Category: News

The fisheries conference will be held at the Grand Hotel in Reykjavík on 8-9. November 2012 and is entitled "Looking to the future". 

 Á the conference There will be more than 30 presentations and seminars will be as follows: 

•  Icelandic fisheries
• Should Icelanders have a joint marketing job?
• Future opportunities in aquaculture
• All raw materials on land?
• Is there a future in full processing in Iceland?
• World supply of competitive demersal species
• Supply of competitive species of pelagic fish in the North Atlantic
• Fishery management and harvesting in Iceland and the EU

You can now download the program Here.

Further information can be found on the Fisheries Conference website, sjavarutvegsradstefnan.is/

3X Technology, Matís and the fish processing company Jakob Valgeir ehf. have jointly been in charge of a research project this summer where a new device, Rotex, has been tested for bleeding cod.

Preliminary results are now available which show a decisive difference in the quality of landed fish that have been bled into Rotex equipment. Traditional bleeding on board longliners in the small boat system is that fish is bled into sludge in a tank which is then discharged by landing into another tank before the fish is taken for gutting. 3X Technology has developed a bleeding device, Rotex, which controls the bleeding process before the fish is processed in a sludge tank on a train, and the company has already obtained a patent for the device.

Increases the quality of landed catch
"There are now results of research on fresh produce, all of which indicate that Rotex equipment can significantly increase the quality of landed catch. The fish was whiter, less blood was measured in it and the quality of the raw material that passed through the equipment turned out to be much more even. Three methods are used to assess quality; sensory evaluation team that relies on subjective evaluation by experts, color analysis with special equipment that relies on objective evaluation of quality and finally the latest methods for evaluation of blood emptying, measurement of red blood cells. The effects of bleeding on frozen products will continue to be monitored for the next eighteen months, and the results will be published later, "says Gunnar Þórðarson, Matís' station manager in Ísafjörður.

It is clear that this is of great interest as the landed catch of small boats is less than 100 thousand tonnes per year, and the increased quality of that catch can be of great importance to the fishing industry and society. The nation's quality of life is largely based on the performance of its most important resource, and it is therefore important to maximize the value that the fisheries sector produces.

The future is based on research and development
"It can be said that the cooperation of parties in the market is the backbone of success in such projects. In this particular project have worked together; the equipment manufacturer 3X Technology, the fish manufacturer Jakob Valgeir ehf. and the research company Matís. However, such projects will not exist without the involvement of research funds, but the project is funded by the AVS Research Fund and the Westfjords Growth Agreement. The future of the Icelandic fisheries sector will be based on research and development to strengthen market competitiveness and ensure sales in the highest paying markets in the future.

Apart from bleeding, cooling the raw material immediately after fishing can be very important. 3X Technology has already developed, in collaboration with Íslandssaga in Suðureyri, sludge equipment for larger boats to quickly cool the catch after bleeding. This delays death stiffening, but no damage processes begin before but after it ends. By delaying the death solidification, it is possible to ensure that gutting, which is carried out on land, does not take place during it, as this causes a great deterioration in the quality of raw materials. The company will continue to develop equipment that is suitable on board boats in the small boat system, "Gunnar concludes.

For further information Gunnar Þórðarson, station manager at Matís.

Rannís Science Week 2012 was held on Friday 28 September. A large number of people attended the science vigil and it is safe to say that never before, but right now, have more people visited Matís' booth.

Icelandic seaweed and Icelandic seaweed was Matís 'theme this time and Matís' stall was decorated in that spirit. There are great opportunities in the kelp and seaweed and it can be expected that in the very next few years there will be many foods that contain both in one form or another. 

At Vísindavökun, seaweed pasta made from Icelandic barley was introduced and people were allowed to taste it. The demand for this new product was incredible and we had to look for containers in Háskólabíó so that people could taste it. The interest was so great that the 200 containers that originally belonged to the whole evening were finished in the first hour.

The skin creams from UNA Skincare were also introduced, but the UNA Skincare line is on all products and sales of this bioactive face cream are very successful (unaskincare.com/)

Then, of course, the kelp skyr was introduced, but now the skyr is about to hit the market.

For further information Steinar B. Aðalbjörnsson, marketing director of Matís.

MNÍ 2012 Food Day will be held at the Grand Hotel Reykjavík on the United Nations International Food Day, Tuesday 16 October, at 13-17. The title of the conference is "Food Safety and Consumer Protection - Where is the Responsibility?"

Registration for the Food Day has been opened on the website of the Food and Nutrition Association, www.mni.is. There you will also find further information and a program. Everyone is welcome on Food Day, participation fee is ISK. 7,000 but 3,500 for students.

Food safety and consumer protection Where does the responsibility lie?
The Icelandic Food and Nutrition Association (MNÍ) is announcing the MNÍ Food Day on Tuesday 16 October at the Grand Hotel Reykjavík. Food Day is an annual event that has been held since 1993 and is now being held for the 20th time.

With the introduction of new EU food legislation, more emphasis is being placed on producers' responsibility for food safety. Food control shall also be based on a risk assessment. Earlier this year, there was a great deal of discussion in the media and elsewhere in connection with certain issues that arose in the supervision of the food industry and became a source of speculation and discussion about food safety in Iceland. Following this, MNÍ believes that there is a need for responsible discussion and increased education for all those involved in such matters, and has therefore chosen food safety and consumer protection as the title of this year's Food Day with the hope of contributing to constructive public debate. forum. The main content of the day this year is risk assessment in food production and control, the responsibility of producers and consumers themselves for food handling. The responsibility of the media will also be discussed in the coverage of food and its marketing.

Steingrímur J. Sigfússon, Minister of Innovation and Industry, will chair the conference and Sveinn Margeirsson, CEO of Matís, will chair the meeting.

At the opening of the conference, Orri Hauksson, CEO of the Confederation of Icelandic Industries, will present Fjöregg MNÍ, an award given for a commendable initiative in the field of food production and human consumption. The grip is designed and built by Gleri in Bergvík and has been donated by the Confederation of Icelandic Industries since 1993.

Participation in the conference must be announced on the MNÍ website, www.mni.is, but registration ends at 24:00, Monday 15 October. The general participation fee is ISK 7,000, but students only have to pay ISK 3,500. Conference materials and light refreshments are included in the price, but the program starts at 13:00 to 17:00 and is published on the MNÍ website. There will also be news from the conference in the near future, as well as a list of those who will present their products and research in this field.

Food Day is open to the public and food, nutrition and consumer protection enthusiasts are encouraged to attend.

For further information, contact Fríða Rún Þórðardóttir, tel. 898-8798, frida@lsh.is.

Rannís Science Week will take place in Háskólabíó on Friday 28 September. A selection of exciting research projects will be presented at the Science Week this year, as in recent years.

Matís theme this year will be kelp. You will be offered to taste pasta made from Icelandic barley and Icelandic kelp. UNA Skincare will also present its day and night cream line, which is made from Icelandic seaweed.

Further information about Vísindavökan and Vísindakaffi, which will take place throughout the week, can be found on Rannís' website, http://www.rannis.is/visindavaka/visindavaka/

For further information Steinar B. Aðalbjörnsson, marketing director of Matís.

International co-operation is an important part of Matís' daily work and it has never been more important than right now to co-operate with foreign parties.

The collaboration appears in various forms. One part of this is collaboration with foreign parties on research and science projects, in other cases it is a project where foreign parties buy research services from Matís but in Matís annual report for the year 2011 You can read about some well-chosen projects in which Matís participated with foreign parties in 2011. There is also a number of various co-operation platforms abroad, such as meetings and conferences, where Matís staff meet foreign professionals in their scientific disciplines. Recently, there are quite a number of foreign scholars and researchers and women working for Matís, often all year round. All of this results in direct benefits in the development of Matís, but no less in the increased knowledge of the employees.

In modern technology, it is becoming increasingly easier to participate in multinational scientific work, and Matís takes advantage of this. This includes opportunities for increased sales of research services and thus increased foreign income for the company, but at the same time strengthens the knowledge base on which Matís bases its services for domestic customers.

Benefit is thus a key word in foreign co-operation, whether looking at Matís as a company, its employees, customers or owners, ie. of the Icelandic state.

For further information Steinar B. Aðalbjörnsson, marketing director of Matís.

Matís employees are involved in an extensive research project in co-operation between the Nordic countries and Canadians, with the aim of increasing the quality of juveniles produced in cod farming.

The project is funded by Canadian parties and the Nordic part of it by NORA, the Nordisk Atlantsamarbejde fund. From Iceland, Rannveig Björnsdóttir at Matís and the University of Akureyri work on the project, as well as Ragnar Jóhannsson, Anna Kristín Daníelsdóttir and other parties at Matís, and Agnar Steinarsson at the Marine Research Institute.

There are high hopes for cod farming, both in Iceland and in the other Nordic countries and in Canada. In Iceland, Matís has been involved in research projects in cod farming with the parties that are working on this young branch, and with this, knowledge has been built up on various aspects of farming within Matís. A large part of this research has been carried out by Rannveiga Björnsdóttir at Matís' office in Akureyri. Rannveig and her group have placed special emphasis on research in the early stages of farming, ie. the larval stage, where the most losses occur.

In the COD-Atlantic project, the larval stage is specifically examined. The aim is to gain a better understanding of how composition in food affects the growth process of cod larvae and their health. In other words, look for the food composition that gives the larvae the most life expectancy. Another aspect of the COD-Atlantic project as a whole is to increase the growth rate of cod in aquaculture by streamlining feeding. It is important for the development of cod farming to master as soon as possible major factors that affect the efficiency of farming. Proper feeding and reduced juvenile mortality are important.

For further information Rannveig Björnsdóttir.

"Finances are an important part of Matís' research projects, and not least we feel their importance when it comes to Matís' foreign projects, which are constantly growing", says Guðlaug Þóra Marinósdóttir, Matís' office manager.

"This is an aspect that concerns those who finance and support the projects, our project partners and Matís staff who manage these projects. Of course, our researchers monitor the financial aspects of the projects, but it can be said that our role is to ensure that they can first and foremost dedicate themselves to their expertise and scientific work, "says Guðlaug Þóra. She says that good management of project finances is one of the keys to building trust with partners and sponsors "and the experience is that we are increasingly entrusted with the financial management of projects. The financial management of them varies according to the nature and scope of the projects, but in many large projects the financial management is entirely in our hands. This means that we monitor the projects from the conclusion of the contract until the end, make sure that payments are received by us so that it is possible to pay partners as stipulated in the agreements and thus ensure the efficient progress of the projects, "says Guðlaug Þóra and mentions Amylomics, EcoFishMan, NordChar and the SAFE Consortium as examples of large-scale foreign projects on the staff tables.

Guðlaug Þóra mentions that Matís is in good cooperation with the National Audit Office, which is responsible for auditing Matís' annual accounts. "We want things to be in order and we have been working systematically on improvements lately. years of our accounting processes and procedures for internal control, in collaboration with the National Audit Office. In general, we feel a great deal of trust in Matís abroad in terms of financial management, and the much-discussed bank collapse in this country has not had an effect in this respect. We felt the effects of the first year after the collapse of the banks, but the only effect we find today is the amount of paperwork involved in opening new bank accounts in connection with new projects.

A large part of our foreign income comes from funds belonging to the 7th Framework Program of the European Union and the Nordic Funds, but our partners in these projects are companies and institutions located in the Nordic countries and other European countries, and we therefore need to do banking in many countries. in different currencies. Our goal at Matís is to deliver good work in all areas, both in terms of the scientific aspect and project management, including in terms of finances, as they are very important in the project work after all.
comes to everything, "says Guðlaug Þóra.

For further information Guðlaug Þóra.

A conference on the future of seafaring in the Westfjords is a conference that will be held in Edinborgarhúsið in Ísafjörður on 22 September. Matís' CEO, Sveinn Margeirsson, is one of the speakers, and his talk is entitled "Cooperation is the backbone of success."

The conference starts at 10: 30-16: 30 and is open to everyone.

The agenda of the conference is as follows:

• 10.30 Opening of the conference - Chair Berglind Hallgrímsdóttir Managing Director of the Iceland Innovation Center
• 10.45 Shiran Þórisson, CEO of Atvinnuþróunarfélag Vestfjarði - Atvinnulífsgreining Vestfjarði
• 11.15 Dr. Þóroddur Bjarnason, Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Akureyri and Chairman of the Board of the Regional Development Institute - The future of coastal settlements in the Westfjords
• 11.45 Lunch
• 13.00 Dr. Þorsteinn Ingi Sigfússon, CEO of the Icelandic Innovation Center and professor at HI - The importance of innovation for the business community and innovation ideas related to the ocean and the fishing industry.
• 13.30 Dr. Daði Már Kristófersson, Associate Professor of Natural Resource Economics - Competitiveness of the Fisheries, Iceland vs. Westfjords
• 14.00 Dr. Ögmundur Knútsson, President of the School of Business and Science at the University of Akureyri - The value chain in the fisheries sector and possibilities for increasing value within it
• 14.30 Coffee break
• 14.45 Sigríður Kristjánsdóttir, project manager of the Iceland Innovation Center in Ísafjörður - Sea-related tourism and experience tourism.
• 15.15 Dr. Sveinn Margeirsson, CEO of Matís - Collaboration is the backbone of success.
• 15.45 Panel discussion chaired by the moderator - What is the future of the Westfjords sea settlements?
• 16.30 Closing of the conference

Registration on reception@westfjords.is

Further information can be found on the website of Atvinnuþróunarfélag Vestfjarði, www.atvest.is.is/

One of Matís' most extensive research projects in recent years has revolved around herring stocks in the North Atlantic.

This is a Nordic project funded by the Fisheries Project Fund and the AG-Fisk Group of the Nordic Council of Ministers. Together with Matís, the Marine Research Institute in Iceland, the Institute of Marine Research in the Faroe Islands, the University of the Faroe Islands, Síldarvinnslan in Neskaupstaður, the Institute of Marine Research in Bergen in Norway and DTU Food in Lyngby in Denmark are working on it.

The title of the project is an Interdisciplinary study of herring stocks in the Northeast Atlantic and the title is descriptive of Matís' involvement in the project. It brings together experts in different fields of study, such as genetics, chemistry, food science and engineering, to name a few.

Herring stocks in the sea area in question are both regional and migratory. This means that the catch can be mixed from stocks according to regions and seasons. Anna Kristín Daníelsdóttir, director of Safety, Environment and Genetics, says that processing companies are interested in gaining further knowledge about the nature of the stocks and their behavior, as the processing properties of the herring can vary between stocks. "This is a multifaceted project where we are looking at the number of herring stocks in the Northeast Atlantic, applying genetics to determine stock structure, also the role of different stocks in fishing and then linking the genetic information to processing properties and chemical content. In doing so, we seek to answer questions about the proportion of stock units in the fishery, whether the different processing properties of the herring are tied to its stock structure or whether there are other factors such as environmental conditions. Based on this information, processors can assess the characteristics of herring by sea area or fishing season, "says Anna Kristín, but work on the project began in 2009.

Other pelagic species in this area are worthy of research material for the same purpose, and Anna Kristín mentions as an example blue whiting, capelin and mackerel, which in a short time has become an important species in Iceland's marine catch. The intention is therefore that this study will lay the foundation for another and larger European project where the fish stocks in question, and even more, will be studied.