The Mortons vs. Whalsay

Tom and James seem to have annoyed the whole island! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-45812270

I imagine the stushie won't have harmed sales of the book though

I saw one of them somewhere online saying that Amazon sales had gone up since the fuss kicked off.

James Morton apologised for causing offence on Radio Shetland a couple of nights ago

Here's the link https://www.mixcloud.com/BBCShetland/good-evening-shetland-10-october-2018/

The interview is about 8 mins 50 secs in, and it's on Clear da Air briefly again at 27 mins in

A thing of nothing, maybe?

There is no such thing as "bad" publicity.

Seems the Mortons have touched a raw nerve but the fact is black fish landings did happen and who knows probably still do.

Fish is food so no reason why this factual incident"s" should have been excluded from this book,all part of the story.

Could be said to be little different to the old smugglers stories of the past.

Truth is many of our deep freezes will also be full of "black" products not all fish.!?

I think the whole point is why WAS it included unless it was to add a little "colour" (no pun intended) to what would otherwise (probably) be a pretty drab tome.

One was born and raised here whilst the other has been here more than 30 years yet, neither one has yet figured out that, around here, "the wheels grind slow but exceedingly fine".

Where to start. 

The poem in particular riled a lot of people. Not so much the black fish stuff (although what is the point of reopening that decades old wound?). The "rape of the seas on which they sail", "24 hour shifts fueled by whats behind the hidden door" and "unscrupulous baby seal bludgeoners" was bound to ruffle a few feathers. 

Not only that, the implications that the "mega-rich" island of Whalsay is full of such people is just blatantly false. There are only a small number of the ~1100 residents employed by the pelagic fishing. We have a huge commuting population as well as plenty of low income families. Whalsay is in fact classed as a fragile area due to the challenges it faces. 

To constantly have this stereotyped bandied about, along with the rest of the negativity about the fishing industry, is damaging to the community and totally unnecessary in my view. 

whalsa as we all know it is very difficult to hide "mishanters "from the past in a small community like Shetland .

Those for whom  it concerns in this book know who they are and thankfully  only a very few were involved in the "misdemeanors" as they were at the time.

Times have changed now and hopefully none of this happens now .   

It was a "cheap shot" though

Fish is food so no reason why this factual incident"s" should have been excluded from this book,all part of the story.

Not only that, the implications that the "mega-rich" island of Whalsay is full of such people is just blatantly false. There are only a small number of the ~1100 residents employed by the pelagic fishing. We have a huge commuting population as well as plenty of low income families. Whalsay is in fact classed as a fragile area due to the challenges it faces. 

I'm sure there's plenty of folk who would rather the whole 'blackfish thing' was forgotten about, but as Urabug notes, it's now part of Shetland fishing's history.

But as whalsa points out, the section of the book I've seen has several factual errors and doesn't paint a realistic picture, which folk are bound to take exception to.

Mr Morton Senior is no stranger to controversy of his own making and I'm guessing he expected a reaction.

And here we are reacting!

I imagine the stushie won't have harmed sales of the book though

Yes Morton senior is a consummate professional and there is no doubt that he would have been aware of the potential hoo ha and what it was likely to do to the book sales. I haven't read it and I'm not likely to buy a cook book to do so, but if Tom Morton, or any other credible journalist, was inclined to publish an investigative expose on the underbelly of the fishing industry I would certainly be interested in that. The issues which Whalsa suggests the cook book alludes to, drug use and black fish, have previously been prevalent and may well still occur to some extent in the industry. Those subjects are certainly of public interest and worthy of discussion. They should not be ignored or forgotten simply because they are uncomfortable topics in a small community - lest we be doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. The reference to seal slaughter I believe is about the one off actions of an individual and I find that in poor taste.

"And here we are reacting!"

Yes, but are we going to buy the book. ?

In a local context, the Mortons seem to have done more to damage sales than to boost them.  After all, who would want to give them a percentage of their "hard earned" after this ?

I was not saying the blackfish scandal should be forgotten but said offences were committed (and punished) a long time ago so I would question the need to bring them up in the context of a cook book. 

As for the implication that Whalsay fishermen take drugs to get through long shifts I think that is an utterly shocking and baseless accusation.

As JGHR already pointed out the seal clubbing reference was in poor taste presumably regarding one individual (also punished long ago). How is it fair to generalise all fishermen in this manner? In fact, his crime had no relevance to the industry other than it was his occupation at the time of the offence.

The pair obviously harbour some bitterness towards Whalsay or at least the isles fishing industry. Now they have used this to boost sales of their book, pathetic in my view. 

If they wanted to learn more about the facts and current practices of the industry why did they not ask to go off for a trip? I am sure one of the boats would easily have taken them, they do so for various people quite frequently. 

Looking from the outside regarding wealth, its a shame some of the profits from the pelagic boats couldnt he invested into the Island to boost jobs and business growth improving the lives of the less fortunate members of the island and benefit the whole community.

I expect the reality of the finances behind the Whalsay fleet is different from most people's perception. It's a high-risk game but many people won't have any understanding of the level of investment in time, effort and money the shareholders have made. 

Two new boats in as many months, with the Research costing £34 million and the Serene costing £28m, would indicate there's plenty of profit to be made and a high confidence in the sector though.