Category: News

POLSHIFTS conference in the premises of the Marine Research Institute 14-15. April 2015 | Changes in the distribution of pelagic fish stocks, effects of climate change?

The aim of the POLSHIFTS conference is to bring together scientists and stakeholders to discuss the potential impact of climate change on the distribution of pelagic fish stocks in the North Atlantic. 
There are advertisements for topics related to fishing (such as changes in access and cost of fishing grounds and adaptation of the fishing fleet from changes in the distribution of fish stocks) or the biology and ecology of pelagic fish stocks (such as changes in life history, food and spawning distribution, stock genetics and marine ecosystems). climate change may be linked to fish stocks. 

More information can be found at website of the conference.

A few points about the conference._{News first published on the website Association of companies in the fishing industry.}

Tomorrow, Matís will open a major project from the framework of the 8th European Framework Program for Research and Development (Horizon 2020). The project is about the production of seafood and how to improve the competitiveness of fisheries companies in the international market. It is managed by dr. Guðmundur Stefánsson, director of Matís and Horizon 2020's grant for the project is around ISK 750 million. The project is the third in a few years that Matís manages in the field of the value chain of seafood within Europe (EcoFishMan and MareFrame).

The competitiveness of many European fisheries and aquaculture companies has declined sharply in recent years, and growth in the continent's fisheries sector has been limited. PrimeFish's goal is to identify the main reasons and come up with proposals for improvements that promote increased innovation and competitiveness and encourage growth within the industry.

Do consumers buy fish solely on the basis of price and not on quality, uniqueness or traceability?

The quality of fish products is high in Europe, as consumers in most countries on the continent make high demands when it comes to seafood. The special position of European fisheries and aquaculture is also great, but despite this, many European seafood producers have been hit hard in recent months, not least when it comes to competition for cheaper whitefish species from Asia. Consumers may not understand the quality and uniqueness of European production, but it may also be that producers do not provide this information in a sufficiently clear way or that the influence of European consumers prevails.

How can seafood producers best communicate their message to European consumers?

Constant instability

Prices and supply of seafood on the European market have fluctuated considerably recently. years and has undermined the stability of companies' operations. A changing regulatory environment affects competitiveness and can make it difficult for companies to meet consumer demands and expectations. The examples prove that the marketing of many new seafood products has failed recently. years. Do manufacturers not understand consumers or are there other reasons? Such questions are among the issues that the Primefish project will address.

More about PrimeFish

PrimeFish is a four-year project involving companies, research institutes and universities. These include Kontali, Syntesa, INRA, Nofima, the University of Iceland, Aalborg, Parma, Stirling, Pavia, Nha Trang University in Vietnam and Memorial University in Canada. A considerable number of stakeholders, such as fisheries companies, also take part in the project.

For further information Guðmundur Stefánsson project manager PrimeFish.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), there are great opportunities in geothermal energy for developing countries, not least for food production such as drying products and other food processing.

A new report on these issues was released this week by the FAO. Iceland is taken as an example of how successful it has been to utilize geothermal energy in agriculture and in general for food production. Matís' three employees are involved in writing the book, as well as Minh Van Nguyen, a lecturer at Nah Trang University in Vietnam.

José Graziano da Silva, Executive Director of the FAO and President of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, write the introductory text of the report.

Further information and interesting additional material can be found at FAO website. 

The full report: Uses of Geothermal Energy in Food and Agriculture

For further information Sigurjón Arason, Matís' chief engineer.

Matís has now created a special app for smartphones and tablets that makes it easy for fishermen to calculate the need for ice due to catch.

The applet is particularly convenient and easy to use and is useful to fishermen to calculate how much ice is needed for the catch caught. The program takes into account conditions such as sea temperature, air temperature and days at sea, as well as instructions regarding the amount of ice kg issued in addition to the number of shovels and the number of dishes.

Now it has never been easier to find out how much ice cream is needed to get the most out of our precious ingredients.

The program can be accessed on the web, í iTunes Store, í Windows Store and on Google Play (Android) or by scanning the QR codes below. The application is accessible to all major mobile operating systems.

Google Play Windows Store iTunes Store

Related material

• News Viðskiptablaðið about the new ice calculator (video).

The SustainLarvae project formally began recently with an inaugural meeting at Matís' headquarters. The project is for three years and there are three participants in the project. Matís and Sæbýli from Iceland, together FishVet Group from the UK. 

The project was successful The Eurostar program through mediation Iceland Innovation Center and funding from Technology Development Fund.  

The aim of the project is to develop and evaluate the benefits of new ways of assessing the health of invertebrates for use in aquaculture, but sea urchins from the Sæbýli farm will be used. The novelty lies in the use of DNA sequencing methods to analyze the microbial composition of farming systems and the search for microbial groups that may have a potential positive or negative effect on the biodiversity or growth of sea urchins. Rapid methods will also be set up to assess the welfare of the animals based on unwanted micro-organisms in the system and with measurements of substances and hormones that the animals release under stress. Matís will conduct experiments and research in the project, Sæbýli will provide the project with materials as well as expertise in farming methods and FishVetGroup will be involved in marketing and access to foreign markets for the project's products.

For further information Eyjólfur Reynisson at Matís.

On the 20th of March. A co-operation agreement was signed between Matís and Sólheima in Grímsnes. This agreement includes a willingness to work on a common strategy for strengthening sustainable communities in Iceland, increase work capacity and innovation in food processing and sale, strengthen food crafts in Iceland, offer domestic and foreign partners to use the facilities at Sólheimar in their projects and looking for ways to finance the partnership. Social, economic and environmental sustainability is a common aspect and will be the basis for Sólheimar's collaboration, ses. and Matís.

Sólheimar is the cradle of organic farming in Iceland and a well-known international community. In addition, Sólheimar offers internships and rehabilitation for the unemployed and other groups. Sólheimar provides students with insight into and experience of participating in a sustainable society.

Matís is a powerful company that conducts research and development of food, among other things. Matís' role is to strengthen the competitiveness of Icelandic food production in both products and the economy, while at the same time promoting good public health, food security and the sustainable use of resources.

^{From left: Magnús Ólafsson for the Sólheimar Representative Council, Oddur M. Gunnarsson, division manager at Matís,
Guðmundur Á. Pétursson, managing director of Sólheimar and Ingunn Jónsdóttir, project manager at Matís and HfSu.}

It is planned to open a food factory at Sólheimar and this workshop, like other Matís food factories, will serve all the food entrepreneurs and producers who are interested in product development, but in addition it will be useful to locals for their production and innovation. One of Matís' main emphases is support for producers who want to start processing and selling products to diversify food and create value and work in rural areas. Matarsmiðjan provides certified facilities for that processing, in addition to which the services of Matís' consultants are available to producers for product development and processing training.

Sólheimar has strong international connections. Foreign volunteers work for 3-12 months on projects in Sólheimar. Sesseljuhús has been in collaboration with the university association CELL, Center for Ecological Living and Learning, since 2008. Every year, 20-30 students from the association come to Sólheimar and do part of their studies there.

Matís collaborates with many domestic and foreign universities on teaching and student projects. Annually, 30-40 students work on their research projects at Matís. Matís' co-operation with parties and support funds in other countries is very extensive and the company has been a leader in projects on strengthening food crafts, on the Nordic bioeconomy and the European project on sustainable use of resources and innovation.

For further information Oddur M. Gunnarsson division manager at Matís.

One of the biggest and most valuable changes in exports over the last 10-20 years is the large increase in the production of fresh fillets and fillet pieces. Since 1997, exports of these products have almost quadrupled in tonnes, from around 9,000 tonnes to almost 34,000 tonnes in 2013, and moreover, exports are now to a much greater extent by ship than before.

Chilled fish

In 2000, more than 500 tonnes of fresh fillets were exported by ship, but now this figure for 2013 is just over 15,000 tonnes, or just under half of the exports.

Changes of this magnitude do not occur unless many things happen and we who are researching why, why and how changes affect us are quite convinced that research and development projects in recent years have had a significant impact on this success. This development was encouraged by interested stakeholders, and it is true that the motivation lay in research and development work, which was supported by a framework program for research and development in Europe, the Rannís Technology Development Fund and AVS.

In collaboration with fisheries, production and transport companies, a great deal of knowledge and skill has been developed on how best to handle fresh seafood and maintain quality. We must also not forget the value of courses on improved catch management or other educational material.

The fresh fish book recently launched on the web is an important link in disseminating knowledge to all the many who are involved in creating the most value from the nation's resources.

Based on data from Statistics Iceland. For further information Páll Gunnar Pálsson at Matís.

Green Days is a series of events within the University of Iceland organized by GAIA, an association of master's students in environmental and resource studies. Helga Gunnlaugsdóttir from Matís will give a talk on plastics in the sea.

Green Days will be held from 25 to 27 March and is intended to promote awareness of various urgent environmental issues. This year's theme is the sea and the environmental threats that it poses, but responsibility, understanding and good treatment of the sea and its ecosystem is something that is very important to us in Iceland.

More information about GAIA Green Days can be found at The company's Facebook page.

POLSHIFTS conference in the premises of the Marine Research Institute 14-15. April 2015 | Changes in the distribution of pelagic fish stocks, effects of climate change?

The aim of the POLSHIFTS conference is to bring together scientists and stakeholders to discuss the potential impact of climate change on the distribution of pelagic fish stocks in the North Atlantic. 
There are advertisements for topics related to fishing (such as changes in access and cost of fishing grounds and adaptation of the fishing fleet from changes in the distribution of fish stocks) or the biology and ecology of pelagic fish stocks (such as changes in life history, food and spawning distribution, stock genetics and marine ecosystems). climate change may be linked to fish stocks. 

More information can be found at website of the conference.

A few points about the conference.

_{News first published on the website Association of companies in the fishing industry.}

The fresh fish handbook, which is now published on the web, deals with the introduction to all general fish processing. It does not really matter what the final product will be, it is always required that the raw material is of the best quality. It is an old-fashioned and outdated belief that poor raw materials are suitable for the production of some products. All consumers demand that they be treated with due respect by offering them only the best.

Enormous knowledge has emerged as a result of many research and development projects in recent years, and equipment in fishing vessels has made great strides, and the same is true in most of the country's operations. So everything is there to produce only quality products.

It is clear that knowledge is the basis for producing the most value from the marine resource and it is little more important than doing things right from the start, the fresh fish handbook is part of the effort to increase access to handy information.

The preparation of this handbook was funded by Matís with good support from the Herring Industry Research Fund.

At Matís, you can get a lot of information about most everything related to seafood and all the company's employees are invited and prepared to do better in cooperation with the Icelandic seafood industry.

The book can be approach here (best viewed in Acrobat Reader).

For further information Páll Gunnar Pálsson at Matís.