A new crab processing factory is to be built at one of the premier shellfish landing ports in the UK.
Scrabster Seafoods, based at Scrabster harbour in Caithness, mostly exports white-fish to mainland Europe and the Far East.
But the company has identified an opportunity to diversify and take advantage of the 2,000 tonnes of crab landed by fishermen at the harbour every year.
It is investing around £330,000 in new plant and equipment to begin crab processing, supported by £119,832 from economic development agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).
The project is expected to create about 25 jobs at Scrabster over the next three years.
Family-owned Scrabster Seafoods, founded in 1968, currently employs about 25 people.
It is an importer, vessel sales agent, processor and exporter of white-fish and other seafood, handling around 4,000 tonnes annually.
The company also has an operation in Faroe and a sales office in France.
Its current brown crab trade sees the catch go directly from boats to lorries before being transported direct to the customer, mainly in European markets such as Spain and Portugal.
The new project will allow the firm to add value to the product before it is exported.
William Calder junior of Scrabster Seafoods said: “This will be a great benefit for the local fisherman and the community in terms of employment.
“It will allow fishermen to have greater choice in who they sell their catch to and a more convenient and flexible market, which can only be a good thing.
“Every other major shellfish port has a processing presence and given the healthy volumes of shellfish landed in Scrabster and the surrounding harbours in the county, we felt it was an ideal route for our company to take.”
HIE area manager Roy Kirk said: “Scrabster Seafoods has built up a well-deserved reputation for supplying markets across the world with quality fish and seafood from our northern seas.
“This diversification into crab processing should open up new markets to the company and ensure the business continues to grow for many more years to come. “