On Wednesday 10th June members were welcomed by our President Sarah Pennington ready to see the summer months and all that this has in store! Our speaker was Dr Nick Willoughby – the title of his talk was: Life of Fish and Ships. He opened the talk saying if he were a teacher it would be “Show and Tell “ but instead he was a Marine biologist. Nick’s career spanned many years as an Aid Worker and marine biologist in fisheries and coastal zone management, advising the government on sustainable fishing.
He explained that fish farming was a huge topic for discussion and Aquaculture requires careful site selection, rigorous water quality management and strict regulatory compliance. His interest however was in much more sustainable fishing using hooks and lines.
Nick was very passionate about his subject and proceeded to share with us many facts and statistics about fish farming around the world. He believes the average adult consumes 5 kilos of fish per year!
He had set before him an array of interesting artefacts he had collected advising the government on sustainable fishing.
He had close encounters with venomous snakes, giant squirting clams, a vicious 18ft crocodile, a coup in Fiji, caviar and vodka parties in the Caspian Sea.
He concluded by opening a debate on the existence of the Loch Ness monster, he believes it to be an 18ft sturgeon!
Our next meeting will be on Wednesday 8th July in the village hall 7.30pm we will welcome again Steve Herra for another of his series of talks this time entitled Body Through The Porthole.
Louise Causer
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