News

The handicraft slaughterhouse in Seglbúðir in Landbrot

At the handicraft slaughterhouse in Sailing camp in Landbrot employs a pioneer who asked Matís for a solution to his problems. Farmer Erlendur Björnsson had long had plans to set up a meat processing plant to process products from his own raw materials. For this he had thought of using a large shed by the town, which he had built up a few years ago, but was rather poorly used, mostly as storage for equipment and tools.

After some deliberation, it was agreed that the premises could be used as a smaller slaughterhouse, in addition to traditional meat processing. It can be said that it is not possible to get closer to the ideology "Straight from the farm".

A great deal of preparation went into it, which was based, among other things, on the design and organization of the slaughterhouse and the procedures required there, and also a lot of time was spent communicating with official regulators as this was the first slaughterhouse of its kind in the country. It was also necessary to convince licensors and regulators that even small slaughterhouses, with limited manpower, where work processes are based more on craftsmanship than automation, can meet all the requirements for slaughterhouses. It has now been two slaughter seasons since the opening of the slaughterhouse, at which time it has been confirmed that the house's products have become very desirable, as the quality is chronic, whether in terms of hygiene or taste and texture.

The next steps of Erlendur Björnsson and Þórunn Júlíusdóttir, the pioneers in Seglbúðir in collaboration with Matís, are to increase the operation of the building and the preparation of a large animal slaughterhouse, i.e. bulls and horse slaughter, already underway. This activity will strengthen the activities and create some jobs in the countryside in addition to those that were created at the opening of the sheep slaughterhouse.

For further information Óli Þór Hilmarsson at Matís.

News

Matís advertises for craft companies

This summer, the "Craft Reach" project was launched, which aims to support start-ups and current small producers in remote and sparsely populated areas. Matís is one of the seven partners in the project, which is funded for three years by the Northern Pheryphery and Arctic program. The project will be based on the success and experience of the "Économusée Craft International" project that laid the foundation for this project.

The main focus of the project is to help build and market craft businesses in remote and sparsely populated areas, and in the process encourage and inspire young people. Partners in the project are from Norway, Canada, the Faroe Islands, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Iceland and Greenland.

Matís is currently looking for craft companies that are interested in becoming an ÉCONOMUSÉE and are connected to the "Craft Reach" network. For more information, visit the website, www.economusee.eu.

There are already three ÉCONOMUSÉEs in Iceland, they are Leir 7 in Stykkishólmur, Arfleifð in Djúpavogur and Gestastofa Sútarans in Sauðárkrókur.  

Craft companies interested in participating must meet the following conditions:

ÉCONOMUSÉE is a company that:

  • Use traditional craft methods
  • Produce traditional and / or new products with specific cultural connections
  • Open its doors to the public to introduce the craft and the people behind it
  • Has a building designed so that guests can show the processing and products
  • Aims to become financially independent

Further information about the project or the current craft company can be found at www.economusee.eu.

If you think you meet the above criteria and are interested in being part of this exciting network, you can contact Gunnþórunn Einarsdóttir ( gunna@matis.is).

The deadline to apply is December 21.

Reports

Sub-chilling of salmon

Published:

01/12/2015

Authors:

Gunnar Thordarson, Magnea Karlsdottir, Roger Pedersen, Magnus Johannsson, Albert Hognason

Supported by:

Norwegian Research Council

Contact

Gunnar Þórðarson

Regional Manager

gunnar.thordarson@matis.is

Sub-chilling of salmon

The aim of the project was to increase the quality of fresh salmon production, by improving the cooling chain during production and transport. By using supercooling methods, salmon producers will be able to reduce their production costs due to lower transport costs and at the same time improve the quality of production. The salmon was cooled to -1.5 ° C which increased the lifespan and quality of the product. In addition to improving production during slaughter, gutting and packaging, supercooling can also create opportunities for further processing; filleting, smoking, chopping, etc. to improve their production through increased utilization and value along with happier customers. Among other things, supercooling makes it possible to transport the refrigerant into the fish flesh instead of using ice for transport. The project compared the cooling chain of super-chilled salmon with conventional. The former was transported without ice but the traditional one with ice, for further processing in Finland and Norway. Such a comparison was also made between super-chilled and traditional salmon that was transported to Iceland via Oslo on the one hand and to Tokyo via Oslo on the other. The results give rise to optimism about the use of supercooling in the salmon transport chain, both to reduce transport costs and to ensure product quality.

The ultimate goals of the project was to increase quality of fresh salmon products, provide a more secure cold chain of fresh product, and lower production and logistic costs. Having the fish in a sub-chilled state throughout the production, will give Grieg Seafood several quality advantage including firmer raw material and lower bacteria and enzyme activity in the fresh fish. Fish was packed in a sub-chilled state of -1.5 ° C, hence extending shelf-life and quality. This will have several advantages for the primary producer, resulting in products with higher yield and more value, and in products of higher quality for their customer of secondary processing. Secondary processors will have better control of the product logistic and extended time for selling fresh product with longer shelf-life. Using the sub-chilling method, no ice will be needed during logistic, saving enormous transportation costs, especially in airfreight. Comparison between the cold-chain of sub-chilled and traditional produced salmon was executed in this project, with the former transported without additional ice. The salmon was trucked from Simanes to a secondary processors in Finland and Denmark with excellent result. The two groups were also flown to Iceland, via Oslo, and also to Tokyo via truck to Oslo. The result of this comparisons demonstrates that the sub-chilling method could be used to minimize transportation cost and secure the product quality during logistics.

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Reports

Full utilization of proteins from Lumpfish

Published:

01/12/2015

Authors:

Margrét Geirsdóttir

Supported by:

AVS (V12 062-12)

Contact

Margrét Geirsdóttir

Project Manager

mg@matis.is

Full utilization of proteins from Lumpfish

The aim of the project was to develop new protein products from raw materials generated during the processing of grayling eggs. In this way, the aim was to extract even more value from the raw material by producing valuable protein products from grayling. The project examined the development of three products, 1) isolated protein for surimi, 2) dried protein as an additive and 3) hydrolyzed protein as an additive and / or dietary supplement. Protein isolates from grayling meat were difficult to isolate, but the results of bioactivity measurements of products from hydrolyzed proteins are promising for further research.

The aim of the project was to develop new products from lump fish to increase the yield and value of the catch. In the project the aim was to develop three types of products: 1) isolated proteins for surimi, 2) dry proteins as additives and 3) hydrolysed proteins as additives and / or food supplements. The project revealed that protein isolation from lump fish is difficult but hydrolyzed proteins showed promising bioactive properties.

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Reports

Effect of salt content in slurry ice on quality of fresh and thawed Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus)

Published:

01/12/2015

Authors:

Paulina E. Romotowska, Björn Margeirsson, Gísli Kristjánsson, Sigurjón Arason, Magnea G. Karlsdóttir, Sæmundur Elíasson, Arnljótur B. Bergsson

Supported by:

AVS Fisheries Research Fund (R 12 029-12)

Contact

Sigurjón Arason

Chief Engineer

sigurjon.arason@matis.is

Effect of salt content in slurry ice on quality of fresh and thawed Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus)

The aim of the experiment was to improve methods of cooling and storage of fresh produce in order to improve the quality of frozen mackerel products. A comparison was made of cooling in conventional ice scrapers and salt-improved ice scrapers. By adding salt to the ice scraper, it was hoped that the temperature of fresh mackerel could be lowered and thus its quality maintained longer. The fresh mackerel was stored for up to seven days after fishing. Another aim of the study was to investigate whether this different cooling of fresh mackerel affects the deterioration of the quality of frozen mackerel products. The results showed that the temperature distribution in the pots was related to salt concentration as lower temperatures were obtained in pots with higher salt content (3.3%). On the other hand, the cold storage had a much greater effect on the quality factors such as the freshness and release of the mackerel products compared to the effect of pre-cooling, as the effect of different salt concentrations in the ice scraper was negligible in terms of these quality factors.

The present experiment is part of the research project - Increased value of mackerel through systematic chilling. The aim of this study was to improve methods of chilling and storing of fresh products in order to obtain better quality of frozen mackerel products. This project was carried out to develop slurry ice mixture with addition of extra salt, with the intention of temperature decrease during chill storage up to seven days after catch. Secondary objective of this research was to investigate if different chilling condition of fresh fish has an effect on the quality assignment of long-term frozen mackerel products. The results showed that temperature distribution in the tubs was correlated to the salt concentration where lower temperature was obtained in the tub with higher salt content (3.3%). Furthermore, freshness, gaping and peritoneum deterioration have been affected by the storage process but not by different salt concentration in slurry ice during chilled storage. Due to high quality variation within the same group of the mackerel is needed to conduct more methods for quality evaluation such as oxidation analysis and sensory analysis.

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Reports

Effects of temperature fluctuations during storage and transport on quality and stability of frozen mackerel products

Published:

01/12/2015

Authors:

Magnea G. Karlsdóttir, Paulina E. Romotowska, Sigurjón Arason, Ásbjörn Jónsson, Magnús V. Gíslason, Arnljótur B. Bergsson

Supported by:

AVS Fisheries Research Fund (R 040-12)

Contact

Sigurjón Arason

Chief Engineer

sigurjon.arason@matis.is

Effects of temperature fluctuations during storage and transport on quality and stability of frozen mackerel products

The aim of the project "Maximizing the quality of frozen mackerel products" is to study the quality and stability of mackerel products in frost according to the seasons and the effects of different pre-cooling, freezing and storage conditions. By looking at the interplay of these factors, it is possible to maximize the quality and utilization of mackerel and therefore at the same time its value. This is the first report from the project and it deals with the effects of temperature fluctuations during storage and transport on the quality and stability of frozen mackerel products. Evaluation factors included release, enzyme activity and evolution. Containers were transported to Japan. Whole frozen raw materials provided in late July and early September were frozen and stored at -25 ° C for one month. During "transfer", the product was stored at -18 ° C ± 5 ° C for one month. The samples were measured before freezing, after the "transfer", and thereafter every 3 months in storage at -25 ° C. For comparison, samples were stored at a constant temperature (-25 ° C). In addition, whole frozen mackerel products were stored for up to 12 months at -18 ° C as well as -15 ° C to assess the effects of different storage conditions. There was a clear difference in the quality and stability of frozen mackerel products that were stored at low and stable temperatures compared to products that were subjected to heat stress, for example due to container transport. The results show that mackerel should not be stored above - 25 ° C.

The aim of the project “Quality optimization of frozen mackerel products” is to study the quality and stability of mackerel products during frozen storage as affected by season, different pre-cooling methods, freezing techniques and storage conditions. This is the first report from the project and describes the effects of temperature fluctuations during storage and transportations on quality and stability of frozen mackerel products. The main attributes investigated were eg gaping, enzymatic activity and rancidity. Container shipment were simulated. Whole mackerel caught late July and early September was frozen and stored at -25 ° C for one month. During “transportation”, the products were heat abused at -18 ° C ± 5 ° C for one month. Samples were analyzed after freezing, the transportation and with 3 months interval during subsequent storage at -25 ° C. For comparison, samples were stored at stable temperature (-25 ° C). Additionally, frozen mackerel products were stored for up to 12 months at -18 ° C and -15 ° C to further evaluate the effects of storage temperature. A significant difference in quality and stability were detected between products stored at stable and low temperature and products that underwent heat abuse during eg transportation. The results demonstrate that frozen mackerel products should not be stored at higher temperatures than -25 ° C.

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Reports

Effect of brining and frozen storage on physicochemical properties of well-fed Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) intended for hot smoking and canning

Published:

01/12/2015

Authors:

Paulina E. Romotowska, María Gudjónsdóttir, Magnea G. Karlsdóttir, Sigurjón Arason, Ásbjörn Jónsson, Hörður G. Kristinsson, Telma B. Kristinsdóttir

Supported by:

AVS Fisheries Research Fund (R 040-12)

Contact

Sigurjón Arason

Chief Engineer

sigurjon.arason@matis.is

Effect of brining and frozen storage on physicochemical properties of well-fed Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) intended for hot smoking and canning

Mackerel (Scomber scombrus) is a relatively new species off the coast of Iceland. As mackerel is a fatty fish with a short shelf life, it therefore requires maximization of storage conditions and processing processes. In this project, changes in the chemical and physical properties of the heat treatment of salted and unsalted mackerel were studied. Prior to processing, the fish was stored for 6, 9 and 12 months at -18 ° C and -25 ° C with a view to examining how well Icelandic frozen mackerel is suitable as a raw material in canned and hot-smoked products. To examine the effect of heat treatment on the processing properties of mackerel, the samples were heated to 75 ° C (to simulate smoking) and 90 ° C (to simulate canning). Prolonged storage in the freezer had a negative effect on the raw material due to increased development and the fish stored at -18 ° C had a significantly poorer quality compared to fish stored at -25 ° C before processing. The results showed that a product heated to 75 ° C had a higher water content, higher water resistance and higher utilization and was also higher compared to a product heated to 90 ° C. Overall, the results indicate that a fat summer marker could be well suited for the processing of canned and hot-smoked products.

Atlantic Mackerel (Scomber scombrus) is a novel species in Iceland and as a fatty fish with a short shelf-life it requires optimization of storage and processing conditions. Physicochemical changes of brined and un-brined mackerel were analyzed during frozen storage (6, 9, 12 months) at -18 ° C vs. -25 ° C with the aim of investigating the suitability of using well-fed frozen mackerel as raw material for canned and hot-smoked products. Heat treatments to a core temperature of 90 ° C (representing canning) and 75 ° C (representing hot-smoking) were applied. Prolonged frozen storage showed negative effects on the raw material prior to heat processing due to an increased level of lipid oxidation, where fish stored at -18 ° C was of significantly poorer quality than fish stored at -25 ° C. Moreover, the results indicated that heat treatment resulting in a core temperature of 75 ° C showed higher water content, liquid holding capacity, heating yield as well as lower maximum shear force of texture compared to mackerel heated to a core temperature of 90 ° C. Overall, analyzes indicated that the fatty summer mackerel was well suited for the production of canned and hot-smoked products.

View report

Reports

Seasonal and geographical variation in chemical composition and lipid stability of Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) caught in Icelandic waters

Published:

01/12/2015

Authors:

Paulina E. Romotowska, Magnea G. Karlsdóttir, María Guðjónsdóttir, Sigurjón Arason, Hörður G. Kristinsson

Supported by:

AVS Fisheries Research Fund (R 040-12)

Contact

Sigurjón Arason

Chief Engineer

sigurjon.arason@matis.is

Seasonal and geographical variation in chemical composition and lipid stability of Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) caught in Icelandic waters

During the time that mackerel is off the coast of Iceland, it is eaten a lot, which causes it to gain weight quickly, with the result that the meat becomes very sensitive to handling. In this study, mackerel caught in the summer seasons of 2012 and 2013 (July, August, September) and from different fishing areas (east, northeast, south and southeast) were examined. In order to assess how well the raw material is suitable for processing high-quality products for human consumption, the mackerel was measured in terms of water and fat content, fatty acid composition, color, coloration and free fatty acids. In general, the mackerel collected in the summer of 2012 was of better quality than mackerel from 2013. The results also indicated a variability between fishing months in terms of fat content and the progress of development. Mackerel caught in the middle of the season had the lowest developmental value, indicating that this mackerel is best suited for processing high-quality products for human consumption.

Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) appears in Icelandic waters during its heavy feeding period, resulting in variation in mackerel products quality. Fish caught at different season during the summers of 2012 and 2013 (July, August, September) and at different sites of the Icelandic fishing area (East, Northeast, South and Southeast) were analyzed. Measurements of lipid and water content, fatty acid composition, color changes, lipid hydroperoxide (PV), thiobarbituric reactive substances (TBARS) and free fatty acid (FFA) were studied with the aim of investigating whether this raw material was suitable for the production of high quality products for human consumption. In general, samples collected during the summer of 2012 showed a better condition than fish from 2013. The results indicated seasonal variation in lipid content and rancidity development. The lowest rancidity values were observed in the middle of the Icelandic catching season, indicating that this raw material was best suited for production of high quality products. Moreover, geographical variation of the mackerel catches had an impact on the saturation of the fatty acids, and appeared as follows: East> Southeast> Northeast> South.

View report

News

The global supply of fish can hardly be maintained without farmed fish

Demand for fish is steadily increasing and the supply of farmed fish must therefore be increased in order to maintain a stable supply and reduce the pressure on fishing. Fishmeal is the predominant source of protein in fish feed, but the production of the meal has shrunk as the utilization of pelagic fish in more valuable products has increased due to better fishing technology and better cooling of the raw material.

At Matís, dr. Ragnar Jóhannsson, project manager, has been working on various projects aimed at finding raw materials other than fishmeal for aquaculture and utilizing unused raw materials. Waste from cellulose factories in Sweden and the cultivation of biomass in geothermal gases from the Hellisheidi Geothermal Power Plant are possibilities that have been explored.

Ragnar has worked with Swedish companies in the production of Single Cell Protein (SCP) from sidestreams from the forest industry. The main goal is to develop a product that replaces fishmeal. It was necessary to find out which microorganisms were most suitable and which sidestreams in cellulose and paper production were best suited for this production. The protein mass is dried and mixed with other raw materials to make aquaculture feed. This feed has been tried in tilapia farming with good results and is currently being developed for char farming.

Another method that has been tried in feed production is to use hydrogen sulphide from the Hellisheidi power plant as an energy source in the cultivation of microbial biomass. The microorganisms grow rapidly on hydrogen sulphide, are then dried and added to aquaculture feed. This project was recently completed after two years of development work, but further research is needed to maximize results.

For further information Ragnar at Matís.

News

Successful Fisheries Conference 2015 behind

Matís participated in the Fisheries Conference 2015, which ended last week. It is safe to say that never before have so many people attended the conference and the organizers are very pleased with how it went. The Matís employees who attended the conference agree.

Online errands

All presentations made at the Fisheries Conference 2015 can now be downloaded from the conference's website under Agenda 2015 . Students from the University of Akureyri have also been out and about Facebook page where you will find a summary of presentations.

Participants

There were about 750 registered participants and there have never been more. The largest number of participants in the conference halls was around 550 people, but many attended only part of the conference. Over three hundred people's meeting rooms were packed into several seminars, as can be seen in the picture above. What goes on outside the conference room is also important, but the Fisheries Conference is a forum where people meet, strengthen relationships and co-operate in the industry. 

Futuristic idea of the Fisheries Conference 2015

Margildi won by a landslide over the Avant-garde idea and Matís warmly congratulates Margildi's employees.

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