HIE grant for Blueshell’s crab factory

HIGHLANDS and Islands Enterprise is supporting the upgrade of the Northmavine fish factory to become a crab processing plant, owned by Brae based mussel farming company Blueshell Mussels.

The developing agency is investing £150,000 to fit out and upgrade the factory to a quality food grade standard.

Earlier this year, Blueshell bought Shetland Norse Preserving Company (SNPC), the long-standing Yell based crab processor, and said it would move the operation to Northmavine.

The company’s managing director Michael Laurenson said: “Having operated for two generations SNPC was at risk of relocating outside of Shetland as the owners were looking to retire.

“The acquisition and integration also provides new opportunities through synergies as well as having a facility with high care processing capabilities.”

For the last 40 years, SNPC has exclusively supplied the John West brand with their Dressed Crab and Dressed Lobster products.

Welcoming the latest development the company’s purchasing manager Alan Muir said: “We are very much looking forward to continuing our close relationship with the new ownership.  We believe it is very important that it has remained in local hands.”

HIE’s development manager Elaine Jamieson added: “We are delighted to support the growth of Blueshell Mussels Ltd and the development of a significant industry in some of our fragile communities.”

Blueshell is Scotland’s largest producer of rope-grown mussels, described by celebrity chef Jean-Chrisophe Novelli as the best in the world