Stop whaling forever
29 April, 2006
WE DO hope that whaling will soon become an archaic industry
worldwide. It is so sad that we humans have to slaughter our cousin
mammals, these huge majestic animals, to the very brink of
extinction.
Surely the brains we have should enable us to think of alternative
methods of earning a living, if we do not then our own species is
also doomed.
Thank you for broadcasting this story and helping the campaign to
stop whaling for ever.
Regards,
Tim & Sheila Hopper
tjhopper@tiscali.co.uk
Don't get carried
away
25 March, 2006
BEFORE you get too carried away with the possibilities of running
boats on nice green vegetable oil, please read this article by
George Monbiot which puts the issue into perspective with a few
inconvenient facts.
www.monbiot.com/archives/2005/12/06/worse-than-fossil-fuel/
I used to be an advocate of veg oil motoring, but I'm cured now.
Regards,
Jeremy Clulow
jeremy@webswonder.co.uk
Fishmeal plan is
"crazy"
28 February, 2006
ABOUT Icelandic plants on Shetland. That is crazy. All these plants
is closed here in Iceland.
DON'T ALLOW these plants. All the world is now against smelt fish.
DON'T ALLOW THIS PLANT.
Regards
Arni in Iceland
micasa@simnet.is
Proud despite snide
comments
23 February, 2006
I AM proud to report from the European Parliament that the Shetland
Box is safe for another three years.
Despite snide comments made by some about the "so-called Stihler
report", I drafted the latest report that was endorsed by Parliament
last week to retain the box. In the face of opposition from the
Spanish delegation, Labour MEPs managed to steer the report through
Parliament securing the fishing areas off Shetland for another three
years and are
arguing consistently for their long term protection.
As Labour's Euro fisheries spokesperson, my goal is a truly
sustainable Scottish fishing industry.
Yours sincerely,
Catherine Stihler,
Labour MEP
cstihler@europarl.eu.int
Understanding UKIP
23 February, 2006
UKIP SHETLAND has put together its core principles so that you the
people will know what kind of representation to expect from UKIP
Shetland locally.
We believe in liberty and freedom which can only be had in a
democracy which in turn can only exist if it is sovereign and
answers only to the people who elect it. It is a gift of God not to
the discretion of the government.
We put the views and wishes of Shetland firmly before a party line
or individual view. UKIP Shetland can't interfere with its publicly
elected members from representing those who elected them.
We will be stricter on council members being involved in decisions
on things they have a vested interest in.
We uphold Udal Law and work for Shetland's full autonomy.
We believe in marriage and families. We clearly define the family as
a husband and wife and their children. We do not support anything
that undermines marriage.
We value and strive to adhere to good, time-served, moral strengths
and principles.
Scotty Dyble
Secretary UKIP Shetland (Rebel Pride)
scottydyble@toucansurf.com
Credit where
credit's due
22 February, 2006
YOUR article "Box safe for three years" was less than fair when it
came to informing your readers as to who really is to thank for the
Shetland Box being secured for the next three years.
Whilst Ian Hudghton is to be congratulated for the work he put in on
his amendments and both Struan Stevenson and I were successful in
securing the support within our respective political groups, the
main thanks must surely go to the author of the report, Catherine
Stihler.
Your article described it as "The so-called Stihler report", but
there is nothing "so-called" about it. It was authored by Catherine
and without her efforts in getting the support of her fellow
Socialist MEPs both in committee and the final vote, it is likely
that it would never have been adopted by the Parliament.
The Scots MEPs have always worked closely together on the Fisheries
Committee and on a cross party basis. That makes it all the more
important that credit is given where it is due.
As to Nigel Farage's subsequent letter, I fail to understand how his
party's desire to withdraw from the Common Fisheries Policy
justifies his voting against the preservation of the Shetland Box.
Yours,
Elspeth Attwooll MEP
Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament
Fisheries Committee
Just paying Danegeld
17 February, 2006
SO IT seems from your report (Box Safe for Three Years - 15
February) that all the parties bar one want to work for Scottish
trawlermen, that one being my own, the UK Independence Party.
A few facts amid the hype. The Stihler Report did not "fight off" an
armada of Mediterranean fishermen as is claimed by the other
parties. Far from it. It merely commented upon a statement already
prepared by the Commission. It was what is called an 'own
initiative' report and thus had no legislative impact. Essentially
it was a back slapping exercise that made a few suggestions to add
to what had already been decided.
To be fair to Ms Stihler the deal that she supports, that is 40 per
cent of the quota being secured for British trawlers is the best
deal on the table. But that is because she, and her colleagues in
the other parties, all agree with the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)
that has decimated both the Scottish fishing fleet and fish stocks
around Britain.
In the UK Independence Party we believe that British waters are
British, not a European Common resource. The hypocrites in the
Conservatives, Scots Nats, Lib Dems and Labour feel that 40 per cent
is a good deal. It isn't.
When Britain regains control of her territorial waters the number of
British boats could be doubled, the number of British jobs could be
doubled and we could still conserve stocks better than the European
Union has done.
In no way is the CFP a good deal for Britain, her trawlermen and her
fish stocks.
Only last year the Tory Party had as a manifesto Commitment that
they would repatriate the CFP, but they know that this was
hypocrisy. Time and time again the European Commission has made
clear that if Britain was to do this it would be expelled from the
EU.
The most recent restatement of the EU's position on British
withdrawal from the CFP was in a response to the author of
yesterday's report Catherine Stihler (Question E-3587/04) "there is
no possibility for one Member State to decide unilaterally that it
can be exempt from its obligations stemming from Common Fisheries
Policy rules."
The UK Independence Party is the only party that both recognises
this fact and welcomes it. The rest are just paying Danegeld.
Yours sincerely,
Nigel Farage MEP (UKIP)
In search of
trawlers3 January 2006
I was brought up in Shetland, lived in Brae during
my childhood and went to the Anderson High School in later years. I
was one of the first students of a new fishing course that was
started just as I left school, during which I spent a very short
time on the Scalloway boat Sunshine II, skippered by Scottie Ward.
Many years have passed since then, and although I no longer work in
a sea-related industry I remember well the experience. I have now
turned my attention to building model fishing boats, of which there
are very few good examples in the model boat community.
I have recently started a website dedicated to the art of building
scale model trawlers and fishing boats. Sadly, as the fishing fleet
declines further each year, more and more boats are lost to the EU
decommissioning process. Whilst it's true that many photos remain of
these vessels, there is nothing quite like the magic of seeing a
large-scale model ploughing through the water.
One side-issue of the demise of the fishing fleet is the loss of UK
boatyards. Traditionally these boatyards built vessels to their own
designs, and as such, they held the plans. With the closure of so
many boatyards, these plans have been lost, making it very difficult
to accurately produce working models.
The world of model boats is quite dominated by tugs and lifeboats,
and whilst they are quite deserving of their attraction it's about
time that fishing boats and trawlers were given more of a push!
A key part of creating a good model is reference material from which
to work accurately, and I wondered if I might appeal to your readers
to email [photos and/or information? I am looking for any subject
matter to do with commercial fishing, including the normally
overlooked items such as nets, floats and buoys.
There are some great examples of commercial fishing boats in
Shetland (the Altaire, for example) and I'm sure the modeling
community would take great interest in the challenge of building
something different.
If you are interested in more information then may I ask you to view
the website at the address below?
Many thanks for your time,
Regards
Dave Leishman
www.trawlermodels.co.uk
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