Farewell to Keila K121

That the Parliament extends its best wishes to Orkney fisherman Tommy Tulloch and his family as their whitefish trawler, Keila K121, is sold to new owners in Aberdeenshire; notes that the state-of-the-art vessel rigged for stern trawling was built at the Nauta-Hull yard in Gdynia, Poland, and completed at Vestværftet Shipyard in Denmark in 2017 for Tommy, in partnership with Michael Leslie; understands that the vessel was the namesake of the previous Keila, which was built in Norway in 1989 for Westray skipper Tam Harcus; recognises that the arrival of the new Keila represented the first new whitefish trawler for Orkney owners since the first Russa Taign in 1998; acknowledges that Tommy has made the decision to sell the vessel after a career spanning four decades but in the face of what it sees as immense challenges facing the wider fishing industry, including rising fuel prices, tight quotas and what it considers as poor post-Brexit arrangements; regrets that this has also reportedly prompted the departure of Orkney whitefish trawler Aalskere K373, leaving Westra Fjord K193 as the last remaining Orkney-registered whitefish trawler; believes the Keila will have a prominent place in the history of Orkney's whitefish industry and that her presence in the islands will be sorely missed; pays tribute to Tommy and his family's dedication to Orkney's whitefish industry; acknowledges what it sees as the bravery and commitment of the Keila's crew over the years, including Jimmy Moodie, and wishes Tommy, his wife, Alena, and the Tulloch family all the very best for the future.