Driveline provides lobster van to hatchery

Driveline GB Ltd., based in St Austell have very generously provided Padstow based charity The National Lobster Hatchery with a Citroen van, so that it can continue delivering its marine conservation, research and educational activities to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Richard Jacobs and Mark Kirby established Driveline in 1994 and the company is now one of the main vehicle rental and logistics companies operating in Cornwall. They are regular supporters of Cornish charities and have recently opened a new depot in Plymouth.

Richard Jacobs said “Both I and my Co Director Mark are extremely proud to be able to contribute in some way to the sterling work undertaken by our partners at the National Lobster Hatchery. In the very fragile world in which we live, we have always striven to build and develop our business with both sustainability and a high ethical code in mind. Given these criteria, we feel that this new partnership further ratifies this business ethos. We look forward to supporting this prestigious project in any further way that we can and we are extremely proud to affiliate our well established Cornish brand, as we have with many other charitable organisations over the years, with such a worthwhile cause”.

General Manager of the National Lobster Hatchery, Dom Boothroyd had this to say: “Last year the charity tripled its production and released over 32,000 juvenile lobsters around our coastline. We have spent the winter and spring months installing extra capacity into the hatchery and are now in the position where we can significantly increase our lobster production. We hope to release 40,000 juveniles next season and aim to increase this to over 100,000 juveniles a year in just a few years. This anticipated increase in production has meant that we had to look at the potential of getting a vehicle to transport our releasing gear (and baby lobsters) around the county. We looked at buying a vehicle and shortly realised that we couldn’t actually afford one. Around this time Richard and Mark from Driveline came to visit and offered us a van for free. We are delighted and so grateful for the support that Driveline provides, it makes a huge difference to a small charity with big ideas! It will make an important contribution to our work over the coming years”.

Moulted Crawfish showing beautiful new shell

Below are some pictures of our amazing Crawfish after moulting its shell, revealing a bright new beautiful carapace.

Crawfish, as well as many other shellfish, moult their shell (exo-skeleton) in order to keep up with their rate of growth. It's a bit like a child, that needs to buy new clothes as they grow - the crawfish crawl out of their old shell to reveal a brand new bigger shell which fits them.

After moulting, shellfish are very soft and therefore vulnerable, the process also uses up a lot of energy and vital resources, and one tasty and nutritious way of them to replenish themselves is by eating the moulted shell afterwards!  The old shell is full of calcium carbonate which helps the crawfish to harden his new shell.

You can probably see our crawfish closely guarding its shell, which has since faded greatly in comparison with its shiny new orange exo-skeleton.

LAST CHANCE TO BUY A RAFFLE TICKET

The draw will take place on 24th Sept 2012 to win a

luxury two night break in Rock

to include breakfast. Your stay will include 1 round of golf at St Enodoc Golf Course, spa treatment at The Cow Shed Spa at St Moritz Hotel, lunch at No. 1 Rock Road Restaurant. Then to finish it off a 3 course meal at No. 1 Rock Road with a bottle of Vintage Laurent-Perrier Champagne. Only £1 a ticket for the chance of winning this fantastic prize. You can either buy on-line through our Little Shop of Lobsters or over the phone.

Thank you to James & Rhowan from No. 1 Rock Road who very kindly donated this prize.