 > 0:34:26A week later, and the misty waters south of the Misty Isle are busy.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31The Rebecca Jeneen is an inshore trawler,
0:34:31 > 0:34:34built specifically for these waters.
0:34:34 > 0:34:39But at over 50 metres long, there are places she's not allowed to go.
0:34:39 > 0:34:42She's too big to fish the Inner Sound, east of Skye,
0:34:42 > 0:34:47so mainly trawls to the South and the West.
0:34:47 > 0:34:49She does this with what's known as a twin rig.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57The twin rig is basically a two-net system.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00We've got two smaller nets, so you tend to take less fish
0:35:00 > 0:35:04the way they're rigged and more prawns than you will with one net.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09As the nets are shot, they sink to the seabed where
0:35:09 > 0:35:13they are towed for four hours along soft, muddy ground -
0:35:13 > 0:35:16the favoured habitat of langoustine.
0:35:18 > 0:35:22But wherever he's trawling, Robert has to be vigilant for creels.
0:35:22 > 0:35:27Not easy, as the only signs are the small buoys at either end.
0:35:27 > 0:35:29It's not as bad as it was.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31For a few years, it was really bad, a lot of creelers.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35There was that much creels in the ground about here, they were
0:35:35 > 0:35:39fighting with each other for the ground, never mind the trawlers.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42You get creelers, they know how to keep their gear out of my way.
0:35:42 > 0:35:46I know how to keep out of their way. We work the same areas all the time.
0:35:46 > 0:35:48I know where to expect to see creels,
0:35:48 > 0:35:51I know where I expect to not see creels, but you get creelers
0:35:51 > 0:35:53that are just shooting them in the wrong place, trying to close off
0:35:53 > 0:35:56the area to get it to themselves,
0:35:56 > 0:35:58which causes a huge rift.
0:35:58 > 0:36:00Now, we stop fishing as soon as we catch creel,
0:36:00 > 0:36:03so we're losing money as soon as we catch creels.
0:36:03 > 0:36:05I could lose two or three hours' fishing time, which is
0:36:05 > 0:36:07hundreds of pounds to me and my crew.
0:36:07 > 0:36:10If we catch creels, we'll haul them up, I won't spend two or three
0:36:10 > 0:36:12hours clearing them - it's too much of a cost to me.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14I'll cut that creel away.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17If I'm at fault, I would pay for them, but how you define fault,
0:36:17 > 0:36:21if a creeler has shot creels in my way intentionally to stop me
0:36:21 > 0:36:24working, then I will not pay anything for them.
0:36:39 > 0:36:41This is breakfast.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44At lunchtime!
0:36:45 > 0:36:48Cos the crew needed their sleep.
0:36:48 > 0:36:52Working time directive aboard here...
0:36:52 > 0:36:53They have to sleep 14 hours a day.
0:36:56 > 0:36:58I'd better not say on TV that this is women's work,
0:36:58 > 0:37:01my wife wouldn't take that very well!
0:37:03 > 0:37:06Robert's good mood doesn't last long.
0:37:07 > 0:37:09Oh, dear.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14It snapped. We'll have to haul arse for ten to get there,
0:37:14 > 0:37:16to get to the middle.
0:37:16 > 0:37:1975 fathom with the middle wire lying on the bottom.
0:37:22 > 0:37:23The gear has just snagged
0:37:23 > 0:37:27and snapped the middle of three hauling cables.
0:37:27 > 0:37:28What is that?
0:37:28 > 0:37:30Broken.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35- Snapped. - It's quite a weight on there, then.
0:37:40 > 0:37:41That wire was getting dumped.
0:37:41 > 0:37:43We knew it was getting worn,
0:37:43 > 0:37:46but we thought it would last no bother for another day.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52Whoa! If it's not going to get hit, take it up.
0:37:52 > 0:37:54It's all right, hold on - I'll get it.
0:37:56 > 0:37:58That's dug in. That's destroyed it.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04With only two cables, Robert has to use the boat's winch to help bring
0:38:04 > 0:38:11in the gear, including the roller clamp and sensor, worth £13,000.
0:38:11 > 0:38:12Some turn, eh?
0:38:16 > 0:38:18Come on, Gilbert,
0:38:18 > 0:38:21you're not even trying - it's only three quarters of a tonne!
0:38:22 > 0:38:24Where's the sensor?
0:38:24 > 0:38:26Is the sensor on the outside?
0:38:36 > 0:38:38With the sensor safely on-board,
0:38:38 > 0:38:41Robert's crew continue recovering the gear.
0:38:47 > 0:38:5015 April, back in the Inner Sound.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55The sea may be calm, but just two weeks into the trawling season,
0:38:55 > 0:38:58tensions are rising.
0:39:02 > 0:39:07So the fleet that got towed is that white buoy and that yellow buoy,
0:39:07 > 0:39:11but it used to be that the white buoy was 100 yards this way
0:39:11 > 0:39:15and the yellow buoy was 500 yards to the north again.
0:39:15 > 0:39:17So the fleet has been dragged,
0:39:17 > 0:39:19you know, half a kilometre.
0:39:19 > 0:39:22It's a creeler's worst nightmare -
0:39:22 > 0:39:26Bally has discovered that one of his fleets has been towed.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31We know that there's a good chance that we've lost the shot,
0:39:31 > 0:39:34which over time accumulates
0:39:34 > 0:39:38and we're going to lose the time that we have to spend recovering this fleet
0:39:38 > 0:39:40and if the rope is too badly damaged,
0:39:40 > 0:39:42I'll have to replace the rope,
0:39:42 > 0:39:45so it's already cost us... Possibly hundreds of pounds.
0:39:45 > 0:39:49If there's too many creels gone, then it's potentially thousands of pounds.
0:39:49 > 0:39:53We'll find out in a minute how that pans out.
0:40:00 > 0:40:05Just watch out for slack rope coming off this, because it's quite shallow.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17If we're unlucky, then we only get part of the fleet back.
0:40:17 > 0:40:21It depends - I don't know how many pieces it's in.
0:40:21 > 0:40:22Here we go...
0:40:22 > 0:40:24Something happening now.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29See, that's a physically ruined creel.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32It's never going to catch prawns again, that one.
0:40:36 > 0:40:42Sometimes accidents happen and normally it's in bad weather
0:40:42 > 0:40:44when visibility is poor.
0:40:45 > 0:40:48Then it's hard to blame the trawler,
0:40:48 > 0:40:51but this happened in good visibility to a boat that had been fishing
0:40:51 > 0:40:55next to the gear for several days, so he knew fine well the gear was here.
0:40:55 > 0:40:57And, er...
0:40:57 > 0:41:00Sometimes it happens when they're pushing their luck
0:41:00 > 0:41:02and they want to fish where you're fishing,
0:41:02 > 0:41:05but this time, the boy I spoke to on the radio said to me
0:41:05 > 0:41:08that they've dragged it out of the way because it was in their way.
0:41:08 > 0:41:11What that means is they wanted to fish where I was fishing,
0:41:11 > 0:41:14so they just chose to drag my gear out the way
0:41:14 > 0:41:16and they openly admitted it.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19There's no recourse for this sort of thing.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23There's never been a conviction for gear conflict or gear vandalism
0:41:23 > 0:41:26in 30 years, since the 3-mile limit was opened.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30So....You know, they can tow my gear with impunity.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33The only thing stopping them towing my gear is...
0:41:37 > 0:41:39..is fear that we might do something personally about it,
0:41:39 > 0:41:42but there's certainly nothing we can do about it in the law.
0:41:42 > 0:41:46I mean, obviously if he hadn't handed them back to me,
0:41:46 > 0:41:49I'd have requested he compensate me,
0:41:49 > 0:41:52which he's under no obligation to do.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55But he might have got a broken nose had he said no.
0:41:57 > 0:41:59We're doing pretty well so far, though.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03That's nearly half the fleet up.
0:42:04 > 0:42:08Losing a day's work and over £1,000 worth of fishing gear is
0:42:08 > 0:42:10becoming all too common for Bally.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13It's a source of huge frustration.
0:42:13 > 0:42:15I think if you were starting from scratch and there was no
0:42:15 > 0:42:19fishing vessels, no fishing fleet, no people to get made unemployed,
0:42:19 > 0:42:21you would never do it the way it's done now.
0:42:21 > 0:42:23You would have small,
0:42:23 > 0:42:27locally-owned fleets working out of communities that had rights to
0:42:27 > 0:42:29certain areas of the seabed and they'd be responsible
0:42:29 > 0:42:32for managing that and they would be answerable
0:42:32 > 0:42:35to their local communities who could find other ways to harvest
0:42:35 > 0:42:39that resource if the fishermen didn't manage it properly.
0:42:39 > 0:42:41But as it stands,
0:42:41 > 0:42:45we've inherited a system that was once based on a free-for-all.
0:42:45 > 0:42:49We've inherited a system which has traditionally been very badly managed by governments,
0:42:49 > 0:42:53where governments have allowed over exploitation to take place...
0:42:55 > 0:42:58And we've inherited a system where when we go to try and fix it,
0:42:58 > 0:43:02they put people out of work from very small, fragile communities.
0:43:02 > 0:43:04Nobody wants to do that.
0:43:06 > 0:43:09I think there are solutions, but they're not easy,
0:43:09 > 0:43:13it's not straightforward, it's never as simple as people first assume.
0:43:13 > 0:43:17But there is a place where a solution may have been found.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24Just under 300 miles north-east,
0:43:24 > 0:43:29Shetland fishermen have taken control of their own destiny.
0:43:29 > 0:43:32Shetland's inshore fishermen have been given devolved powers
0:43:32 > 0:43:35by the Scottish government to manage and police
0:43:35 > 0:43:39their own waters and I've come here to see how it works.
0:43:41 > 0:43:46In the 1990s, the inshore waters around Shetland had little
0:43:46 > 0:43:48management, with no quotas, no restrictions
0:43:48 > 0:43:52on types of fishing gear and no limit on days at sea.
0:43:54 > 0:43:58- The harbour looks pretty busy - is this normal?- Yes, that's right.
0:43:58 > 0:44:02There's always boats in and some of them at sea, as well.
0:44:02 > 0:44:04Ian Walterson,
0:44:04 > 0:44:07chairman of the Shetland Shellfish Management organisation,
0:44:07 > 0:44:10explains the catalyst for change.
0:44:10 > 0:44:15Well, the fishermen themselves recognised with an ever-increasing
0:44:15 > 0:44:17fleet of large shellfish vessels,
0:44:17 > 0:44:22especially in other areas of the UK, with large scallopers
0:44:22 > 0:44:27and large crabbers being built almost every week, there was
0:44:27 > 0:44:32recognition that those big vessels had potential to move
0:44:32 > 0:44:35further from their home ports, home grounds
0:44:35 > 0:44:39and come up to places like Shetland and if that happened, there was
0:44:39 > 0:44:43certainly a risk of stocks being overexploited.
0:44:43 > 0:44:44So what did you actually do?
0:44:44 > 0:44:48People decided to apply for a regulating order to give
0:44:48 > 0:44:52Shetland control of its own shellfish stocks
0:44:52 > 0:44:53from shoreline up to six miles.
0:44:53 > 0:44:55And do you think something like this,
0:44:55 > 0:44:58that seems to be working here and working well in Shetland,
0:44:58 > 0:45:02is something that could and potentially SHOULD be rolled out around the rest of the country?
0:45:02 > 0:45:06It probably works better here because Shetland is geographically isolated.
0:45:06 > 0:45:11Other areas, where they have one area neighbouring with the next,
0:45:11 > 0:45:14it could be more problematic, I suppose.
0:45:14 > 0:45:17But, yes, I think it is a very good example of local
0:45:17 > 0:45:23management of a fishery and this has potential for other areas, certainly.
0:45:26 > 0:45:30I'm on my way from Lerwick to Collafirth on the north-west coast
0:45:30 > 0:45:35to spend the day with skipper Richard Grains of the Valentia.
0:45:38 > 0:45:40- Hi, Richard - how you doing? - Not too bad.- Good stuff.
0:45:40 > 0:45:44- Can I come on board? - Yes, welcome aboard.
0:45:44 > 0:45:45Nice to see you.
0:45:45 > 0:45:47'Richard operates the Valentia on his own.
0:45:47 > 0:45:50'It's a small 9½m boat,
0:45:50 > 0:45:53'but ideal for his type of fishing.'
0:45:53 > 0:45:56This is very impressive, this - is this all for single operation?
0:45:56 > 0:45:58- Yeah!- It's brilliant.
0:46:04 > 0:46:08Richard is a creel fishermen, targeting crabs and lobsters.
0:46:08 > 0:46:12Prawns are not as common here as on the West Coast.
0:46:12 > 0:46:17Today, we're hauling on the fringes of the north Atlantic.
0:46:17 > 0:46:19So how much are you selling a box of crabs?
0:46:19 > 0:46:22Like that, if that was full, how much would you sell that for?
0:46:22 > 0:46:24Hopefully get about £40 for it.
0:46:24 > 0:46:27The fact these waters are managed here in Shetland,
0:46:27 > 0:46:29what does that mean in terms of what you can actually catch?
0:46:29 > 0:46:30The creel numbers,
0:46:30 > 0:46:34you're only allowed the maximum number of 600 creels.
0:46:34 > 0:46:38It just kind of restricts you getting too big...
0:46:38 > 0:46:40Um...
0:46:40 > 0:46:44As I said before, you can only work 600 creels,
0:46:44 > 0:46:47um...that are bought.
0:46:47 > 0:46:52That's only really enough to sustain one man, maybe two.
0:46:53 > 0:46:56How difficult is it to get a licence and to keep it?
0:46:56 > 0:46:59It's quite a difficult thing to get, yes.
0:46:59 > 0:47:02There are stock assessments every year and if they're low,
0:47:02 > 0:47:07or not as good as they were the previous year, they reconsider
0:47:07 > 0:47:10maybe dishing out licenses,
0:47:10 > 0:47:12but it's quite hard to get into, yes.
0:47:15 > 0:47:16Some of the older guys,
0:47:16 > 0:47:20have they said that the management of these waters has improved stocks?
0:47:20 > 0:47:22In the past few years, it's been
0:47:22 > 0:47:25exceptionally good lobster fishing.
0:47:25 > 0:47:28Sometimes, when you're speaking to any older guys,
0:47:28 > 0:47:30and you tell them what they're hiding,
0:47:30 > 0:47:32they think that it's pretty good.
0:47:32 > 0:47:35They reckon it's far more to do with the hiding...
0:47:35 > 0:47:38- Is that right?- Sometimes they say that, yes.- Sure.
0:47:47 > 0:47:51Okey dokey...
0:47:51 > 0:47:53- Got it.- Cheers, man. Thank you.
0:47:53 > 0:47:56The system seems to be working well in Shetland,
0:47:56 > 0:47:59but back on the West Coast, there's trouble for Bill.
0:48:03 > 0:48:05There's something wrong.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09The wire may have snapped, I don't know.
0:48:09 > 0:48:11It's 21 April.
0:48:11 > 0:48:14The scallop dredger Vikingborg is just off the Isle of Muck.
0:48:16 > 0:48:18Aye, it has, it's snapped.
0:48:19 > 0:48:23Take this slow, I might need to mark this.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25Just take it slowly.
0:48:32 > 0:48:33Part of the wire.
0:48:35 > 0:48:37- Has it become snagged? - The gear has snagged.
0:48:37 > 0:48:40I told you that bit of ground belonged to Satan.
0:48:42 > 0:48:45One minute, we're doing quite well...
0:48:45 > 0:48:47Now my fishing gear is lying in the bottom,
0:48:47 > 0:48:49I don't know if I'm going to get it back now.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54It sucks, it's going to be a challenge, this.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00So I'm going to put out a creeper and we're going to try
0:49:00 > 0:49:02and get my gear back, because...
0:49:04 > 0:49:07A lot of money's worth lying down there. It's a big loss to me if I don't get it back.
0:49:08 > 0:49:12With £5,000 of gear sitting on the seabed,
0:49:12 > 0:49:15Bill needs to hook it with the creeper.
0:49:15 > 0:49:19These hooks should snag any loose bit of gear that's down there.
0:49:20 > 0:49:24All these spikes... will hopefully hook it in.
0:49:24 > 0:49:29There's plenty down there in the gear for this to snag on, but...
0:49:29 > 0:49:31I've just got to get on the gear, you know?
0:49:33 > 0:49:36Let's just hope it's not too embedded.
0:49:36 > 0:49:39If it's impaled into the ground, I'm going to struggle to get it back out, you know?
0:49:44 > 0:49:48Loss of fishing time, loss of earnings, loss of fishing gear.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56Let's just see how good I am.
0:50:09 > 0:50:10We've got it.
0:50:13 > 0:50:15Here she comes.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18Oh, look at that, eh?
0:50:18 > 0:50:20Look at that... Whoa!
0:50:23 > 0:50:25That's not bad.
0:50:25 > 0:50:27I couldn't catch that any better.
0:50:28 > 0:50:32That's what 25 years' worth of experience does for you.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34Am I good, or am I good?!
0:50:34 > 0:50:38Not only do I catch it first time, I catch it the right way up!
0:50:51 > 0:50:53They'll see they've been caught and just run away.
0:50:53 > 0:50:54Maybe.
0:50:54 > 0:50:57There's too much stuff in the bottom already.
0:50:57 > 0:50:59It's a shame it's not so clear.
0:50:59 > 0:51:03Back in Kyleakin, Bally is passing on his experience to Lachlan,
0:51:03 > 0:51:04his 10-year-old son.
0:51:05 > 0:51:07Bet you'll catch one.
0:51:07 > 0:51:09If I catch one, I'll be catching more than you!
0:51:09 > 0:51:11Yes!
0:51:11 > 0:51:13And if you catch three, it's a free ice cream
0:51:13 > 0:51:16and if you catch four, you've got my job!
0:51:18 > 0:51:21It's a good offer, but Lachlan is sceptical.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24If I get the chance to be a rocket scientist, I'm going
0:51:24 > 0:51:26to be a rocket scientist, not a fisherman!
0:51:26 > 0:51:30But otherwise, if I can't find anything else,
0:51:30 > 0:51:32I'm just going to be a fisherman.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35Yes, I didn't really spend any time at sea when I was young,
0:51:35 > 0:51:37so with mine, I'm hoping by the time he leaves school,
0:51:37 > 0:51:40he's got a pretty good idea what the job is all about.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43Quick, get him in! Yes!
0:51:43 > 0:51:45- Whoo-hoo!- Off he goes.
0:51:46 > 0:51:50- He's running away!- Be quick, whatever you do. That's it. You've got him.
0:51:50 > 0:51:51Well done.
0:51:51 > 0:51:52A lot of kids around here
0:51:52 > 0:51:55don't have anything to do when they leave school,
0:51:55 > 0:51:59there's very few sources of employment in the Highlands.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02So, er... yeah, for the few jobs that they can do,
0:52:02 > 0:52:05it helps if they've got a bit of background, a bit of experience.
0:52:05 > 0:52:09- One more for that ice cream, son. Have you given up?- No.- All right.
0:52:12 > 0:52:16- When was the last time you checked that line?- Er, a few minutes ago.
0:52:22 > 0:52:2430 years and I'm still the YTS in the camp!
0:52:26 > 0:52:29Over in Mallaig, it's back to basics for Robert.
0:52:29 > 0:52:31He's torn his nets and now has to fix them.
0:52:33 > 0:52:36The perils of getting your net stuck in the ground means you lose
0:52:36 > 0:52:37fishing time.
0:52:39 > 0:52:41Hundreds of pounds lost in the town,
0:52:41 > 0:52:43a thousand pound for the net...
0:52:44 > 0:52:46It's just risk and reward - take the risk
0:52:46 > 0:52:49and you either get the reward or you don't.
0:52:49 > 0:52:52Sometimes this is what happens, this is part of life.
0:52:54 > 0:52:58But, as it's a Friday, Robert has given his crew some downtime.
0:52:58 > 0:53:02I says to him, "I'll get you a bottle of whiskey!"
0:53:04 > 0:53:08They spend the afternoon relaxing in the pub.
0:53:08 > 0:53:09But...
0:53:09 > 0:53:12there is much more than a game of pool at stake for the crew
0:53:12 > 0:53:14of the Rebecca Jeneen.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19Their very existence could be under threat.
0:53:22 > 0:53:25There is a radical proposal to stop Robert fishing
0:53:25 > 0:53:28anywhere near the coast.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31A report prepared for the Scottish government has recommended
0:53:31 > 0:53:35the reinstatement of the ban on trawling within three miles of land.
0:53:40 > 0:53:43This ban was lifted in the mid-1980s.
0:53:45 > 0:53:50It's just a proposal, but it's got trawlermen extremely worried.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53I've been a fisherman for 30 years.
0:53:53 > 0:53:57I've never seen fishing here, I've never had it explained to me
0:53:57 > 0:54:01why we would need to bring the 1 to 3 mile rule,
0:54:01 > 0:54:04which is to allow fish to return to the grounds.
0:54:04 > 0:54:07We're doing everything we can to stop catching fish.
0:54:07 > 0:54:10Anyone can see... Anybody who comes aboard the boat can see
0:54:10 > 0:54:13that we don't catch any fish, we've never got any fish in here.
0:54:13 > 0:54:16I've been told it's to help the creelers. Well...
0:54:16 > 0:54:20I do understand why the creelers need help, but the creelers
0:54:20 > 0:54:23are the only unregulated fishery left in Scotland.
0:54:23 > 0:54:25I've got days at sea,
0:54:25 > 0:54:28I've got a monitoring system that I have to pay for,
0:54:28 > 0:54:31I've got square mesh panels fitted in,
0:54:31 > 0:54:34I'm only allowed to go to sea so many days,
0:54:34 > 0:54:38I've got a quota that I've had to buy to enable me to catch.
0:54:38 > 0:54:40The creelers are totally unregulated,
0:54:40 > 0:54:43they work a tiny mesh in their creels.
0:54:43 > 0:54:47They can go to sea 24/7, they can work as much gear as they want,
0:54:47 > 0:54:49they can work anywhere they want...
0:54:50 > 0:54:54So they'd be shutting down a whole way of life from an inshore sector
0:54:54 > 0:54:57to benefit who? I don't know, so...
0:54:58 > 0:55:00It enrages me that somebody is wanting to stop me.
0:55:00 > 0:55:03I bought this boat specifically to work in this area.
0:55:03 > 0:55:06This is a £1 million investment to me and my family
0:55:06 > 0:55:09and I would love for somebody to give me
0:55:09 > 0:55:11a valid reason why I should stop working here.
0:55:13 > 0:55:17It's not just prawn trawlers that would be banned from inshore waters.
0:55:21 > 0:55:24That would end my fishing career.
0:55:25 > 0:55:26Period.
0:55:26 > 0:55:30I'll be finished as a fisherman if they bring in a 1 to 3 mile limit.
0:55:30 > 0:55:31No doubt about that.
0:55:34 > 0:55:37On this style of dredger that we do,
0:55:37 > 0:55:39we rely on being close to shorelines,
0:55:39 > 0:55:41close to islands for shelter,
0:55:41 > 0:55:44to get away from the swell and the poor weather.
0:55:44 > 0:55:47If you take that away from me, it's going to put me in harm's way
0:55:47 > 0:55:48and put me further out.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53And jeopardise me, my boat and my crew and I don't want to do that.
0:55:55 > 0:55:57I've never had to do it, I don't want to do it,
0:55:57 > 0:56:01it's just an unsafe, hazardous environment.
0:56:03 > 0:56:05In unprotected waters.
0:56:08 > 0:56:12The campaign to have the three-mile limit reinstated is being led,
0:56:12 > 0:56:16not surprisingly, by the creel fishermen, who have most to gain.
0:56:18 > 0:56:21Bally is one of the most vocal campaigners.
0:56:23 > 0:56:25You weren't allowed to drag gear across the seabed
0:56:25 > 0:56:28within three miles of land over 100 years ago.
0:56:28 > 0:56:31That persisted for nearly 100 years until nearly 1984,
0:56:31 > 0:56:35when shockingly, the government of the time
0:56:35 > 0:56:37removed the three-mile limit.
0:56:38 > 0:56:40Since the three-mile limit was removed,
0:56:40 > 0:56:44almost every single commercial species of fish within three miles
0:56:44 > 0:56:47of land has been brought to what you would call commercial extinction.
0:56:47 > 0:56:50Certainly, nobody in the creel industry wants to put
0:56:50 > 0:56:52anybody in the trawler industry out of work.
0:56:52 > 0:56:54It would be interesting if we could find a way that
0:56:54 > 0:56:58everybody could be accommodated, but the reality is that what we're
0:56:58 > 0:57:01doing now is unsustainable and we have to figure out how to
0:57:01 > 0:57:04get from where we are now to something that is sustainable.
0:57:04 > 0:57:07We have to find a way of getting there that puts the least
0:57:07 > 0:57:11amount of people out of work, that facilitates the transition period.
0:57:16 > 0:57:19The Scottish government says the recent report and the
0:57:19 > 0:57:24reintroduction of a three-mile limit has been carefully considered.
0:57:24 > 0:57:28However, they currently have no plans to reintroduce
0:57:28 > 0:57:32a blanket restriction on the use of mobile fishing gear around Scotland.
0:57:36 > 0:57:39On a day like today, it's hard to imagine that these
0:57:39 > 0:57:43waters could be so turbulent, both literally and metaphorically.
0:57:43 > 0:57:46I used to have a fairly simplistic view that small was good
0:57:46 > 0:57:50and big was bad, but now I can see it's a much more complex picture
0:57:50 > 0:57:53and I really don't envy those that have to make decisions
0:57:53 > 0:57:57about the future of this industry that has survived for centuries.
0:57:59 > 0:58:02Since we filmed, Bill has not had the best of times.
0:58:02 > 0:58:05Catches are down and so is his income.
0:58:07 > 0:58:10Robert is enjoying a boom, but the abundance of prawns has
0:58:10 > 0:58:13attracted trawlers from all over the country.
0:58:15 > 0:58:20And last month, Bally had another fleet of 30 creels towed away.
0:58:20 > 0:58:22He didn't get any of them back.
0:58:22 > 0:58:27But he's now hauling lots of prawns and making decent money again.