Local fisher, Isla Gale, was crowned ‘Trainee Fisherman of the year’ at the Fishing News Awards in Aberdeen on Thursday.

The 17-year-old, from Sulby, was described in her nomination as being a ‘twinkle of hope’ in a struggling industry.

She started out fishing with her father on the June Rose.

‘My dad is a fisherman; I begged my mum to let me go out to sea with him,’ she said.

After leaving school, she moved on to the Shannon Kimberley RY 169. Fishing for scallops, Isla spends half the year fishing from the Isle of Man, and the other half on the west coast of Scotland. She says her friends all support her choice of career, but ‘none of them would do it themselves’.

Isla adds: ‘I like being at sea. I like being away from everything.’

In her nomination, Isla was described as ‘always giving 100%’.

After receiving the award she said: ‘I am incredibly overwhelmed and humbled to have received such a prestigious award, especially with the high calibre of nominees.

‘I can’t thank the Manx community enough for all their support and I was honoured to represent the Isle of Man at the awards.

‘I really hope that I will have inspired more young people on the island to consider fishing as a career, especially girls who may not have even realised it was an option.’

Her mum Lindsey, said: ‘It is an incredible achievement and we literally couldn’t be prouder to see her hard work recognised by the industry. She will be attending the Skippers’ Expo before returning to the island so she can be back at sea on Monday.’

Isla is currently an apprentice skipper on local vessel the Shannon Kimberley and hopes to skipper her own vessel in the future.

l The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture offers help to improve the skills of people working in fishing, farming and food production on the Isle of Man, through its Agriculture and Fisheries Grant Scheme. You can find more information about this at http://ow.ly/ZlvZ50IrnC5.