“The UK has sold out Falklands fishing for a Brexit era deal,” fishing company Fortuna Ltd Director James Wallace told Penguin News this week. He was replying to much general speculation as to why a Falkland Islands company with a long history of participation in the South Georgia toothfish fishery was refused licenses this season.
Heavy sea ice conditions have thwarted a science mission from reaching the Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica from which a large iceberg broke off in July 2017. A team of scientists, led by British Antarctic Survey (BAS), are travelling on board the RRS James Clark Ross. Sea ice, up to 4-5 meters thick, has made progress for the ship very slow and on 28 February) the ship’s captain made the difficult decision not to continue.
The Director of Aviation at Aviation Economics Joanna Hunt commenting on the progress of a second commercial air-link to the Falkland Islands has confirmed there has been interest from airlines.
The Argentine government reported on Wednesday that is had concluded the relatives notification round of the recently identified combatants buried at the Darwin cemetery in the Falkland Islands, and which apparently total 89, one more than originally announced.
Falkland Islands Director of National Resources, John Barton, reported that after a slow start, fishery catches were beginning to pick up: trawlers had started operating and there were only a few jiggers still to collect their licenses.
The Taiwanese jigger Hung Shun 1 which on 24 February caught fire to the north of the Falkland Islands capital Stanley, last Sunday was towed outside the Islands Conservation zone. When the incident took place last month all 58 crew members were swiftly and safely evacuated to another fishing vessel Lung Soon Fa 1, which was in the area at that time.
During its last constitutional review, which concluded in 2008, the Falkland Islands established a Public Accounts Committee (PAC). This was based on such committees elsewhere in the world and has now been in operation for a number of years. It has an independent Chair and community members, though two Members of the Legislative Assembly also sit on the Committee at any point in time.
Indian Naval Sailing Vessel (INSV) ‘Tarini’ has reached Cape Town in South Africa. This has marked the successful circumnavigation which started in September last year. The all-women crew has created history with the voyage as it is the first-ever Indian circumnavigation by an all-women crew.
Three young people who, judging by their boundless enthusiasm for all things Falkland, could be ambassadors for the Islands after only a week in Stanley and the Camp. Mauricio Giraudo from Uruguay, Marco Franceschini from Brazil and Hristo Gomez, from Chile, are this year’s winners of a competition organized each year by the British embassies in Montevideo, Brasilia and Santiago and sponsored and financed by the Falkland Islands Government.
The recent statement entitled ‘Progress made towards establishing a second commercial Falkland Islands air link’ released by the Falkland Islands Government and sponsored by the governments of UK and Argentina, has met with a mixed reception in the Islands. While some have expressed favor others have reservations and questions.