Fishing
The Hebrides are home to some 320 fishing boats. Around 90% of the landings are shellfish. The majority of vessels are smaller craft which fish just off the shore. They catch lobster, crab and prawns in creels laid on the seabed and these are exported live to the continent with Spain being a vital market.
Though a few bigger boats use creels, most of the larger vessels focus on trawling for prawns or scallops. Their catch is sent to local factories to processed into scampi. A couple of larger trawlers from Barra fish for pelagic species like mackrel which are found near the surface.
There are around 400 fishermen working in the Hebrides with a further 250 people employed in processing and other indirect jobs.
Herring girl statutes around Stornoway harbour signifies the port’s top position in the heyday of the UK’s herring industry with millions of tons of fish exported to Russia and the Baltic states.