Cold-water prawns, shell on
Cold-water prawns in the kitchen
The cold-water prawn is consumed throughout the world and is a true delicacy, perfect for the entire family. The prawn is a good source of protein and selenium, low in calories and has a high content of vitamin B12.
The cooked prawn has beautiful pink and white meat and a firm, juicy texture, with a pleasant ocean flavour, a touch of sweetness and a little shellfish bitterness. Cold-water prawns served shell-on are a crispy bite. The prawn is versatile and can be enjoyed cold or added at the end of preparing a hot meal, to avoid overcooking and to preserve flavour and moisture. The cold-water prawn is best served as the main ingredient in a recipe or as a meal in itself, where its complex flavour is not overpowered and can be fully savoured.
Cold-water prawns are enjoyed across the world; a true delicacy !
A preferred prawn for social dinning
Cold-water prawn products
Cold-water prawns are sold in a variety of products to meet customers' needs. Our most popular products are:
- Raw or Cooked with the shell on (SOP)
These prawns are processed onboard on our trawlers within few hours after catch
- Cooked and Peeled (C&P)
These prawns are processed at our land-based plants. Also available in brine
MSC certification
Our cold-water prawn fisheries are predominantly certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)
Cold-water prawns in the sea
The cold-water prawn lives throughout the North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean, from Canada to Norway. The cold surroundings make the prawn grow slowly, which provides ideal conditions to fully develop the complex flavour and texture.
The prawn has an almost translucent red shell with long and red antennaes. The spherical black eyes are accompanied by a set of two small, jagged horns at the front. From time to time the prawn’s head (where the stomach sits) may appear slightly darker. The colour may be caused by the prawn’s feed, or it may be developing eggs for spawning. The slightly darker colour of the head does not affect flavour or quality.
The prawn lives near the seabed in soft and muddy benthic conditions at depths of between 20 and 1,400 metres. It prefers water temperatures between 0 and 8°C and feeds mainly on plankton, krill and microscopic worms.
Cold water prawn habitat
The cold-water prawn lives throughout the North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean, from Canada to Norway
Do you know the difference between cold-water prawns and farmed warm-water prawns ?
The cold surroundings make the cold-water prawn grow slowly, and it is usually caught when it is around six years old. Farmed warm-water prawn is usually fully grown when it is around six months old.
Fishery
Cold-water prawns can be caught all year round, but fishing is limited by the ice conditions.
Cold-water prawns for Raw and Cooked with shell on are caught offshore by one of our trawlers:
Offshore prawn fisheries
Offshore fishing is by trawl, from a trawler. Royal Greenland's trawls are fitted with sorting grids and escape panels that lead any larger fish that have entered the trawl opening back into the sea. Royal Greenland also supports the research and development of less invasive trawling methods with less impact on the seabed and reduced fuel consumption for the fishing vessels.
Offshore fishing
The trawl is lowered several hundred meters onto the seabed, where the prawns are trapped in the net and hauled on board for processing.
Processing onboard
Onboard, the prawns are sorted and then processed as either cooked or raw. The prawns are individually quick frozen (IQF) or gently frozen in a horizontal freezer; all within a few hours after leaving the sea.
Processing
Cold-water prawns for Raw and Cooked with shell are processed on board our trawlers, before being shipped to customers around the world or to our production plants for further processing.