Loch Fyne

Loch Fyne (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Fìne, pronounced [l̪ˠɔx fiːnə]), meaning Loch of the Vine or Wine, is a sea loch on the west coast of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It extends 65 kilometres (40 mi) inland from the Sound of Bute, making it the longest of the sea lochs. It is connected to the Sound of Jura by the Crinan Canal. Although there is no evidence that grapes have grown there, the title is probably honorific, indicating that the river, "Abhainn Fìne", was a well-respected river.

Loch Fyne has a reputation for its oyster fishery, and as a consequence the loch has given its name to the locally-owned Loch Fyne Oysters and to the associated Loch Fyne Restaurants. It is also notable for its herring-fishing industry, and hence the famous Loch Fyne Kipper, originally caught using the drift-net method. In the mid-19th century, Loch Fyne was the centre of the battle between the traditional drift-net fishermen and the new trawl-net fishermen who sprang up around Tarbert and Campbeltown in 1833.

Loch Fyne Oysters

Loch Fyne Oysters is a company which has expanded from farming and selling oysters to providing a range of seafoods, fish, meat and game. It founded the Loch Fyne restaurant chain which is now owned by Greene King; it still owns the Loch Fyne brand and supplies its products to the restaurant chain. The company continues to run the Loch Fyne Oyster Bar on the banks of the loch near Cairndow

History

The company takes its name from Loch Fyne, a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland. The business started life as an oyster farm in that loch. It was originally a joint venture by Johnny Noble, the owner of the nearby Ardkinglas Estate, and Andy Lane, a fish farmer and biologist. Initially the business sold their oysters to UK restaurants. In the early 1980s the company diversified into the supply of other seafood, and opened a smokehouse to smoke salmon and other fish.

In 1988 the Loch Fyne Oyster Bar was opened on the banks of the loch near Cairndow. The first Loch Fyne Oyster Bar away from the loch opened in Nottingham in 1990, followed by a second near Peterborough. Towards the end of the 1990s, the founders of the business began to look for partners to develop a larger restaurant chain and were joined by two entrepreneurs, Ian Glyn and Mark Derry. In 1998 the Loch Fyne Restaurant chain was founded, as a separately owned business using the Loch Fyne name under licence from Loch Fyne Oysters.