Details of Meeting held on 15 August 2013

On Thursday 15th August, the Rotary Club of South Queensferry was treated to a most interesting job talk by Rotarian Alan Brown. It was the second instalment, as Alan had already talked about his seafaring days on cargo ships and passenger liners a few months ago. In 1980 he decided to seek employment nearer home and joined the fishery Protection Service as a second officer. Run by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Scotland, the service is responsible for policing fisheries in Scottish waters, ensuring that foreign and local vessels obey the rules and that all regulations such as quotas and net mesh sizes are adhered to. One of the first ships Alan sailed on, Westra, was sold and now features as the environmental protection ship Steve Irwin in 'Whale Wars' on Discovery Channel. Promoted first officer then commanding officer, Alan was appointed Marine Superintendent of SFPA (Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency) in 1997. In this role Alan was project manager overseeing fleet renewal. The first two ships were built by Ferguson's of Port Glasgow, the third by a yard in Gdansk, Poland. The video of Hirta being side launched in Gdansk was particularly dramatic. Alan took early retirement in 2006. Both of his talks were very well received and prompted many questions from the floor.