Fresh From the Cool Scottish Lochs: The Brisling Sardine’s Journey

Crown Prince has been working with partners in Scotland since 1999 to bring our customers the Brisling Sardine. In this post, we take a look at how these much-loved fish get from the cool waters off Scottish shores to the canning facility where they’re carefully prepared and packed for Crown Prince customers.

Plockton, on the western coast of Scotland. Photo rights: Dustan Hoffman / Crown Prince

West Coast Waters to East Coast Cannery

Crown Prince Brisling Sardines are caught in late fall and early winter, when their stores of oil and fat are at their prime. This keeps the fish succulent and flavorful, and also boosts omega-3 content compared to other times of year when they are leaner.

From October to December, small artisanal fishing boats head out into the lochs of western Scotland, returning the same day with their brisling sardines on ice for optimum freshness.

Mallaig and Ullapool are the two main fishing ports for Crown Prince’s brisling sardines. Once brought ashore, they’re transferred to special containers and transported to Fraserburgh, which is on the east coast of Scotland.

Here, they are lightly smoked then packed by hand in the country’s last remaining fish cannery. How neat is that?

In our next post, we’ll fill you in on what makes sardines so special and how we like to eat them! As always, please stay tuned and we hope you’re enjoying our journey.

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