Fisherman’s father passed on passion will keep his family’s tradition afloat
Will ensure seafaring legacy endures long after his last catch
starting his new business has been tougher than he first imagined. “Cygnuses are very good sea-keeping boats so I thought we would get one and try to keep it as traditional as possible. It’s working out really well, but if I knew the amount of man hours I would have to put into it, I would have had the builders do a lot more for me in advance,” he joked.
“Right now, I’m working seven days a week, for a minimum of eight hours a day. And I’ve been doing it for months! I’m seriously burnt-out.
When will it be seaworthy? That’s the big question everybody asks me. Every time someone asks me I’ll say, ‘Ah spring’ then that becomes ‘Maybe summer’ and eventually, ‘Hopefully autumn!’ But by the looks of it, it’s going to be winter now.
“I have always wanted to share the fishing experience with the public. Once we get out to sea and I start earning a wee bit, I can upgrade my camera equipment and start showing people exactly what happens out there.
“It’ll be a real
eye-opener
Barry at work on the Lynsey B, which he hopes will let him sell his catch direct to the public from the quayside as well as sharing the fishing experience with people, something he says will be an
eye-opener
– especially when they see the weather we deal with in winter. I love the job, it’s just everything to me. I can’t wait for the project to be finished, so I can get back out – I need that sea air in my lungs. My wife reckons I’ll get seasick after all this time on land, but it’s like riding a bike – you never forget.” While working on his larger commercial fishing boat for 12 years, Barry estimates he would catch about 100 lobsters a day at the height of the season, using 200 creels. However, after downsizing to the Lynsey B, he will keep his fleet to a smaller 75 lobster pots. Although fishing is a demanding profession (“After 12 years of getting up before the sun, I feel like I’m 90 not 45!”), Barry says he wouldn’t trade the excitement of heading out to sea for anything. With his children showing no signs of following in their father’s footsteps, last year Barry teamed up with a photographer, Jeff Carter of Maclean Photographic, to begin a project that would see his decades of expertise committed to film. The pair began shooting videos showing the ins and outs of life on deck, and Barry’s Youtube channel, One Man and His Boat, was born. Today, Barry’s videos reach thousands of viewers and the 45-year-old has become the first of his family to cast his net wider than Dunbar or even Scotland, with his no-nonsense, honest and often funny episodes attracting comments and messages from as far as Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan.
“I’m the last of the line,” said Barry, who is dad to Jordan, 23, Aaron, 20, and Kayla, 17. “My kids aren’t interested in fishing, and that’s why I thought starting the Youtube channel would be a good way to document my journey. I wanted to share the knowledge and passion.” With a renewed focus on the sustainability, provenance and freshness of produce in recent years, Barry also says getting an inside look at the Scottish fishing industry could encourage more people to shop for Uk-caught seafood. He continued: “The whole point of the channel is to share my experience with people who don’t know very much about the industry – how we go about it, how the process differs now to what we used to do back in the day, and how sustainable it can actually be.
“Fisherman are trying to look after stocks – they want a living for the next 50 years, so they don’t want to see the sea cleared up.”