MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Penguin News Update.

Headlines:
BBC weatherman visits Islands;
Scallop fishing potential to be further investigated; News in brief: Fishing licencing; Lang set for FIDC role; ExCo and LegCo coverage.

BBC weatherman visits Islands.

BBC WEATHERMAN Michael Fish left the Islands yesterday after a week long visit. Mr Fish said his visit had been "very hectic" and was very much a "working trip." Speaking to Penguin Newson Tuesday, Mr Fish said that he had mostly been confined to Mount Pleasant due to bad weather, but was planning a trip to Sea Lion Island on Wednesday. He has been due to visit the Islands for some three years but other commitments have pushed back his trip, which he says is a, "liaison visit." School children and members of the public were given a talk by Mr Fish at the Community School about meteorology on Tuesday after which he met His Excellency the Governor, Howard Pearce, at Government House. When asked if anything had surprised him about the Falklands he replied, "Well, not the weather - I knew it was going to snow." He was though, surprised at the size of the Falklands and said he hadn't realised just how far it was from Mount Pleasant to Stanley. Mr Fish attributes his popularity as a weatherman to the fact that he is, "handsome and modest," adding that most of the fan mail he receives is from people asking for, "autographs, photographs and help with homework." October will bring retirement from the Meteorological Office for Mr Fish, who says he hopes to get another job after he retires. He is keen to continue in broadcasting but says that the amount of make up required for doing his television appearances means he could probably do, "adverts for Max Factor." Despite spending most of his time working at Mount Pleasant since his arrival, Mr Fish did manage a visit to New Haven where he encountered a solitary penguin who clearly wasn't impressed with the visitor's celebrity status, "I think that penguin obviously watches the BBC the way he walked away." Mr Fish joked. The longest serving meteorologist in the UK, and possibly the world, having been doing the job for, "forty two years man and boy," Mr Fish said he will be "very sad" to leave the service.

Scallop fishing potential to be further investigated.

A PROPOSAL by the Falkland Island Government Fisheries Department to further explore the potential for scallop (ostiones) fishing around the Islands was approved by the Fisheries Committee at their meeting on Tuesday morning. The proposal put before the Committee was that the scallop fishing vessel F/V Holbergshould return to Falklands waters for around thirty days to carry out exploratory fishing in a number of selected areas not currently targeted for scallop fishing. Director of Fisheries, John Barton, put forward the proposal in a short paper to the Fisheries Committee, which advises the Executive Council of the Falkland Islands and brings together government officials, elected members of the Islands' legislature and local private sector representatives of the Islands' fishing industry. In recent years there has been an exploratory fishery for scallops in the Falkland Islands Conservation Zone (FICZ). The Committee was told that some 920 tonnes (green weight) had been taken in 2003 and 2004. This was the Total Allowable Catch (TAC), which was regarded as the sustainable yield from the known scallop banks, situated mainly to the North-East of Stanley. While the TAC was sufficient to allow the vessel recently deployed to fish profitably for a matter of months, the Committee was informed that both the company that owned the vessel and the Fisheries Department were interested in determining whether other scallop banks existed, which might make the scallop resource larger. This in turn might lead to an adjustment of the TAC in an upward direction. Some previous exploratory work, together with reports from other fisheries, had suggested that scallops might be more widely spread around the Falklands, but it remained to be seen whether there were significant concentrations elsewhere, such as those currently being exploited. The Committee was informed that the intention was that all catches taken during the exploratory fishing process would be returned to the sea, except for scientific samples. This would avoid the need for the vessel to be issued a licence by the Fisheries Department and would ensure the maintenance of the exploratory focus of the voyage. As there would be no need to process the catch, a minimum number of crew would be required, which would reduce the cost of the exercise. Responding to fears expressed by Mr Drew Irving of Argos Ltd that scallop fishing in certain areas might compromise the breeding of loligo squid, the Director of Fisheries said that this was unlikely, due to the small size of the net deployed, but that the process would in any case be monitored by scientific observers from the Fisheries Department. ( MP)

News in brief

Fishing licencing.

THURSDAY at 4pm was the closing date for applications for licences for the first 2005 fishing season. Director of Fisheries John Barton said yesterday, "A lot of applications tend to come in pretty close to the deadline, so until we reach that point we won't have the full picture. "We anticipate that applications will be similar to previous years, except for Illex, where there is likely to be some reduction in numbers. We already have more than forty Illex applications and anticipate further applications."

Lang set for FIDC role.

FALKLAND Islands Development Corporation (FIDC) this week announced the appointment of Bernadette Lang to the role of Financial Controller. Julian Morris, FIDC General Manager said, "This position was advertised extensively both locally and overseas and FIDC are especially pleased to appoint a local person to the role as a result of Bernie's qualification and training received whilst working for FIG."

ExCo and LegCo coverage.

COVERAGE of the Executive Council held yesterday, and Legislative Council meetings taking place today, will appear in next week's Penguin News.