FINN(COM) Daily Record: Tuesday, 30 August 2005

FINN(COM) DAILY RECORD: TUESDAY, 30 AUGUST 2005

 

Compiled by J. Brock (FINN)

 

Websites:  http://www.falklandnews.com. http://www.tristantimes.com, http://www.the-islander.org.ac, http://www.sartma.com, http://www.news.co.sh

 

CONTENTS

 

Section 1: Articles by FINN

 

Section 2:  Executive Council Report

 

Section 3:  BAS Press Release

 

Section 4:  Announcements

 

Section 5:  FIRS News Direct

 

Section 1:

 

POACHING VESSEL TO BE SCUTTLED

 

By J. Brock (FINN)

 

 

The long-liner, ElQui, that was convicted of illegal fishing in South Georgia waters, will be scuttled as soon as possible, according to H.E. the Governor Mr. Howard Pearce.  It has been previously announced by the South Georgia Government that ElQui would never fish again and alternatives were being discussed about the ElQui’s disposal.  It was further decided that the vessel would never be of any commercial use.

 

The South Georgia Government will be licensed to scuttle the ElQui in Falklands waters.

 

In preparation for the scuttling the ship has been thoroughly cleaned, including  the removal from the vessel of all hydraulic fluids, fuel, engine lubricating oils, paints, batteries, fishing and other associated gear, loose domestic equipment, refrigerant and welding gases, pyrotechnics and medical drugs.  All of these items have been safely disposed of ashore in the Falkland Islands.    The galley has been thoroughly cleaned to remove cooking oils, and all food and other waste has been removed and burnt, as well as life rafts and other loose materials.  An old binnacle compass and other objects of interest have been offered to the Stanley Museum.

 

Falklands Conservation and the Marine Officer have been fully consulted  about the clean-up and are content that when the vessel is scuttled it will not cause any adverse environmental impact or hazard to shipping.  

 

The ElQui had been berthed alongside FIPASS for several months.  Due to an Executive Council decision, berthing fees were waived.

 

 

 

 

WELCOME BACK LYLE

 

By J. Brock (FINN)

 

Falkland Islander, Lyle Craigie-Halkett is no stranger to the Falklands.  He’s back again, however briefly, to supervise the clean-up effort on convicted poaching vessel. ElQui.  Last year he was involved in the clean up and restorative effort on South Georgia at Grytviken.

 

Mr. Craigie-Halkett has made a career in maritime exploration and recovery, as well as salvage services.  He worked on the Great Britain project in the 1970s after having been away from the Falklands for some 18 years.  Later, he returned to South Georgia with Capt Miller, also a Falkland Islander on the Throsk to help in the removal of heavy heating oil from tanks throughout the Island.

 

Welcome back!

 

Section 2:

 

GOVERNOR’S REPORT ON THE MEETING OF EXECUTIVE COUNCIL ON THURSDAY 25 AUGUST 2005

 

Executive Council met on Thursday 25 August for its regular monthly meeting.

 

We had a number of fishing and maritime issues to address.  First, Executive Council considered recommendations by the Fisheries Committee for the fees to be charged for various categories of fishing licence during the 2006 season.  ExCo took decisions on all of the recommendations received from the Fisheries Committee with the exception of the fees for longline licences, which it returned to the Fisheries Committee for further consideration.  The details of the new fees are being published. 

 

Secondly, two decisions were taken with regard to the Elqui, the longliner which was recently arrested for illegal fishing in South Georgia waters. It was decided that, because of the circumstances leading to the berthing of the Elqui at FIPASS and the shared interest of FIG and the South Georgia Government in removing the vessel from further commercial use, harbour dues and berthing fees should be waived for the period of the lay-up.  It was also decided that the South Georgia Government should be licensed to scuttle the fishing vessel in Falklands waters.  The scuttling is likely to take place soon, following completion of the current clean-up work on the vessel. 

 

Listeners and readers may like to be reassured that the clean-up process has been extremely thorough.  It has involved the removal from the vessel of all hydraulic fluids, fuel, engine lubricating oils, paints, batteries, fishing and other associated gear, loose domestic equipment, refrigerant and welding gases, pyrotechnics and medical drugs.  All of these items have been safely disposed of ashore in the Falkland Islands.  The galley has been thoroughly cleaned to remove cooking oils, and all food and other waste has been removed and burnt.  All liferafts and other loose materials have also been removed.  Some objects of particular interest, including an old binnacle compass, have been offered to the Stanley Museum.  The result is that when the vessel is scuttled it will not cause any adverse environmental impact or hazard to shipping.  Both Falklands Conservation and the Marine Officer have been fully consulted and are content.

 

Still on maritime issues, ExCo had some more maritime fees to decide  - this time freight rates for the coastal shipping service, about which there has apparently been some confusion.  Full details of these rates are being published.

 

There are long-standing arrangements between FIG and the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) under which the MCA provides various survey and certification services for the Falkland Islands Shipping Register.  A new Memorandum of Understanding has been agreed with the MCA.  ExCo approved the terms of this MoU. 

 

ExCo also approved the making of the Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Amendment Regulations 2005.  The purpose of this amendment to the regulations is to clarify the way in which the Merchant Shipping Ordinance 2001 and the Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Regulations 2001 apply to fishing vessels which were registered under the pre-2001 arrangements.  The effect of this is to make it clear that vessels already registered on the old Stanley Register are not obliged to meet the new and more stringent eligibility requirements of the Ordinance and Regulations in order to remain on the Register.

 

People may recall that at its July meeting ExCo amended the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Regulations 2000 in order to enable FIG to suspend the operation of the open door licensing system for offshore hydrocarbons exploration.  At last week’s meeting ExCo decided to exercise these powers and to close open door licensing throughout the controlled waters of the Falkland Islands for an indefinite period.  A notice will appear in the Gazette to that effect.

 

FIG has been invited by the UK Government to consider whether it wishes the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol of that Convention to be applied to the Falkland Islands.  Following some thorough research by the previous and current Environmental Planning Officers, it appears that it should be relatively easy for FIG to collect the statistics required and to meet the obligations imposed by the Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol.  ExCo therefore agreed that the FCO should be informed that FIG wishes these arrangements to be applied to the Falkland Islands.  This means that the Falkland Islands will be making its own small contribution to global efforts to tackle the problem of climate change. 

 

The helicopter refuelling facility at Fox Bay has come to the end of its useful life and needs to be replaced.  ExCo approved various arrangements requested by the Ministry of Defence in connection with the construction of the new facility, and to the provision of a temporary fuel store for use during the construction.

 

There has been considerable local interest in the proposals by Cable and Wireless to establish a mobile phone service in the Falkland Islands.  In that connection the Planning and Building Committee had earlier in the week considered two applications from Cable and Wireless for the siting of mobile phone masts, and permission was sought from ExCo for the lease of Crown land on which to place these two masts.  ExCo agreed to grant the request in principle, but noted that the Planning and Building Committee had decided to defer until its next meeting consideration of the proposal to site a mast to the north of St Mary’s Walk.

 

A couple of Committee issues next.  ExCo agreed to the appointment of Mr Mike Evans as the new Rural Business Association representative on the Board of Falkland Landholdings.  ExCo also agreed the proposals for the restructuring of the Apprenticeship Committee, including a new Committee membership and new terms of reference.

 

Falklands Conservation carry out regular censuses of the principal bird species in the Falkland Islands.  Beauchene Island is a particularly important location for breeding colonies of black-browed albatross and rockhopper and gentoo penguins.  Falklands Conservation have sought permission to visit Beauchene Island to undertake censuses of these species.  ExCo gave their agreement to this.

 

Finally, the tricky issue of licensing the shooting of turkey vultures.  ExCo had a full discussion of a report by the Director of Agriculture.  Given the considerable local interest in this issue, I am recording the conclusions reached by ExCo in full, which were as follows:

 

The Governor’s power to issue licences to shoot protected birds should be delegated with respect to turkey vultures only to the Environmental Planning Officer (EPO).

 

In the absence of the EPO the delegated power should be exercised by the Director of Agriculture (DoA).

 

In exercising this delegated power the EPO/DoA should:

 

(i)  seek advice in respect of each licence application from representatives of the Tourist Board, Falklands Conservation, Farmers and the Department of Agriculture;

 

(ii)  limit any licence to the shooting of a maximum of twenty birds;

 

(iii)  require every licensee to provide a full report detailing when, where and how many birds were shot;

 

(iv)  ensure that the information submitted under (iii) above is passed to the Environmental Committee and Falklands Conservation.

 

The EPO should follow the procedures and criteria set out above in taking a decision on the licence applications received from Pebble Island and North Arm.

 

Applications for licences to shoot any other species of protected bird should be submitted to Executive Council.  Executive Council’s decision on any such application should take account of the views of the EPO and the bodies referred to in paragraph 2.3 (i) above.

 

Falklands Conservation should be invited to conduct a programme of Island-wide turkey vulture censuses with a view to identifying the size and status of the turkey vulture population, together with a study of turkey vulture feeding behaviour.

 

Section 3

 

RELEVANT INTERNET NEWS

 

BAS Press Release

                 

 

Early Drake Passage Opening Led to Global Change

No: 12/2005   30 Aug 2005

 

New results shed light on how Antarctica became the icy, barren continent that we know today. British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientists have discovered that 30-50 million years ago, South America and Antarctica split apart very rapidly. This formed the Drake Passage and resulted in a major global cooling. The findings are published in the latest issue of Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

 

Lead Author Dr Roy Livermore says ‘we deciphered the remarkable ‘herringbone’ pattern of ridges that were etched into the Earth’s crust beneath the remote Weddell Sea when South America moved away from Antarctica. This revealed that the two continents separated extremely quickly in geological time forming a shallow ‘gateway’ between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. We estimate that this happened some ten to twenty million years earlier than the previous oldest estimate. Even a shallow (less than 1000 metres) gateway would have had a profound effect on Southern Ocean circulation and subsequently climate".

 

Such a gateway, by completing a circuit of water around Antarctica, eventually led to the formation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the world’s largest deep current which now transports some 130 million cubic metres of water through the Drake Passage every second. The effect was to cut Antarctica off from warm southward flowing currents leaving it frozen and desolate.

 

This new research reinforces findings from deep-sea sediments cores taken from the Southern Ocean and supports the theory that the opening of the Drake Passage could have triggered the abrupt global cooling event and extensive growth of the Antarctic ice sheet 33-34 million years ago.

 

Paleogene opening of Drake Passage by Roy Livermore, Adrian Nankivell, Graeme Eagles and Peter Morris is published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 236, pages 459-470.

 

British Antarctic Survey is a world leader in research into global issues in an Antarctic context. It is the UK’s national operator and is a component of the Natural Environment Research Council. It has an annual budget of around £40 million, runs nine research programmes and operates five research stations, two Royal Research Ships and five aircraft in and around Antarctica.

                 

Issued by the British Antarctic Survey Press Office. Amanda Lynnes - tel: +44 1223 221414, mob:07740 822229, email:  [email protected]  Linda Capper - tel: +44 1223 221448, mob: 07714 233744, email:  [email protected] Author Contact: Dr Roy Livermore - tel: +44 1223 221572

 

© Copyright Natural Environment Research Council British Antarctic Survey 2004.

 

Section 4:

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

 

The Royal British Legion Meeting scheduled for Monday, 05 September has been cancelled due to holiday commitments.  The meeting will take place on the 10^th of October.

 

Section 5:

 

FIRS NEWS DIRECT: 30 AUGUST 2005

 

Compiled by Amy Johnson (AJ) and Stacy Bragger)

 

INDOOR FOOTBALL LEAGUE:

 

Sunday night saw two more matches being played in the Indoor Football League, with Lots a Leftovers and Bragger’s Boys both claiming three points.  Bragger’s boys stay top of the league.  The next round of fixtures will be played tonight with the Left Overs playing the Wanderers and Tyrell’s Squirls and Nuts taking on the No Namers.

 

FALKLANDS GUN CLUB:

 

The winter season carried on again for the Falklands Gun Club, with a 50-bird Skete Competition.  The wind and rain went against all shooters on the day but Stevie Burroughs managed to hold off all competition to take first place.  Jon Butler and Steve Dent were unable to find previous form but with constant problems with the low house bird and the wind, all shooters’ scores were well below the expected level.  The next arranged shoot is on the 11^th of September, which will be another skete competition.

 

FRESH PRODUCE SHORTAGES:

 

There will be some fresh produce shortages this week according to Stanley Growers.  The shortages are due to a full passenger flight from Chile resulting in minimal freight space.  Stanley Growers had anticipated a lack of freight space and had double booked the previous week but it was also heavily booked with passengers so they were unable to have the required volume on the plane.  Tim Miller from Stanley Growers said as long as more passengers do not book flights, they should be allocated 2500 kilos for the next flight.  Jenny Forrest from International Tours and Travel Ltd. said that space on the flights is mainly due to the school holidays but said that a flight due on 03 September wasn’t that full and that subsequent flights would have more space.

 

In other Stanley Growers News their salad production this coming season will be about six weeks late.  The delay is due to previously not being able to obtain an affordable heating fuel.  With help from the MoD and Stanley Services, they have overcome this problem for the time being.

 

LISTERIA IN MILK:

 

The latest tests for Listeria in milk from Beckside Dairy has proven to be negative.  Roger Diggle, the Chief Medical Officer, says that the current situation is that samples from all the individual cows were negative and last week’s tests in the packets of milk were negative.  He also said that it was too early for the people at risk to start drinking milk without it being boiled from the dairy.  The next set of test results are expected to be available on Thursday.

 

FISHING, SHIPPING AND HARBOUR NEWS:

 

From the weekend:  The Reefer Frio Oceanic came into Berkley Sound on Saturday for transshipping.  The tanker, Sentaurus, Trawler, New Polar came into Berkley Sound over the weekend and both left for Port William on Sunday.  The Shanghai Reefer entered Port William on Saturday for transshipping and left for the high seas the same day.  The Trawler Beatrix Norres also came into Port William on Saturday and left the same day to the Fishing Grounds.

 

(100X Transcription and Monitoring Service)