Category: News

It is gratifying to report that the first Green step has been achieved at Matís. The implementation of Green Steps in Matís' operations began at the beginning of 2022, and the first step was approved by the Environment Agency last Thursday, March 16.  

The green steps are a total of five steps. Steps 1-4 are grouped into seven categories, each of which has a different number of actions to fulfill. The last step, step 5, concerns only the environmental management of the workplace, divided into six elements and actions.  

The implementation of Green Steps at Matís does not only extend to our headquarters in Reykjavík, but all establishments must participate, in all categories and functions.

In step 1, we are starting a journey towards more environmentally friendly advantages, thinking and actions regarding Matís' operations. For example, the home ownership association needs to be informed about this journey, but it is also key to introduce the requirements of the steps to purchasing partners, storekeepers, cleaners/cleaning companies, the kitchen as well as all other establishments and staff.  

The requirements of the steps are, among other things, that procurement partners always trade products, i.e. there are some advantages that have environmental certification. In this connection, it is important to know well the certification marks that are recognized and under strict quality standards.  

The goal of Green Steps is to:  

• Reduce the negative environmental impact of Matís' operations 
• Promote the environmental awareness of staff 
• Increase the well-being of staff and improve the working environment  
• Reduce operating costs 
• Implement priorities in environmental matters 
• Actions in environmental matters are visible

The Green Steps team at Matís consists of the following passionate minds: Ásta Heiðrún Pétursdóttir, Anna Berg Samúelsdóttir, Birgir Örn Smárason, Eva Margrét Jónudóttir, Laura Malinauskaite and Justine Vanhalst.

Comparison of microbial communities from atmosphere and lava from two different active volcanic areas in Iceland, Surtsey and Fimmvörðuhálsi.

Aurelien Daussin, PhD student at Matís, has had a scientific article published in the journal Microorganisms (MDPI). The article is entitled "Comparison of Atmospheric and Lithospheric Culturable Bacterial Communities from Two Dissimilar Active Volcanic Sites, Surtsey Island and Fimmvörðuháls Mountain in Iceland". Matís instructors and staff Pauline Vannier and Viggó Þór Marteinsson are also co-authors of the article.

The aim of the study was to evaluate and compare the diversity of culturable microbial communities in lava at two different Icelandic volcanoes, on the island of Surtsey and on Fimmvörðuhálsi, and investigate their origin. Air and lava samples were collected in 2018-2019 from both volcanic areas. The main results showed that the origin of most of the culturable microorganisms in the lava lumps came from the local environment (85%), while others have traveled far.

You can read the entire article here.

New Zealand and Iceland are islands whose populations are strongly shaped by their proximity to the ocean. Both nations are highly dependent on the ocean, and the sustainable use of marine resources is therefore important for the survival and economy of the nations.

Last week, three Matís employees visited New Zealand, CEO Oddur Már Gunnarsson, Rósa Jónsdóttir project manager and Sophie Jensen, project manager, to take part in the workshop "Algal research and opportunities". The workshop was organized by Cawthron Institute which is one of New Zealand's largest scientific institutes with a special focus on environmental issues. Participants included representatives from New Zealand stakeholders such as NewFish, AgriSea, Plant & Food Research and Scion Research. International guests who attended the workshop were from the Kelp Forest Foundation, RISE, SAMS, Nordic Seafarm, Ghent University, UiT, Blu3, Nofima and Universidad de Los Lagos.
The goal of the workshop was to establish joint research and commercial projects with a focus on the production and utilization of algae.

On February 28, 2023, Oddur Már Gunnarsson, CEO of Matís, and Volker Kuntzsch, CEO, wrote Cawthron Institute under a partnership agreement. The aim of the agreement is to establish a cooperation platform between Iceland and New Zealand in the field of research related to marine resources. The collaboration will support the development of knowledge and the promotion of research, from idea to market. Increased cooperation and mutual support will strengthen Matís and the Cawthron Institute to strengthen the blue bioeconomy.

Jónas Rúnar Viðarsson, director of value creation at Matís, is currently present North Atlantic Seafood forum (NASF), in Bergen Norway.

Similar to 200 miles on mbl.is report today, Jónas talks about how important new protein sources are for growing feed production for salmon farming.

At the conference, Jónas presented the SYLFEED project that Matís is working on, and the goal of the project is to develop and design a value chain for the production of protein from forest products. Imports of protein for use in feed amount to 70% in Europe and the product of the SYLFEED project will be used as a high quality protein in fish feed in order to stem the levels of these increasing imports.

In his talk, Jónas also covered new proteins from microalgae, protozoa and insects.

Read the news on mbl.is here.

Find out more about the SYLFEED project here:

Development of unicellular protein from wood for use in feed for farmed salmon

Similar to The farmer's newspaper reported in its latest issue that Matís is now working on accurately analyzing the nutritional value and utilization ratio of lamb meat and lamb carcass by-products.

Measurements of nutrients are carried out on meat, offal and organs. The focus is on the measurements of protein and fat, which determine the energy value, but measurements of water, the total amount of minerals and selected vitamins and minerals are also carried out.

The project is extensive and provides invaluable information on the nutritional value of each individual piece of meat. With new data, it will be possible to improve cost and margin calculations during processing and product price estimation.

Read the full articles, here.

Find out more about the project here:

Discection yields and nutrient value of Icelandic lamb meat and organs

Páll Gunnar Pálsson, a food scientist and former employee at Matís, recently launched the website Fish and coffee. There, the policy will be to maintain informative articles about fishing, processing and the effect of marine products.

Páll Gunnar has over the years put together a number of manuals on food processing of various kinds and is a wealth of knowledge on these topics. The website is accessible at fishurogkaffi.is.

Since 2005, the North Atlantic Seafood forum (NASF) has been an annual event where managers and stakeholders in the fishing industry and aquaculture meet in Bergen to learn about the main innovations and compare books. This time, NASF will be held on March 7-9. and about 1000 people are expected to attend the event. In recent years, online participation in the event has been offered, but this time, that option will not be offered. The program is particularly exciting this time, as a total of over 150 lectures will be given in 26 seminars. Don't miss this event!

Since 2005, managers and stakeholders in the fishing and aquaculture industry have flocked to Bergen annually to attend the NASF conference. The target group of this three-day conference has traditionally been managers in the fishing industry, aquaculture and related industries, ie. device manufacturers, marketing companies, banks, insurance companies, carriers, consulting companies, etc. Despite the cost of participation, between 800 and 1,000 people have attended the event each year, which shows how important this conference is to the target audience. The program this year is particularly exciting and has been published on nor-seafood.com.

If we take a look at the program, the following seminars deserve special attention:

• Aquaculture salmon market
• Land-based aquaculture and new tech
• Aquafeed summit
• Global whitefish summit
• Pelagic industry summit
• Shrimp summit
• Sustainability seminar
• Seafood investor seminar
• Decarbonization summit

As often before, Icelandic companies and individuals occupy a large place in the program. First of all, it should be mentioned that Marel and Benchmark Genetics/Stofnfisk are among the main sponsors of the conference and will also have presentations on the latest things that the companies have to offer. Then Landeldi will have a presentation of its structure, and most of the Icelandic aquaculture companies will also have presentations in the investor seminar section.

In recent years, fewer people have come to NASF than they want to, as it is a unique opportunity to meet all the key managers and influencers in the fisheries and aquaculture industry in one place, and hear what is the latest in the industry. Accommodation in Bergen is going fast during the event, so we encourage people to register early. Registration is taking place here.

Those who want to learn more about the event can contact jonas@matis.is or by phone 4225107.