Auctioneers, agents, minders and social workers.
The work of the Company is never boring.
Managing evening and morning shifts of 19 people with a variable and erratic supply of fish is always challenging. Possibly on six market days a year we may have no fish and on other market days the catch can vary between 3 and 60 tonnes. Staff requirements can be between two and fourteen each evening with very little notice to the required staff. "Zero hours' contracts" are the norm for most of our staff and a necessity for our business. Much nonsense is talked about the alleged evils of such contracts, usually by people from the security of unproductive jobs with guaranteed hours.
Looking after the needs of local and visiting fishermen can involve anything including booking flights, ferries and taxis, making emergency dental appointments, ordering flowers for the birthdays of distant wives and buying a toilet brush and plunger for a blocked loo on one of the fleet.
The agency also has certain legal responsibilities. For example, after each auction, it has to forward a copy of every individual vessels' sales note to the MMO known in polite circles as the Marine Management Organisation or more accurately by fishermen as the MIckey Mouse Outfit. The promises of successive governments to cut red tape are absolute nonsense. We have a major interest in Fisheries and Transport and both industries suffer from government agencies intent on increasing bureaucracy, regulations and costs. Very few people are opposed to sensible rules whether they concern the conservation of fish stocks or road safety rules. Its a pity the sensible ones rarely reach positions of authority.
