By PETER JOHNSON

THE CLICKIMIN Centre canteen is cutting back its opening hours as of Monday as a result of a shortage of catering staff.

The move – in response to staff shortages affecting businesses throughout Shetland and Scotland in general – is a short term solution to a longer term problem, claimed manager James Johnston.

According to Mr Johnston the reduction of the award-winning sports centre’s catering hours to 7pm week­days and 6pm on Saturday and Sunday will buy time to come up with a solution while rationalising the opening hours of the poolside restaurant.

Mr Johnston said: “For …

THE PROBLEM of defective blocks in houses and public buildings is not going to go away, councillor Alastair Cooper said at the infrastructure committee on Tuesday.

The subject was discussed after a report into the condition of Mossbank Primary School, highlighting problems that first surfaced around 10 years ago.

Blocks in the school and other buildings built in the mid to late 1970s have been found to be losing their strength and crumbling. Samples taken show that blocks under or above the ground can be affected, and they can be individual or groups of blocks.

Head of environment and building …

ISLES MP Alistair Carmichael has rejoined the Liberal Democrat frontbench as shadow secretary of state for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

He resigned seven months ago after defying the party whip to vote in favour of a referendum on the controversial European Treaty of Lisbon.

His appointment to the dual role comes despite Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s decision to restore the post of Scottish secretary, which had been held jointly by Des Browne with defence. Jim Murphy is the new incumbent.

Mr Carmichael said: “I am delighted to have been invited back into Nick Clegg’s shadow cabinet. The decision to resign …

THE LERWICK branch of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) benefited from a £1,500 donation from Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) recently, thanks to an outstanding safety record for the year.

SSE’s Lerwick offices and power station donated £500 to celebrate no environmental incidents, £500 for no accidents involving personnel and £500 for the implementation of its safety plan, over the last year. Unusually, the company took the decision to donate the entire amount to the one charity following a family member of one of its staff being rescued by the Lerwick lifeboat.

Lifeboat operations manager Malcolm Craigie said: “In …

FISHERMEN attacked Prime Minister Gordon Brown for replacing UK fishing minister Jonathan Shaw with Huw Irranca-Davies this week.

The appointment was immedi­ately criticised by the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF).

Scottish Fishermen’s Federation chief executive Bertie Armstrong said: “While ministerial reshuffles are nothing new, the timing here is extremely unhelpful and could not have come at a more inopportune time, given that vital and complex negotiations to set quotas and fisheries management measures for 2009 are about to begin in earnest, with there being a very intense period of activity from now right up until the December EC Fisheries Council.

“Given …

THE EUROPEAN Association of Fish Producers Organisations (EAPO) has warned the European Union that action must be taken at the highest level to stop the unregulated fishing of north-east Atlantic mackerel by Icelandic vessels before the stock suffers serious damage.

Members of the EAPO’s northern pelagic working group met EU officials in London on Monday to discuss a range of issues in the lead up to the annual total allowable catch (TAC) and quota negotiations for pelagic stocks which start on 20th October.

High on the agenda was the high level of mackerel landings, prin­cipally as a bycatch, in the …

PRICES at the Lerwick fishmarket have seen a big improvement this week as a poor spell of weather has reduced the supply of fish.

The unsettled period has seen fewer boats coming in to land fish, but Shetland boats the Adenia and the Charisma were landing mackerel earlier in the week. The rest of the pelagic fleet is expected to head out to sea on either Sunday or Monday.

Whitefish prices this week: catfish £1.68-£1.88; cod £2.00-£3.31; dogfish £1.10-£1.44; haddock £0.40-£2.42; hake £0.96-£1.67; halibut £4.00-£8.36; John Dory £7.70-£9.90; lemons £1.24-£5.28; ling £1.10-£1.52; lythe £2.03-£3.22; megrims £0.54-£4.68; monkfish £2.26-£3.92; plaice £0.40-£1.95; …

LERWICK harbour has had a bustling week of activity with lots of landings at Shetland Catch and a number of vessels coming in for shelter from the stormy seas.

Three Danish trawlers came in to shelter last Wednesday, while the Maryanna berthed at Alexandra Wharf to land fish on Sunday.

British trawler the Forever Grateful made a fleeting visit on Sunday to drop off an injured crew member, while a sizeable number of boats from Scotland, Shetland and Ireland came in to land mackerel between Thursday and Tuesday.

Sea traffic in and out of the Greenhead Base has been brisk …

TO EVALUATE the effectiveness of this year’s Seas Around Us exhibition, the NAFC Marine Centre sent out questionnaires to the leaders of the groups of children who visited.

The results have confirmed that both adults and children alike value the marine life showcase.

NAFC Marine Centre aquaculture scientist Gregg Arthur said: “I’m very grateful to everyone who took the time to complete the evaluation forms. It’s really pleasing to see how highly thought of the exhibition is and I’m delighted to hear that school pupils have gone away brimming with enthusiasm for Shetland’s marine life.

“The questionnaire results confirmed what …

THE SKIPPER of the Yell trawler Guardian Angell was fined £7,200 at Lerwick Sheriff Court yesterday for recording his catch of dogfish wrongly.

Michael John Henderson, 46, of Cullivoe, admitted he could not have taken all 59 boxes of dogs in western waters, as he had claimed on his logsheet.

The value of the disputed catch, which Henderson sold, was £3,186.

His agent, Denis Yule, said the boat’s net had already been in the water before she crossed the four degrees west line from the North Sea into the western waters sector. Different quota restrictions apply either side of the …