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On Friday the 7th and Saturday the 8th of November, a conference will be held in Höfn and Smyrlabjörg on business and innovation on the shores of Vatnajökull.

The conference begins with an address by the tourism director Ólafur Ýrar Atladóttir. On Friday evening, the harvest festival of the tourism industry will be held in Smyrlabjörg and starts with a dinner at 20.30.

Many interesting talks will be on the agenda and people are encouraged to attend. A lecture by Guðmundur H. Gunnarsson, project manager at Matís, can be accessed here.

As shown in the program (see here) the conference starts on Friday in Höfn but in the evening the conference will be transferred to Hotel Smyrlabjörg where the Harvest Festival of the State of Vatnajökull and the Tourism Association of A-Skaftafellssýsla will be held. Saturday's program will also take place at Smyrlabjörg.

The conference is free, but the price for the harvest festival is ISK 4,900.

Sandra Björg's participation in the conference and harvest festival must be announced by e-mail sbs@hi.is or by phone 470-8044 no later than Monday 3 November 2008.

It is possible to stay at Smyrlabjörg, but a room must be booked there, phone 478-1074.

Last Wednesday, Matís opened a food workshop in Höfn in Hornafjörður. Einar K. Guðfinnsson, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, opened the workshop in the presence of a large crowd, but well over two hundred people attended.

Following the formal opening, guests listened to a few short lectures from Matís staff while offering refreshments made from local ingredients, such as salted fish, foals, smoked duck, ice cream, etc. but Matís has been involved in the development, design and marketing of these foods.

Matarsmiðjan is specially set up to support entrepreneurs and companies who want to start value-added small-scale production of food from Icelandic raw materials.

The picture shows Einar K. Guðfinnsson cutting a ribbon at the formal opening, but the Minister used special lobster scissors for the work. With him in the picture are Sjöfn Sigurgísladóttir, CEO of Matís, Hjalti Þór Vignisson, Mayor of Höfn and Guðmundur M. Gunnarsson, Project Manager at Matís in Höfn.

Further information can be found on Matís' website, www.matis.is.

Lecture dr. Harður G. Kristinsson from the opening.

A prototype of a software for fisheries companies is now ready, which proposes the most efficient arrangements for fishing and processing fish, can increase the value of seafood and at the same time contribute to increased profits for companies.

How can fishing and processing be managed so that the most efficient and profitable results are achieved from the operation as a whole? A detailed interview was recently published in Viðskipablaðið with Svein Margeirsson, department manager at Matís, about the FisHmark software, which is entirely Icelandic. The interview can be seen here.

Matís 'switchboard will be closed on November 4th and 5th due to the employees' autumn trip and the opening of a product development center in Höfn in Hörnafjörður.

The direct telephone number of the microbiology department is 422 5116 and the direct telephone number of the chemical department is 422 5154. Other direct telephone numbers of employees can be found on our website www.matis.is.

The service in Borgartún 21 will also be closed these days, but will be open on Skúlagata 4 and at Gylfaflöt 5.

In recent years, consumers' demand for food produced in an environmentally friendly way has increased significantly and foreign buyers of Icelandic fish therefore place great emphasis on quality and traceability in fish processing, as well as a positive image of healthy and unpolluted fish.

The aim of the project is to gather more detailed information than has previously been done on the properties of cod throughout the value chain or from the fishing grounds and in the stomach with precise traceability in mind.

Numerous measurements are made in the value chain of Icelandic seafood. Many of these measurements are carried out by public bodies for various purposes. This project is a collaboration between Matís, the Marine Research Institute, the Directorate of Fisheries, Guðmundur Runólfsson's fish processing plant and HB Grandi. With this collaboration, it is possible to achieve great efficiency by utilizing fishing, monitoring and research trips for sampling and measurement. Chemical and processing measurements are the responsibility of Matís.

The project is very diverse and is intended to answer the following questions:

1. Is there a link between the body of cod and the fat content of the liver?
2. Is there a link between liver fat content and liver index?
3. Does the fat content of the liver affect the utilization of cod in processing?
4. How does gender, age and puberty affect processing characteristics such as fillet utilization, emissions, etc. and how can such information be used in processing forecasts?
5. Can cod be a source of substances that are lacking in the diet of Icelanders?
6. Are the amounts of substances (nutrients and undesirable substances) different between fishing areas?
7. Is there a seasonal difference in the amount of substances?
8. Is there a difference between the amount of unwanted substances in processed fish and fish coming straight from the sea?
9. What is the relationship between the amount of undesirable substances in cod and its age, sex and habitat?

During the first project year, cod was collected from seven fishing trips. Thirty cod were taken each time, followed up through processing and chemical measurements, detailed information about him was recorded at all stages such as location, size, age, weight of liver, utilization, snakes, etc. In addition, water resistance and water are measured in all samples and trace elements and PCBs in selected samples. In two fishing trips (Hafróröllur) a total of 400 liver samples were taken, in which fat and water have been measured, but this information should be used, among other things, to investigate the relationship between the body of cod and the fat content of the liver.

Sampling was successful, but it has proved necessary for professionals to take the samples and perform measurements on board and in processing in order to ensure the quality of the data processed and reduce uncertainty in measurements.

After the first year, it is premature to draw conclusions from the available results. Walking processing is not complete, but it is complex as a large number of variables come into play. It is important that a sufficient number of measurements are available before conclusions are drawn. It is interesting to note, however, that the results indicate that there may be a certain difference between the sexes when utilization, snakes and emissions are examined. For example, the females appear to contain more worms than the hens, but the hens have more release on average. It will be interesting to see if the data processing shows that this is true or not.
The project manager is Ásta M. Ásmundsdóttir, a chemist at Matís ohf in Akureyri.

See more at www.avs.is.

Matís and MPF Inc. recently signed a co-operation agreement between the companies. The agreement includes the companies collaborating on joint research into the development of surimi from underutilized species such as blue whiting and capelin. An article about this is published in Fréttablaðið and can be found here.

Surimi is a fish protein mass that has been made from fish by various methods, and is a very popular product these days. Surimi is used in various products, such as crabmeat, which is widely used in sushi. The market for surimi products has grown very rapidly recently and it is estimated that demand this year is around 600 thousand tonnes, while world production is only around 480 thousand tonnes. In light of these circumstances, the price of surimi has doubled in one year. Matís and MPF see great opportunities for surimi production in Iceland, especially from species that are underused for human consumption.

However, many obstacles need to be overcome to produce quality surimi from species such as blue whiting and capelin. The co-operation agreement includes joint research that addresses these barriers, such as processing methods to reduce development problems in the final product as well as maximizing the gelation properties of the product. Matís has many years of experience in handling and processing seafood, which is very useful in this project, while MPF has extensive experience in the development and industrial production of protein products from various fish species. It is the hope of both companies that profitable surimi processing will rise in Iceland within a few years.

„The utilization of underutilized species in profitable products, such as surimi, is very important for the Icelandic fishing industry. In view of the great shortage of these products, the market is very open for the use of new species in surimi. We now need to put a lot of work into innovation in the Icelandic fisheries sector and get more for our good raw materials. This agreement is going to make a big contribution here "Says Dr. Hörður G. Kristinsson, department manager at Matís

For further information, please contact: Hörður by phone 422-5063 / 858-5063.

The use of ozone when drying fish significantly reduces odors from drying plants, but Matís is working on experiments with the use of ozone in collaboration with Laugafisk in Akranes.

The aim of the project is to reduce odors in the production of dried products from catfish processing by increasing control of the drying process. Due to increased demands on odorless production, it is necessary to work on solutions to improve the production of dried products from by-products.

Various solutions and cleaning equipment can reduce the odor generated during head drying, including the use of ozone. Ozone is a very reactive substance and oxidizes everything it comes in contact with. It was therefore important to examine the effects of ozone on the environment and products. Ozone kills microorganisms, it is quickly destroyed and leaves no residue or odor, like chlorine.

Equipment for the production of ozone has been purchased, and it is used in research in Matís' drying room on odor formation when drying cod heads. Preliminary results showed that by injecting ozone into the drying chamber, odor degradation was significantly reduced.

The graph shows the concentration of odorants in the Matís drying chamber, before and after ozone treatment. A gas sensor (FreshSence II) was used to detect odorants. The main odors detected by the equipment are carbon monoxide (CO), ammonia (NH3) and sulfur dioxide (SO2).

In the near future, the intention is to experiment with the ozone equipment in a custom-built experimental chamber at Laugafisk in Akranes. Dry air will be collected in a special container located on top of the drying chamber and treated with ozone. The effect of ozone on product quality will also be examined.

Matís ohf. and the Agricultural University of Iceland have sought ways to utilize Icelandic barley for human consumption. It is the Agricultural Productivity Fund that has supported this work. The results will be presented at a seminar in the building of the Agricultural University of Iceland in Keldnaholt on 31 October.

Tests have been carried out on the production of barley bread, barley malt and beer. Barley from the Agricultural University's cultivation experiments and from farmers was studied with regard to nutritional value and safety for human consumption. Good results were achieved in the production of barley bread and we were able to produce bread with up to 40% of barley flour against wheat. 600 kg of malt was produced from Icelandic barley and the malt was then used to produce beer. Those who have tasted the beer agree that it is nice and successful in this experiment. Measurements of the chemical content of Icelandic barley indicate that it is suitable for human consumption. There are various possibilities for the use of barley and barley flour in the food industry. Price increases in imported flour products could contribute to making Icelandic barley more competitive than before.

Great progress has been made in the breeding and cultivation of barley in this country. Barley has primarily been used as animal feed, but interest in its use for human consumption has been growing. This is not least because there is more fiber in barley than wheat. From a nutritional point of view, it is important to increase the amount of fiber in the diet of Icelanders. It is particularly interesting that the barley contains water-soluble fiber substances called beta-glucans. These fiber can lower blood cholesterol and have a lowering effect on blood sugar. You can increase the health of bread products by using partial barley instead of flour. It can therefore be recommended that the baking industry start using barley in its production.

Place: House of the Agricultural University of Iceland, Keldnaholt, top floor

Time: Friday, October 31, 2008, 2-4 p.m.

Moderator: Áslaug Helgadóttir

Agenda: