Work is now underway to map out how best to conduct fishing with regard to processing. How to maximize the yield of both fishing and fish processing by using information on the quality of fish by fishing area and season and directing the effort accordingly. This results in better raw materials for processing, which in turn leads to more profitable processing and better and more expensive products. It does not matter at all where and when the fish is caught, says Morgunblaðið about Sveinn Margeirsson's doctoral project.
The aim of the project (Vinnsluspá ðorskafla) by Svein, who is the head of the department at Matís, was to collect data on cod fishing and processing of four Icelandic fishing companies, analyze them statistically and set up optimization models to facilitate the management of cod fishing and processing in Iceland, says journalist Hjartar Gíslason's article in Morgunblaðin. "Data on fillet utilization, release and roundworms in cod were collected from 2002 to 2006. All these variables have a significant impact on profits from cod fishing and processing.
Significant differences in fillet utilization by region
The results of the project indicate that the output of the cod value chain can be increased by taking the cod to certain fishing areas and at a certain time of the year, but the results showed that the use of fillets, los and roundworms in cod depend, among other things, on the fishing location and time of year," says the Morgunblaðin article. Sveinn says in the article that the results are actually that there are considerable differences in fillet utilization depending on the region and time of year.
"There was a direct relationship between the weight of the fish and the age of the raw material, as well as the time at which the fish was caught. There was also a relationship between worms in the fish and its size, and the number of worms also depended somewhat on where the fish was caught. The next step was then to build an action analysis or optimization model on all this information. It took these results, processed them further and put them into context with oil prices, distance on the tickets and other things like that. In this way, it was possible to get an estimate of where it would be most profitable to pick up the fish."
The full interview can be read in Morgunblaðið on Wednesday 30 January 2008.