OUR HISTORY
The history of the Don Fishing Company and its subsidiaries
The Don Fishing Company was incorporated on the 28th November 1902, and has traded under that name ever since, making it one of Scotland’s oldest fishing companies. The core of the company’s business has always been that of Fish Selling as the Don has a proud heritage of auctioning fish throughout Scotland over its 100 years history.
The Don Fishing Company is part of JW Holdings which forms it roots from the 19th century fishing industry. The Woods family business began in the 1890’s when the family owned a number of fishing vessels operating out of the port of Aberdeen. In 1912, William Wood (Grandfather of Sir Ian Wood) founded Wood and Davidson, a ship repairing and marine engineering firm to service the fishing fleet.

John Wood (Sir Ian’ Father), took over the family’s share in the early 1950’s before Sir Ian joined the company in 1964. By this time, the company had been renamed John Wood & Son, and the marine base was expanded into fishing, fish processing and general marine engineering. Sir Ian became managing director in 1967 and under his leadership the company switched from the larger deep sea trawlers to more profitable inshore boats. During this time, the company was the largest independent Trawler Owners in Scotland.
During the 1970’s the company would acquire a number of businesses such as John S Duncan & Kinlochbervie Fish selling to expand their fishing operations throughout Scotland. The 1970’s also saw delivery of a fleet modernisation programme where a number of vessels were built in partnership with private individuals. During the late 70’s and early 80’s a number of seine net vessels were built such as the Star Wood, Ann Wood, Don Wood.
In 1981, it was decided to split the oil service business away from the family’s fishing business and on the 4th January 1982, two independent businesses were set up – John Wood Group focusing on engineering, oilfield logistics and drilling services, and JW Holdings. At the time in 1982, JW Holdings was the largest fishing company in Scotland. This company was made up of a number of subsidiary trading companies with some still surviving today.
During the 1990’s and early 2000’s the fishing industry started to decline as stocks decreased and restrictive external legislation was introduced. Many vessels were decommissioned and those that survived faced hardships for a number of years until key stocks started to improve. In order to protect stocks the Cod Recovery Plan was introduced which resulted in reduced fishing effort, more selective fishing, quota cuts and the introduction of Marine Protected Area’s.
The sacrifices made by fishermen in recent years have helped the Scottish Fishing Industry recover and optimism has returned to the sector. Key North Sea Stocks (Cod, Saithe, Haddock) have achieved MSC accreditation which shows that these stocks are sustainable and fully-traceable. The value of fish has increased and the catching sector including the Don Fishing Co are now investing for the future by building new vessels.
Throughout its 100 year old history, the Don Fishing Company have been Scotland’s premier fish sales business and a leader in its profession. The Don will continue to be at the forefront of the Scottish Fishing Industry.