Category: News

This week, four employees of the companies Marks & Spencer and Coldwater in the UK were on a trip to Iceland to get acquainted with the fishing industry, fish processing, companies and research related to seafood in Iceland. The four people were happy after a visit to Sjávarútvegshúsið this morning.

Several experts from IFL gave a short presentation of the research conducted here. Sjöfn Sigurgísladóttir started by welcoming guests and then told them about IFL's activities and how they were constantly working to increase the value of Icelandic seafood. Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir then talked about monitoring unwanted substances in seafood and recently introduced report on the material that IFL worked on with the support of the Ministry of Fisheries. It attracted their considerable attention how little unwanted substances are found in Icelandic fish, as stated in the aforementioned report.

Kolbrún Sveinsdóttir, then discussed a project called  Attitudes and fish consumption of young people: Improving the image of seafood. Kolbrún said, among other things, that surveys show that fish consumption seems to be declining, especially among young people, and that this is a cause for concern. The guests agreed and had a similar story to tell about Britain. Finally, Sigurjón Arason reported on projects about processing forecast and talked about the need for traceability.

Finally, representatives from the Ministry of Fisheries explained how the fisheries management system works in Iceland and also mentioned other issues such as eco-labeling, but according to the guests, consumers in the UK ask various questions about the origin and background of the food available there and therefore necessary for retailers to have reliable information at hand. It would have been the purpose of their trip to Iceland to gather data.

Those who visited Sjávarútvegshúsið this morning were Andrew Mallison, M&S Technical Manager, Andrew Richy, NPD M&S Technical Manager, Cris Barker, Coldwater's Technical Manager in Grimsby and Andy Beeken, M & S's Sales Representative at Coldwater.

In the latest issue. of Ægis magazine, there is an interesting article by Margrét Bragadóttir, a food scientist at IFL, about possible ways to use capelin oil to an increasing extent for human consumption, for example in mayonnaise, salad dressings, etc.

In his article suggests Margrét Among other things, capelin is the fish species that has been caught in by far the largest amount in Iceland, but the value of this amount has so far been small compared to the amount caught. The capelin is mainly used for smelting in fishmeal factories for the production of fishmeal and fish oil, which has mainly been used in animal feed.

This has been a thorn in the side of many, because it is clear that if it is possible to increase the proportion of capelin products that go directly to human consumption, it would greatly increase the value of the capelin catch that is caught.

Read the article

Further information:

phone: 8612661 / email: margret@rf.is

As many have no doubt noticed, there has been an unusual amount of cyclists on streets and sidewalks all over the country lately and the most unlikely people have been seen in the process. Both spring has finally arrived, but the Bike to Work campaign also took place from 3 to 16 May. IFL did not give up. 

Although this is not a formal competition between workplaces, a rather benevolent assessment, workplaces were still classified according to the number of employees and figures were compiled on their performance.  

IFL competed in the workplace category with 20 - 69 employees and a third of the employees, or 22 out of 60, took part in the campaign, which must be considered quite good. According to statistics, the 22 cycled a total of almost 1,200 kilometers during the campaign. 

The picture above shows some of those who participated on behalf of IFL: Left: María, Þóra, Björn, Helga, Hélène, Birna, Ernst, Ragnar, Rósa, Anna, Heiða, Judith and Eyjólfur. The picture lacks a few warriors, as 22 were registered for the competition, as stated earlier.

On June 16, 2006 at At 13:00, Sigrún Guðmundsdóttir, a biologist at IFL, will defend her doctoral dissertation "Listeria monocytogenes, from humans, food and food processing plants in Iceland – Molecular typing, adhesion and virulence testing ”in the Celebration Hall of the University of Iceland.

Opponents will be dr. Bjarnheiður Guðmundsdóttir from the University of Iceland and dr. Marie-Louise Danielsson-Tham, Professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU.

Sigrún's dissertation deals with research on Listeria monocytogenes in human beings, food and food processing in Iceland. Audits were carried out on processing plants that produce smoked salmon and boiled shrimp. L. monocytogenes the isolated strains were typed by molecular method (PFGE) and compared. Also, all strains that had been isolated from humans were typed and compared with food establishments. In addition, the adhesion and infectivity of selected strains were examined.

Sigrún's supervisors were Már Kristjánsson, an infectious disease doctor, and dr. Karl G. Kristinsson, professor at the University of Iceland and on the doctoral committee were dr. Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir professor at the University of Iceland, dr. Haraldur Briem, Epidemiologist, dr. Hjörleifur Einarsson professor at the University of Akureyri and dr. Sjöfn Sigurgísladóttir CEO of IFL.

Sigrún Guðmundsdóttir was born in 1966. She graduated from MR in 1986, a BS degree in biology from the University of Iceland in 1991 and an MS degree from Heriott-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland in 1992. She has been a specialist at IFL since 1995 and began her doctoral studies at HÍ 2000.

This morning, a delegation from Argentina visited the Fisheries House and got acquainted with the activities of IFL, the Marine Research Institute and the Ministry of Fisheries.

The delegation, which consists of about 20 people, consists of both public bodies and representatives of companies from all over Argentina. It is worth mentioning that the delegation includes members of parliament and other senior officials.

The group will stay here for a few days after attending the fisheries exhibition in Brussels and the purpose is to get to know the fisheries issues in this country, both in companies and the public sector. They were introduced to the activities that take place here in the house and all that could be seen was that they were very interested in getting to know what the country is doing in the field of fisheries and fish processing and research in those areas.

IFL is advertising for a specialist in the field of food risk assessment. Its role must be to participate in research into the effects of fish on health (risk-benefit analysis of food). The job includes building databases and designing a web interface.

The role of the specialist must be to participate in research into the effects of fish on health (risk-benefit analysis of food). The job involves building databases and designing a web interface. The person in question must be able to work independently and manage projects, as well as work in good collaboration with other specialists within IFL and abroad.

Qualification requirements:

• University education in the field of science (computer science, statistics, chemistry, biology, or food science)
• Very good computer skills are a prerequisite
• Knowledge and experience of using statistics in research is an advantage
• Organizational skills and interpersonal skills
• Initiative and ambition in work.

The application must be accompanied by a clear overview of the study career, computer skills and previous work.

Wages are according to collective agreements of public employees. Remuneration, rights and obligations are otherwise governed by the Act on the Rights and Duties of Government Employees No. 70/1996.

The application deadline is May 28, 2006. Applications with information about education and previous jobs, together with copies of exam documents, are requested to be sent by e-mail (helgag@rf.is) or to the Fisheries Research Institute, Skúlagata 4, 101 Reykjavík. Information about the job is provided by Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir, tel. 530 8600.

When researching fish, scientists can use grinders to analyze its age and species. In all bonefish, there are stones made of calcium compounds in their inner ear called grinders. They play a variety of roles, including is the sense of hearing and balance of the fish in the sea, but you can do a lot more by looking at them. This week, the mills of small cod at IFL were being removed, among other things to check the condition of the ecosystem in the sea around Iceland.  

This "ear examination" is part of The AMSUM monitoring project, which IFL has participated in since 1989, but its goal is to monitor changes that may occur in the concentration of trace elements in the marine environment around Iceland during a certain period and between different ocean and coastal areas. IFL's role in the project is to oversee measurements of various inorganic trace elements and chloro-organic substances in sand coal, cod and mussels collected around the country. IFL is also responsible for entering data into the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) database.

This week, employees from the Environment and Quality Department of IFL's Research Division were preparing small cod for research in the processing hall of the Fisheries House by filleting it and removing grinders.

Project manager at IFL: Eva Yngvadóttir

The company Sæplast ehf in Dalvík has developed a new revolutionary fish tank in collaboration with IFL, FISK Seafood hf and the University of Iceland. The fishery was formally unveiled by the Minister of Fisheries, Einar K. Guðfinnsson, at the fisheries exhibition in Brussels today. This is stated on AVS website of the fund, but he funded precisely this project.

This project started in 2004 and its goal was to find ways to reduce the load on fish in the lower layers of fish tanks and thereby reduce shrinkage and bruising in fish. The first ideas were to try to create and develop some kind of shelving system in the pots, but prospective users soon rejected the idea so they tried to approach the project in another way.

The result was to start from scratch and design a completely new tank that fulfilled the goal of improving the quality of raw materials and at the same time improving the utilization of volume on board ships, storage and transport equipment. Now a new tank has seen the light of day and it is somewhat lower than most fish tanks today, the tank is also lighter, and when stacked, the upper tank closes the lower one without shit from the forklift reaching the lower tank. In addition, the new vessel's capacity utilization of ships and transport equipment is significantly better. 

One advantage is that the new tank is stacked with older tanks so that there is no such system change. It will be exciting to watch and see how this new vessel will be taken and how it turns out, perhaps here is a new and better tool to improve the utilization and quality of raw materials.

IFN's project manager was Sveinn V. Árnason 

This weekend the show will be Perlan Vestfirðir in Perlan and admission is free and everyone is allowed at 11 -17 Saturday and Sunday. More than 100 companies and institutions in the Westfjords take part in the exhibition and its goal is to present all the main things the Westfjords has to offer in the field of tourism, business and human life in general. IFL is among those who present their activities in the Westfjords.

The Westfjords Business Development Association is responsible for the exhibition in collaboration with the Westfjords Marketing Agency and this is the second time the exhibition has been held in Reykjavík, but the first was held in 2003.

IFL conducts various research in the Westfjords, especially in the field of cod farming, in collaboration with companies in the quarter. Special attention is drawn here to the fact that dr. Þorleifur Ágústson, fish physiologist, will give a talk at 14:30 on Sunday.

AGENDA:

Saturday 5 May

On stage

11:00  Folk music from Þingeyri: Raivo, Krista and Uku Sildoja from Estonia perform.

12:00  Gísli Súrsson: Elfar Logi Hannesson performs a short version of the solo.

13:00  Jón Kr. Ólafsson and Gunnar Þórðarson's band transfer some songs.

14:00  Dried fish tasting: Well-known individuals taste and judge Westfjords dried fish.

15:00 The palettes from Bolungarvík: The hottest dates in the Westfjords, Soffía Vagnsdóttir, Pálína Vagnsdóttir and Íris Sveinsdóttir perform original music with accompaniment by Zbegniew Jarenko and Haukur Vagnsson.

15:30  Gísli Súrsson: Elfar Logi Hannesson performs a short version of the solo.

16:00  Heiða Ólafur af Ströndur sings a few songs.

In the basement

 12:30  Storytelling, ramshackle and weirdness: Jón Jónsson, ethnologist and from Sauðfjársetur in Strandir.

13:30  Summer University in Hrafnseyri: Dr. Peter Weiss, University Center of the Westfjords

14:30  Foxes on Hornstrandir: Ester Unnsteinsdóttir, biologist, gives a lecture with slides.

15:30  Kukl and merriment: Sigurður Atlason, director of the Magic Exhibition at Strandir.

16:30  Westfjords - A tourist paradise: Dorothee Lubecki, Westfjords Tourism Representative.

Sunday 7 May

On stage

 11:30  Folk music from Þingeyri: Raivo, Krista and Uku Sildoja from Estonia perform.

 12:00  Gísli Súrsson: Elfar Logi Hannesson performs a short version of the solo.

 13:00  Migratory birds:  A band made up of Arnfirðingar plays music by Arnfirðir authors.

 13:30  Jón Sigurður Eyjólfsson, troubadour from Bíldudalur, performs songs with poems by Westfjords poets accompanied by Farfuglanna.

 14:30  The wagon siblings from Bolungarvík together with Zbegniew Jarenko

 16:00  Gísli Súrsson: Elfar Logi Hannesson performs a short version of the solo.

In the basement

12:30  Ghosts and trolls and all creatures: Jón Jónsson, ethnologist, from Þjóðtrúarstofa á Ströndur.

13:30  Travel possibilities in the Westfjords: Guðmundur Eyþórsson from Vesturferðir presents.

14:30 Research on cod farming: Dr. Þorleifur Ágústsson from the Fisheries Laboratory.

15:30  Vikings in the Westfjords: Dorothee Lubecki, tourism representative of the Westfjords, presents Gísli saga project.

In 2004, it was decided to set up an information and communication network on the safety of seafood in the Nordic countries, with the aim of increasing the coherence of Nordic data on the chemical content of seafood. The project is funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers (NSK and NEF) and IFL, which also leads the project. This week, a progress report on the project was published.

The report describes the results of the second workshop in the project, which was held in Copenhagen on 21 April 2006, and which has developed a joint Nordic website (www.seafoodnet.info) which collects various links containing information on the chemical content of marine products, both undesirable substances and nutrients. Iceland has been responsible for developing the website and maintaining it, but each country is responsible for its information and for updating it. Read the report

The main topics of discussion at the meeting in Copenhagen were:

• How the website had been presented in each country and what the reaction had been.
• How to refine the website, for example, make it simpler and clearer.
• How best to promote your website to the outside world.
• How to keep the website alive after the project ends.
• Define where knowledge is lacking in research results.

Participants in the project are experts from Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, the Faroe Islands and Iceland.