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Fish
Because of continuous over fishing by international and local boats, and some say pollution from fish farming, fish stocks are now under severe pressure.
Today a catch of this size would be a bonanza.
Fish Farming
Nowadays, fish-farming is big business in the Hebrides.
Multinational companies produce many thousands of tons of salmon per year and control most of the sea and freshwater lochs.
This intensive form of food production brings hundreds of jobs to fragile local communities. But there is increasing concern about a host of environmental issues, such as the effects on wild salmon stocks and the sea bed life.
In the post-BSE public backlash against intensively farmed foods, which has seen sales of organic produce sky-rocket, some are also voicing concerns about the methods used to produce farmed salmon.
Fireman's Trousers
Crofter and his dog
Men working at Arnish
Pictured in 1998, these men were using their skills on the island, building massive steel piles for the North Sea. Arnish oil fabrication yard in Stornoway employed many men and produced qualilty heavy engineering work for the oil industry but it’s now closed. Most of the men now hunt for jobs away from their Island home.
There is speculation that the yard may be re-opened but this time to build turbines for a new, ambitious wind farm project in Lewis.
Pilot Whale
This pod of 10 pilot whales stranded themselves on Dal Mor, a beach on the west coast of Lewis in 1994. Some were saved, but the majority died, and their carcasses were taken to the dump by the council.
The Waverley
Caledonian MacBrayne, the Island’s ferry operators run a reliable service, despite the bad winter storms. The Company are heavily subsidised by the the Government but there is constant grumbling from passengers and business over the high cost of making this essential trip.
This photograph was taken in 1988 aboard PS Waverley – the oldest seagoing paddle steamer in the world – when it visited the Hebrides.
The Shiants
The Shiant islands lie between the mainland of Scotland and the Outer Hebrides.
For many who travel by ferry to Lewis, the most northern and populated island in the chain, this is their first glimpse of the Hebrides.
Steve Dilworth's mailboat in Village Bay, St Kilda
Steve Dilworth‘s St Kilda Mailboat leaves Village Bay.
Steve Dilworth launches his St Kilda Mailboat in Village Bay
Artists are drawn to the extremes of the Hebrides. One of the best known artists is the sculptor Steve Dilworth.
To commemorate the evacuation of St Kilda (a remote group of islands lying 60 miles west of the Outer Hebrides) Steve sailed to St Kilda, where he launched a small mailboat made from whalebone and oak.
An art statement maybe, but until the islands were evacuated in 1934 this was how the islanders communicated with the outside world.
