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GRIMSBY's fishing industry turned out in force at the weekend to welcome a very special guest - the port's first new trawler for almost ten years.
The £1.5 million Jubilee Quest, looking resplendent in her blue and white livery, had earlier landed her first catch of 300 boxes which sold for more than £29,000 and was in port for the official naming and blessing ceremony.
On Saturday a large crowd representing vessel owners, fish salesmen, fish merchants and the fish market heard Martyn Boyers, chief executive of Grimsby Fish Dock Enterprises, describe the occasion as a great and memorable day for the local industry Steve Norton, chief executive of the Grimsby Fish Merchants Association, said: 'It is marvellous to see new investment and new jobs - and we want to buy as much locally landed fish as possible.'
Built by Parkol Marine at Whitby for the Jubilee Fishing Company, the Jubilee Quest can carry a crew of up to six and will operate from Grimsby and Scotland, depending on the time of year. Her skipper, Graham Hall, paid tribute to Parkol Marine and to Jubilee directors Andrew Allard and Dave Johnson for their work in securing extra quota for the vessel and for helping with the mass of official red tape to get the project up and running on time.
Mr Allard told the audience that the decision to go ahead and build a new vessel was taken more than two years ago, but because of a tight timetable, the company had just three weeks to put a business plan together which they managed thanks to Handelsbanken which has arranged the financing of the project.
Dave Johnson told Fishupdate: 'We as a company believe in investing for the future because it is the only way to go forward.' The first box of fish from the Jubilee Quest raised a total of £2,000 for the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen. The Port Missioner Nathan Hall performed the blessing ceremony.
Should fisheries be closed during breeding time to allow stocks to reach more sustainable levels?
