Work has begun on a major new £30m mackerel and herring processing facility and cold-store upgrade for Denholm Seafoods in Peterhead, which will result in increased efficiencies, enhanced product quality and a lower carbon footprint.

The investment – one of the largest ever undertaken by a wild-caught fish processing company in Scotland – will deliver a state-of-the-art fish handling and storage system, which will benefit the Scottish pelagic (mackerel, herring and blue whiting) fleet and provide opportunities to develop new markets.

The upgrade will enable Denholm Seafoods to increase its daily freezing capacity, and boost cold storage capacity to 19,000 tonnes. The investment includes the construction of a new 12,000 square metres cold store adjacent to the current Denholm Seafoods processing site at Peterhead harbour, which will be completed by late summer 2023.

The new facility has been designed with future expansion in mind with the potential to significantly increase freezing and storage capacity.

In tandem with the new cold store, the existing Denholm Seafoods processing facility will be refurbished with the installation of a sophisticated and highly automated turnkey fish processing system designed and supplied by Skaginn 3X. This phase of the project will be completed by summer 2024 and will result in significant savings in energy and packaging costs, as well as enabling greater volumes of fish to be handled.

The provision of a new low pressure pump system to offload mackerel, herring and blue whiting catches from boats on the quayside will deliver fish quality benefits, which will be further enhanced by a new non-pressure plate freezing system that freezes the end-product much quicker than before.

The facility’s ‘intelligent’ process is designed to take about six hours from the time the raw material enters the factory through to final storage of the end frozen product. The project upgrade will deliver energy savings in the region of 30 to 40 per cent, contributing towards Scotland’s net zero targets.

Richard Duthie, managing director of Denholm Seafoods, said, “We are tremendously excited by this new investment, which will deliver benefits to Scotland’s important pelagic sector, and provide us with a platform for new growth.

“With soaring energy costs and the need to increase efficiency, product quality and automation, this project will ensure we remain competitive in a global marketplace and enable us to develop markets in key areas such as the Far East. It will, for example, enable us to explore new opportunities in value-added processing by providing increased flexibility in meeting customer requirements.

“Research has shown that Scottish mackerel production already has a much lower carbon footprint compared to most other types of protein production, and this new facility will enhance that green reputation even further.”

The project was supported by £2.8m of funding under Defra’s £100m UK Seafood fund and £1.2m from Marine Scotland.

Denholm Seafoods is getting ready for the summer North Sea herring season. The first landing is expected from ‘MFV Challenge’, one of the boats owned by our partners, who work collaboratively with Denholm Seafoods to ensure quality landings. ‘Challenge’ will sail on Friday 5th August and land its first catch the following Monday.

The closeness of the rich North Atlantic herring fishery guarantees a quality catch, and catching herring in such close proximity to Denholm Seafoods’ quayside processing plant preserves the quality of the fish. Once the herring is processed by Denholm Seafoods, it is then shipped to customers in the UK, Europe and Asia. Demand for herring this season is expected to be strong, as it is the only MSC – or Marine Stewardship Council – certified fishery, which ensures sustainability of the catch.

Denholm Seafoods is delighted to be exhibiting at the upcoming Seafood Expo Global 2022 in Barcelona. The event – which is a staple in the global seafood industry calendar – will take place from 26-28 April 2022 at Fira Barcelona Gran Via Venue in Spain.

Visit Denholm Seafoods and their boat partners at stand 2H601.

In previous years, Denholm Seafoods welcomed visitors to its stand from across the globe. Visitors also met crew of boat partner ‘Challenge’ and ‘Unity’, who took time out of their demanding fishing trips in the North East Atlantic to attend Seafood Global Expo.  Once again, Denholm Seafoods is looking forward to meeting old and new friends alike at stand 2H601.

Seafood Expo Global is the largest and most diverse seafood event in the world, gathering more than 29,000 industry professionals from around the globe. After 27 years in Brussels, Belgium, the event has moved to Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Vía venue, where more than 2,000 exhibiting companies from more than 158 countries will meet.

The 2022 mackerel season got underway in the first week of January and Denholm Seafoods is already processing fish caught by its boat partners in the sustainable rich waters of the North Atlantic.

The first landing of Atlantic mackerel (scomber scombrus) by ‘MFV Unity’ on 7^th January was caught in the fishing area west of Shetland, closely followed by landings by ‘MFV Challenge’ and ‘MFV Taits’.

Denholm Seafoods’ quayside plants will be in full production for the next five weeks, processing the catch into various products to customers’ specifications.  Products include whole round, butterfly filleted, headed and gutted mackerel.

Denholm Seafoods recently installed a new quayside fish pump and is an example of the business’ continual investment to maintain the quality of the fish landed at its quayside processing plant.

(Pictured: ‘MFV Taits’ steams at a reduced speed through squally conditions to land its first mackerel catch of the season at Denholm Seafoods’ Peterhead plant.)