Port Stanley when the sun comes out looking South West.
We have been alongside the wharf in Port Stanley for 3 days now and the crew have just finished reloading. This is called the “catch verification process”, we must unload all of catch and have the weight checked by inspectors from the South Georgia government. This has to be done to satisfy requirements for MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) accreditation. Without this we can not sell our fish anywhere in the world.
Each fish is wrapped in a plastic bag, the big fish go into sacks and the smaller fish are packed in 20kg boxes. Each sack and box has a barcode label that is scanned during the unload. At the end, our reported catch figures must be the same, or very close, to the figures the inspectors have before they will officially verify our catch. This season we had a difference of 0.08%. To the best of our knowledge nobody has come close to that level of accuracy in this fishery before. We’re patting ourselves on the back for that.
Unloading in the snow, FIPASS wharf, Stanley.
Reloading from the holding containers, into the cargo nets to be lifted back aboard.
Tomorrow we take bunkers (Fuel) and start heading for home.
Rgds: John B.
Tags: Colossal Squid, John Bennett, san aspiring
