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Matís and the Laboratory of Geriatrics, Landakoti 5L, are requesting participants in a study that has been approved by the Science Ethics Committee.

Participants must be adults, 40 years and older with a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 27 kg / m2 (see table with calculated body mass index below). Pregnant or breastfeeding women are excluded from participation. Individuals who are in contact and interested in participating in the study should reduce their intake of omega-3 foods and avoid fish oil for 2 weeks before and during intervention.

See more in leaflet from UI and LSP.

Contact

Viggó Marteinsson

Research Group Leader

viggo@matis.is

The SUSTAIN project, a huge international project, is currently underway, the purpose of which is to drill two holes in the island and utilize the data obtained for various and complex studies. This is the largest study ever conducted on Surtsey and is a multinational group of scientists involved. Matís is a participant in the project, led by dr. Viggó Þ. Marteinsson, but the project as such is under the direction of dr. Magnús Tuma Guðmundsson, professor of geophysics at the University of Iceland and dr. Marie Jackson, Associate Professor at the University of Utah in the United States. 

The researchers involved in the study are from Iceland, the United States, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Italy, New Zealand and Australia. Leading researchers in the project on behalf of Iceland are in addition to Magnús Tuma, Andri Stefánsson professor of geochemistry at the University of Iceland, Viggó Þór Marteinsson microbiologist from Matís, Tobias B. Weisenberger geochemist from Ísor and Kristján Jónasson geologist from the Icelandic Institute of Natural History. More specialists and technicians from these institutions will participate, but also experienced drilling geologists from Verkís and the Geotechnical Institute will be involved in the project, as well as a group of graduate students and new doctors.

A great deal of effort is put into not disturbing the ecosystem of Surtsey with this extensive research. All parties involved in the project and working on the island have received detailed instructions regarding the preparation and the conditions there to ensure a minimum of disruption. In addition, the Coast Guard has provided a helicopter that loads people and equipment back and forth so that intrusion will be kept to an absolute minimum in this sensitive and beautiful place. 

See more on the website of the University of Iceland.

Website of the project.

Contact

Anna Kristín Daníelsdóttir

Deputy CEO / Director of Research & Innovation

annak@matis.is

From the 12th to the 14th of July. A meeting of high-ranking officials from the European Union and members of the governments of Brazil and South Africa took place. The meeting was set up to welcome a new agreement on cooperation between these parties to place greater emphasis on understanding the link between global warming and its impact on the marine ecosystem (the blue bioeconomy).

Matís participated in this meeting but two projects, MareFrame and PrimeFish, discuss the subject of the meeting directly and indirectly, but both of these projects are managed by Matís, under the strong guidance of dr. Anna Kristín Daníelsdóttir (MareFrame) and dr. Guðmundur Stefánsson (PrimeFish).

It is safe to say that this event is an important beginning for the co-operation of these nations and other nations with the Atlantic, and it is therefore important that Iceland was represented at this event.

It is interesting to note that a new project, FarFish, which is chaired by Jónas R. Viðarsson at Matís, also discusses issues that are directly related to the topic of the meeting and concerns the fishing of the European fishing fleet outside the jurisdiction of the European Union.

Further information: 

• Cooperation between Europe, Brazil and South Africa 
• MareFrame
• PrimeFish
• FarFish

Contact

Margrét Geirsdóttir

Project Manager

mg@matis.is

This spring, an agreement was made with Matís for the Mjólk project in many forms, where grants are awarded for entrepreneurship, where milk is used as a raw material. 8 applications were received for grants and the projects were of various kinds.

At a meeting of Auðhumla's board on June 29, it was decided to award three grants this time:

Fascinating power of organic whey

• Kr. 3,000,000.-
• Biobú and more
• Mysa is well known and widely used in various products around the world. However, the utilization potential has been lacking and large quantities are being discarded. The project promotes innovation and increased utilization of organic whey that is currently generated in the production of Biobú's dairy products. Utilization of by-products contributes to less waste in accordance with the United Nations Global Goals.

2. Jökla, Icelandic milk liqueur 

• Kr. 3,000,000.-
• Pétur Pétursson
• The project is quite innovative, as alcoholic beverages from Icelandic milk have never been produced or whey has been used to make liqueurs. The prototype of the product is ready and the grant will be used in further work due to the tests and processing processes.

3. A spike builds up

• Kr. 500.000.-
• Birna G. Ásbjörnsdóttir and Guðmundur Ármanna Pétursson
• Grant for a preliminary project on the development of health products from colostrum. Broddur is a unique product that is hardly used in Iceland today and breast is a product that few people know and is negligible. Icelandic milk is unique in that it contains Beta-Casein A2, which has been tested for health.

Matís will take care of project management.

Matís received a grant from the AVS fund to analyze the characteristics of cod heads.

In this preliminary project, the intention is to analyze the properties of cod heads, by examining different parts of it. The analysis will support the establishment of a database that can be an important part of the further development of valuable products from cod heads to date to offset the recent market decline in dried cod heads. 

The project is expected to be completed in the spring of 2018.

Contact

Ólafur H. Friðjónsson

Research Group Leader

olafur@matis.is

A project is now starting at Matís, which is funded by the Rannís Technology Development Fund. The project is called Súrþang and refers to the possibilities that exist in the treatment of seaweed with lactic acid bacteria and other fermentation microorganisms.

The aim of the project is to develop and standardize the action method of seaweed based on the treatment of lactic acid bacteria and other fermentation microorganisms. The lactic acid bacteria break down polysaccharides in the seaweed, making it more digestible and usable as a feed supplement rich in oligosaccharides and polyphenols with a variety of bioactivity and prebiotic properties.

Contact

Sæmundur Elíasson

Project Manager

saemundur.eliasson@matis.is

Five companies, with support from the Technology Development Fund and the AVS Fund, are currently working on the development of a new system in high-speed fishing boats that ensures good handling, cooling and finishing of catches and records information in a cloud.

The companies are Frostmark ehf. which produces cooling equipment, Trefjar ehf. which produces Cleopatra fast fishing boats, the fishing company Blakknes ehf. which makes such boats, Sæplast which produces pots and Matís, which directs the research aspects of the project.

Fiber boats are very productive, but there are some problems with installing a controlled cooling system in these boats. Frostmark has designed a new type of sea cooling system that circulates cold seawater at consistently low temperatures. 

In this project, a fully equipped system for high-speed fishing boats will be designed, which delivers cooled catch directly to a tank in a train, where recycled cooling sea is used in a bleeding tank on deck. The benefit to the fishing industry is well-cooled catch, which gives the possibility of processing into more expensive products and strengthens the competitiveness of fast-fishing boats. 

News about the project was published recently Morgunblaðið.

The entrepreneurial company Margildi recently received the international iTQi (International Taste & Quality Institute) Superior Taste Award for food quality awards for its herring halibut. The award was presented at a ceremony in the historic Cercle Royal Gaulois, in Brussels in the presence of a large crowd. According to Margildi's employees, it is considered quite an art to make fish oil (omega-3) so good that 135 master chefs and foodies like it.

The award was given for Margildi's herring halibut both with and without orange flavor. The award is comparable to the Michelin stars of the restaurant and hotel industry, and Margildi is a real pleasure to be a country and a nation to be honored in this way.

The award is a great recognition and will strengthen the marketing of Margildi's herring halibut, as retailers in the consumer market will be allowed to label the herring halibut with iTQi certification boards that confirm the taste quality of the halibut.

Margildi's unique patented production method for herring halibut contributes to almost twice the utilization of raw halibut from herring, capelin and mackerel by processing it for human consumption instead of animal husbandry. This is, among other things, an environmental issue, because by making it possible for people to consume fish oil directly, an intermediary can be omitted, which is the digestive tract of animals such as salmonids. Margildi therefore works to direct the use of fish oil as much as possible into liquid form as a dietary supplement and also as an additive in food, the so-called target diet. This enables more people to consume omega-3s while reducing the use of packaging. 

Margildi works in collaboration with several Icelandic companies on the development of healthy foods that contain omega-3 from fish oil, such as fresh pasta, snacks from butter, skyr, Icelandic rapeseed oil mixture, bread and more.

Entrepreneurial companies such as Margildi need a strong support network of public and private parties to get started. Without the financial support of the current shareholders of Margildi, AVS, the Fisheries Research Fund, the Rannís Technology Development Fund, the East Iceland Development Fund, the Ministry of Industry and Innovation, Íslandsbanki and TM, this would not have been possible. This also applies to invaluable collaboration with other parties such as Matís, the University of Akureyri, Síldarvinnslan, HB Grandi, Loðnuvinnslan, Eskja, Skinney Þinganes, Ísfélagið, Vinnslustöðin, Efla, Alta, Kanon, KPMG, Samhenta, Sjávarútvegsráðstefnun, Sjávarklasann. party.

Margildi's award list has been sold to Europe and the USA and will go on sale in Iceland at the end of the summer under a new brand and it is likely that more members will be added to the group soon.
Margildi continues to work steadily on further research, product development and product marketing, as well as preparations for the construction of its own fish oil factory.

Photos from the award ceremony can be found found on the Debatty website.

Margildi was founded in 2013 by Erling Viðar Leifsson and Snorri Hreggviðsson.

More information on Margildi's website

Contact

Jónas Rúnar Viðarsson

Director of Business and Development

jonas@matis.is

Here before, it was considered a sign of great catch claw and good catch to come ashore with so much catch that people could not get around the deck themselves without wading fish up to the waist. Fortunately, this has changed considerably in recent years, as fishermen are more aware of the importance of good handling of our precious seafood. 

The National Association of Small Boat Owners (LS) and Matís have in recent years been responsible for an effort where small boat fishermen are encouraged to take good care of all catches. A special project, Beautiful Fish, was tailored around this effort but on Facebook page of the project people share pictures that show different treatment of catch. It is safe to say that the beautiful fish has attracted attention. 

Most recently, all small boat fishermen received a thermometer as a gift along with a booklet from LS and Matís. A good package therefore found about 1000 small boat sailors, all around the country. 

The purpose of the project - the importance of good handling of catch

For many reasons, small boat owners have a unique opportunity to gain a unique position in the markets with their products. By drawing attention to the improved handling of catches, special attention is being paid to the possibility of increasing quality through cooling, not least due to the short time from fishing to processing, which is one of the characteristics of the small boat industry. 

The gift is intended for small boat owners, who want the fish markets that are landed at to record the temperature of the catch at auction. 

In the ever-increasing competition in the markets and the increased consumer awareness, the opportunities of the small boat industry are obvious. The freshness of the raw material, the environmental impact of the fishing and the image that small boat fishing has for consumers are paramount, but in order to take advantage of these competitive advantages, it is necessary to ensure maximum product quality.