Since the Bronze Age when whalebones were used in dwelling places, the Scots have hunted whales. The commercial whaling industry is thought to have started in the twelfth century by the Basques, who hunted the Northern Right Whale in the Bay of Biscay. The British later discovered the Right and Humpback whales in the Arctic seas and recruited Basques whalers on board to assist them.

The British Government introduced the Bounty Act in 1749, offering 40 shillings per ton on all ships that were fitted out in this country that were 200 tons or more. The Act of 1749 gave rise to new developments for the use of the whale oil, utilising it mainly for lighting purposes. The beginning of the 1800's saw a dramatic increase in the number of whaling ports, in order to support the demand for the whale products.

The two main Scottish ports being based at Dundee and Peterhead. With this increased demand and a lack of control over whale hunting in the Arctic, the whale population soon went into decline and by the early twentieth century the whaling industry had just about ground to a complete halt. The early part of the twentieth century whale processing was carried out at a land station at Olna Firth, Shetland Isle, this was operated by Christian Salvesen who later became the largest whaling organisation in the world.