Seafood Guide

Tarbert has long been associated with some of the finest seafood caught and cooked in Scotland, with exports of fresh seafood being distributed all across Europe by local companies.

Tarbert was once and still is famous for the Loch Fyne herring that used to be caught and smoked here. The sheer quality and taste of the fresh catch is unrivalled, with all sorts of fish and shellfish being landed, from crabs and lobster to monkfish.

Crab

Low on the shore and below lives the edible crab, also known as Cancer pagurus. These can grow well over 15cm wide in deep water and is the most common crab that we eat. There are other varieties of crab that are found in the sea, and also on the shores.

Found in the rocks and in amongst the thick weed is anther crab, the velvet crab. The shell is reddish brown with soft hairs and shaped more like a scallop than the edible crab.

Lobster

The largest british crustacean is the edible lobster, although found usually on all coasts they are found in pools of deep water and the deep oceans in summer.

The colours vary, can be blue, brownish-blue or reddish with white spots.The antennae are long and red, and the whole lobster turns very very red when cooked. Unfortunately for the lobster the best way to cook it is when it is still alive and it is placed into boiling hot water.

The female lobster breeds every 2 years.

The edible lobster is one of exsquisite taste when cooked and prepared properly. To taste the special lobster from Loch Fyne, come to Tarbert and experience it for yourself in one of the restaurants or hotels.

Mussels

The edible mussel is found in plentiful numbers on piles, harbour walls, stones and most temporary submerged solid surfaces. The larger mussels are found at low water up to around 10cm long.

The blue-black filter feeders are harvested commercially, usually at the age of about 3 years old.

Oysters

The common saddle oyster is found from the midshore down, firnly attached to stones, weeds or other shells. The oyster alike the scallop or clam is a filter feeder that sifts through many litres of water extracting small food.

There are other types of oyster, such as the European or native oyster which has a greenish coloured shell, and there is also the clam or scallop. They are all part of the mollusc family and are all termed bivalves.

Salmon

Salmon are anadromous fish, that is they live in the sea but they reporudce in fresh waters, of rivers and lochs. The young salmon live in fresh water, mature and swim into the saltwater then return to the fresh water to breed, death follows shortly after. Some salmon travel hundreds of miles upstream to breed.

Salmon lives for anything between a year and 7years old, of course different species have different life spans. The biggest of which is the chinook salmon which can grow to over 120 pounds. Salmon are also meat eaters feeding on smaller fish, squid and crustaceans.

Salmon is a famous scottish fish and one of the most unique fish with its distinctive taste and its naturally pinkish meat. Salmon is found naturally here, but is also farmed here for commercial reasons and also to keep wild stock numbers high through controlled breeding and feeding.

Want to know how to cook salmon, why not click here and view some of the recipes at Scottish Salmon.

Scallops

Scallops are also known as clams. There are scallop fisheries is most areas of Scotland including Argyll and its Islands.

Scallops are caught mostly by vessels between 10m and 30m in length, towing dredges. Sometimes though depending on area scallops are caught by diver, or alternatively farmed commercially.

Scallops are found in sheltered lochs, or open exposed and tidal areas just below the low water mark down to depths exceeding 180 metres. Scallops are normally in shallow recesses of sand, gravel and mud.

The scallop is a hermaphrodite and thus no mating is necessary. Both the male and female gametes are produced into the surrounding water to fertilise accordingly.

The rate of growth of a scallop, and its age can be determined by the growth rings visible on the surface of the shell. Scallops in Scotland can live for more than 20 years and can grow larger than 17cm wide, with food availability and water temperature affecting the growth rate. The minimal landing size is 10cm, which can be achieved within three years, but if living conditions are poor this can take up to and beyond 10 years.

Scallops are caught both by boat and dredger here from Tarbert, and also by local divers. Scallops are also farmed by fisheries to ensure that numbers are maintained for future landing.