Caithness Creels Expecting Surge In Orders For New Plastic Creels

23rd May 2007

Fishermen Get To See New Creels With Plastic Parts At Trade Show In Glasgow

A revolution in the traditional creel used for hundreds of years by fishermen is underway and being led by a local firm Caithness Creels working closely with a plastics firm - Stornoway Plastics on the Isle of Lewis.

Fishermen and others in the industry got a chance to see the new creels and parts for themselves at a trade exhibition n Glasgow today

Caithness Creels has been working in collaboration with Stornoway Plastics to come up with a new way of manufacturing creels that will have much longer life. The new creels went on show at a fishing exhibition in Glasgow today.

Currently sample creels are being tested by a number of fishermen around Scotland and Ireland. The creels are much more robust than traditional creels made with ropes and netting. The nylon bindings are particularly strong and offer protection to the metal frames in a way that netting cannot.

Caithness Creels and Stornoway Plastics are both represented at the show in Glasgow today and orders are being taken for samples of the product so that fishermen can try them out for themselves to prove how robust they are before ordering larger quantities.

The benefits of having a creel that will last longer and be cheaper and faster to repair can would produce substantial benefits to fishermen who have high costs in replacing and repairing gear such as creels.

Caithness Creels expects that orders for the new creels containing the nylon and plastic parts will rise substantially once the fishermen have seen them in action and see for themselves the savings they can make.

Caithness Creels and Stornoway Plastics have also been working on other improvements and developed a new prawn creel door for the traditional creel. The new door is made from highly durable polymer and it is not subject to corrosion as the normal parts are. Binding rope is no longer required as the door clips on. The door is resistant to crustaceans and can withstand being dragged along the seabed. The new door also incorporates an escape hatch allowing smaller prawns to escape when the fisherman removes the mesh.

To find out more about the new creels fishermen should contact Caithness Creels. See the web site at www.caithnesscreels.co.uk/

To see the range of gear available in plastics see Stornoway Plastics at www.stornowayplastics.com