For many years the travelling experience of a landed Scots fish, crustacean or mollusc extended no further than the overnight train from Oban or Peterhead to Billingsgate Market and the dining tables of London.

Their 21st century equivalents at least some of them can expect to roam to the kind of exotic locations that earlier generations of Scots seafood producers would only have vaguely heard of: Seoul, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore. Through the wonders of modern logistics, refrigeration and jet transport the top tables of all of the great cities of the Far East are within reach of the produce of Scotland's pristine sea lochs and rivers and the craft processing plants that add value.

Exploitation of this opportunity, turbocharged by the internet and the burgeoning marketplace of ecommerce, has barely begun, but it is already showing signs of being a significant Scottish industrial breakthrough. Mostly thanks to explosive sales to China, the value of all of the UKs "fish and crustaceans molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates" has soared in recent years, increasing nearly four-fold from £33.5 million in 2010 to £127.7m in 2014. Around 42% of this is latter figure is from Scotland, a proportion with room for growth given that over 60% of all the fish and shellfish landed in the UK are landed in Scotland - and can be branded accordingly.

Conversations over Cullen skink-and-venison dinner with Asian high-end food experts invited to Scotland last month revealed that the campaign to add succulent salmon, langoustines and scallops to the checklist of feelgood Scottish "cues" that mark out the country in the increasingly crowded and noisy global market place (see also whisky, kilts, golf) seems to be progressing well.

All of this explains why the Sunday Herald was been invited to join a chef tour and media group, touring the celebrated Inverawe Smokehouse in the company of a Chinese journalist, a Singaporean chef, the Chef de Partie at the Hong Kong Jockey Club and the influential head of the Hong Kong restaurant association along with SDI's impressively expert and enthusiastic in-market and sector leaders who reinforce the impression of a national effort that knows what it's doing. A Japanese journalist had been and gone by the time this newspaper joined the tour,

Hairnetted and white-coated, we are visiting Inverawe Smokehouse, a showpiece family business that has stuck determinedly to the old - almost rustic - methods of smoking salmon, is an example of the happy marriage of quality and craftsmanship. As Patrick Campbell-Preston, who now runs the royal-warranted business started in the 1970s by his parents explains, there are probably more profitable means of production, but the fetching and carrying of oak logs and the choice of smaller, more flavoursome fish and labour-intensive preparation and packaging. Inverawe has flourished in the UK market, where it does a thriving seasonal gifting business. Ecommerce opens up export opportunities that he is determined to grab. He tells me that his strategy is to "leap-frog" Europe and focus on the Far East.

The Asian visitors, who have the previous day been taken on creel fishing trip are impressed, not just by the smokery and its lush lochside setting, and the little museum which the Campbell-Prestons illustrate the history and methodology of salmon eating. Along with the smokery shop, and Patrick's enthusiastic spiel, it all exudes "story" and "experience" as well as taste, and that, they agree is worth paying a premium price for.

The premium price point is one that is raised again and again. There are plenty of countries in the world with great seafood, and with more of, though Scotland has a wider range than most. Some of these competitor companies - notably Norway have a far better-endowed international marketing operation and are well-entrenched in Asian markets. Even the decent proportion of that £127.7m accrued to Scotland is a drop in the ocean of the vast and teeming Far Eastern market, and still has a long way to go to catch up with Scotland's calling card product of whisky - over £94m of Scotch was sold to the tiny island state of Singapore in the first six months of 2014 (it was almost twice as much in the same period the previous year).

But from fishermen to politicians to industrialists to development professionals, there is a sense that the trickle of produce heading east is capable of becoming a rush. That is certainly the narrative of Seafood Scotland, the industry research and action group that was instrumental has helped create a wider collective organisation the Scottish Seafood Collaborative Group (SSCG).

Launched by Richard Lochhead in 2012 and due for a progress assessment this summer, the SSG runs and funds a number of projects to highlight Scottish seafood across key Asian markets, along with Scottish Development International (SDI), Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO), Scottish Quality Salmon, the Scottish Pelagic Processors Association (SPPA), match-funded through Scotland's E100m share of the EU's European Fisheries Fund.

The aim is to raise key market awareness of Scottish Seafood, educate buyers and maximise opportunities for our produce in emerging markets, focusing on six key Asian target cities: Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo and Singapore.

Buyers, gourmets, housewives in those great population centres, let alone their less-Westernised hinterlands, probably know little about Scotland's "natural larder" of clean cold waters, and probably don't know much about Scotland at all for that matter. While they may associate Scotch whisky with quality and prestige, the respect, accumulated over decades by the hard graft and shoe-leather of generations of ingenious Mad Men, is only beginning to attach to the products of our aquaculture, fisheries and fish processing sectors. Indeed some of the marketing ideas involve associating the two in the buyers' minds with taste matching events and other "piggy-backing" events.

Lacking either the huge marketing budget or the sheer productive volume of some competitors the SSCG is determined to use the pooled brain power of business groups and government to establish Scottish seafood as a premium product in the high-spending restaurants and supermarkets of East Asia. It's all about messaging and branding, and the SSGC exists to bring the best minds in these fields together for a common purpose, and so far it seems to be working.

As ithers see us: Asian foodies on Scots seafood at home and abroad:

Anderson Ho: Executive Sous Chef, Singapore Chefs Association

The freshness of Scottish seafood is unparalleled though I would have liked to see more preparation being used. I have nothing against the cold seafood platter in a silver bowl with shaved ice or the hot seafood platter with herbs ,butter and seafood broth. Perhaps these are favourites that have proven popular with local diners. However it would have been more exciting to see a menu with a more cosmopolitan mix that will appeal to well-travelled diners.

Since Scottish seafood wants to market itself as a premium product exporter, it needs to have a unique selling point that competitors will not have, that will give it an edge over the already entrenched market share held by the Norwegians or, closer to Singapore, the Australians and New Zealanders. They need to do more to explain why consumers should pay a premium for Scottish seafood? The Norwegian Seafood Council conducts regular workshops for chefs in East Asia exploring different methods to prepare salmon and many other types of seafood similar to what Scotland has to offer. It's a continuous education that keeps the chef community aware not just of their presence but reaffirms their commitment to serving their best in Asia.

I like the video promotions of beautiful scenery on the Scottish lochs showing the harvesting methods, it will certainly help to entice people to buy Scottish and its is a good introduction to what Scottish seafood has to offer. But I'm afraid this is not sustainable over time since people get tired of the same promotional campaign very soon.

Anita Cheng - International Team Manager, Hong Kong Chefs Association

We in Hong Kong are quite well informed on Scotland's seafood products as they sponsor the World Association of Chefs Societies and other events in the region, including Hong Kong. Scottish Salmon is well accepted and commended by chefs and customers, though other products are less available and less widely known.

I found the people we met serving Scotland's seafood industry are really passionate about what they are doing and represent the country well. The water is so clean and the seafood is so fresh, it's all very impressive. The farms are smaller than I expected and most operations had personal touches although these can be [problematic to] international importers, especially chain stores on the [grounds of] consistency of product quality.

The culinary scene in Scotland has warm service and good ingredients, in general it was good but to be honest not that exciting (with the exception of Edinburgh's Ondine restaurant). It's a shame that the variety of beautiful seafood is not made easily available in local markets and enjoyed by the general public.

I think Scotland's best strategy would be to move into a niche market instead of the mass market, focus on cities that treasure high quality ingredients with a big supply of good professional chefs. Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai would probably be the best bets for success. We are playing premium prices to so many different countries for their products. Scotland offers a quality alternative. But they need to work with local professional chef bodies to create the Scotland seafood experience.

In fact "storytelling" about Scotland is not that necessary as Asian customers are exposed to ingredients from many countries, they can tell good ingredients from the rest, however clean water and sustainability are the trends of the future in China.

Wang Mingjie : European Bureau Correspondent, China Daily

As the middle class rises in China we will see a high demand for premium seafood. There's all to play for in Scotland, it's just a matter of how they chose to market themselves in China.

Food safety and security is a major issue in China and I think that people are aware that Western products are seen as premium products that not everyone can afford, but if they have the money they are happy to buy into the status that comes from importing from Western countries.

With rapid globalisation more and more people have the chance to travel abroad and see what's going on in Europe and America and see how things could be done better in China. I think what Scottish Seafood have done is fabulous, I truly believe that they have got the highest standards and the quality, for example in how they fillet the salmon and produce it, there is certainly a huge market waiting for them in China if they get the right contacts.

To be honest for Scotland to differentiate itself from the rest of the UK is not all that important, I know there are political elements here, but for the Chinese consumer whether it's from the Scotland or the UK, its similar, they are all western brands,

People are so lovely so passionate about what they are doing, its hard to find anything to criticise, I'm being honest, I'm not trying to be flattering. Seeing all the scenery and how it's been produced, it's very impressive. When you have natural resources like this, it's no wonder that they want to make such a big deal out of it.