damissinlink

would it no mak more sense to lay down grit earlier in the morning and to stop gritting on the main roads through the height of the day, many a day the boys are out gritting when there is lots of traffic moving about, so the cars etc is probably keeping the snow and frost of the roads, its early morning and late at night i think it should be layed down, a couple hours earlier on the main roads could see them on the B roads sooner too, and starting from tea time till later at night would help too

Don't know a lot about this subject but I try to keep up with local issues and I've been reading this thread with interest so here are a few observations.
 
Nobody likes an organisation that restricts your activities but it is tolerated by the vast majority because people understand that there is some sort of regulatory body needed.  My understanding was that 25 people turned up at a meeting held at the Tingwall hall but only 6 were licence holders.  I think there are currently over 90 licence holders in Shetland so this was a tiny majority of people who thought the SSMO should be dissolved.
 
As has been said before many other industries are also a closed shop - white fishing, salmon and mussel industries to name a few.  I don't hear many people complaining that they can't do a nice little side line in growing mussels but the fact is that they can't because all the suitable sites in Shetland have been bought up.
 
Orkney has been mentioned a few times in comparison but the inshore fishing in Orkney is nothing like in Shetland - they have far more suitable grounds and that is why they have more boats.
 
The SSMO is far from perfect and I don't suppose anyone on the Committee would say that it is.  The simple fact is that you will never please everyone.  On saying that I could see how things might be tightened up and improved - for example,  if the vast majority of boats is part-time you could lower the max number of creels/dregs in water per boat and create more licences to the same number, therefore giving more folk a chance at it.  Boats licences would need to be revoked far more quickly the at present - someone here has not landed in years and there licence has just been revoked recently.  Lots of things could be looked at but at the end of the day it needs to be policed in some way and that is why the SSMO is needed. I hear the velvet fishery is pretty poor now around Scalloway and Whalsay as it is, fishermen themselves need to taking some responsibility and asking themselves why that might be and not just blaming the SSMO or others.
 
Finally,  I would just like to say that I read the letter in the paper slating Chairman Ian Walterson and thought it was a wholly inappropriate and personal attack on him and after speaking to someone on the Committee to ascertain if there was a grain of truth in what was being said I was told that he had found him to be fair and open at meetings with one vote the same as the rest of the men there, although as Chair he would have the casting vote.  I think people who know Ian know that the person who wrote that letter was spaekin bruk.