Simon Leiper & I were privileged to be invited to the wedding of Gaurav Samtani with Minal Chotirmall. Their wedding took place over 3 days in Goa, India, earlier this month.

Gaurav’s Father, Ashvin, is owner of Seafood Products, the largest seafood importer in Nigeria, and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank him once again for his kind invitation and wonderful hospitality enjoyed by Simon, Alison, Ann-Marie & myself.

The wedding had been 9 months in the planning to ensure everything ran like clockwork.

It was an unforgettable experience for everyone, even longer than a Shetland wedding!!

Back in the real world, we have continued to receive some landings of mackerel, North Sea herring & NVG herring. Quotas for most species are almost finished so we expect a quieter time in the factory until January 2009, when the mackerel fishery will restart. The 33% increase in quota should mean a longer winter fishery and more quantity for us to sell. In the meantime, we are continuing to sell our autumn mackerel and aim to have an empty cold store by Christmas so please contact us at sales@shetlandcatch.com if you have any mackerel requirements.

Looking slightly farther ahead, we are hoping to expand on this spring’s blue whiting processing. The TAC for 2009 has been reduced to 590,000mt, about 50% of 2008’s level, although this should still give us plenty of opportunities. The main season should be in April & May so, again, please contact us at sales@shetlandcatch.com if you have any interest in blue whiting.

John Angus.

18th November 2008.