Happy Retirement Cath Dobson

At the end of March, we said goodbye to Cath Dobson as she starts her well-deserved retirement.

Cath has been with us since 1990 (then the Cumbria Sea Fisheries Committee) when the office was a portacabin based at Workington. It was a basic setup with a 100-yard walk to the Workington Port Office to use their facilities.  

Throughout Cath’s tenure with CSFC, her role evolved from general admin tasks using an electric typewriter, to invoices, setting of CSFC’s budget and dealing with permits and returns. Cath would also assist with scientific surveys on the various fisheries. 

“After surveys, mussel samples had been collected from beds north of Maryport, we all set to and sat on the harbour wall removing the mussel from their byssus threads, with a cup of coffee beside us. It was amazing how many members of the public stopped to ask us questions, with a genuinely keen interest in what we were doing, and amazed that these species existed in our local inshore waters.”  

When we moved to Whitehaven, Cath ended up managing the office there, which became (and remains) a localised hub for local fisherman and the interested members of the public alike.  

After the formation of NWIFCA in 2011, Cath’s role evolved further into operational support for our IFCOs working both at sea and along the North West coast.  

Cath has been a valuable, reliable presence within the fisheries for 34 years for both staff and fishermen and her unwavering dedication and enthusiasm has seen NWIFCA through the good times and the bad.  

From all of us here at NWIFCA, we wish Cath all the best on her retirement.