At the beginning of the 2012/13 fishing year, a regulation came into force that obliges the operators of processing vessels to bring ashore some of the cod heads that are caught during processing in Icelandic jurisdiction. The background to the enactment of the regulation, the effect of the regulation on the amount of cod heads landed in the first two fishing years that the regulation has been in force and the possible ways for the fishing companies to meet the conditions of the regulation, are outlined in a recent report by Matís.
In August 2011, the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture issued Regulation 810/2011 on the utilization of catches and by-products. In that regulation, it was stated that vessels processing catch on board were obliged to bring cod cliffs and cod heads ashore. The regulation stipulated that from 1 February 2012, vessels should bring ashore 50% of all cod climbs and cod heads caught during fishing in Icelandic jurisdiction. As of 1 September 2012, the same vessels would be obliged to bring all cod climbs and cod heads ashore during fishing in Icelandic jurisdiction. However, this regulation met with considerable opposition from shipowners, who considered its objectives to be technically unrealistic and economically unreasonable. The Ministry therefore sought consultation among the various stakeholders and professionals to reach a conclusion that all parties to the case could agree on.
Subsequently, Regulation 1296/2011 was issued in December 2011 and the obligation that processing vessels should bring cod climbing ashore had been completely abolished and obligations regarding the proportion of cod heads that should be brought ashore with cargo space had been linked. of the vessels. According to the regulation, which entered into force on 1 September 2012, processing vessels with a usable cargo volume of between 600 and 800 m3 obliged to bring 30% cod heads that occur during fishing in Icelandic waters and freezer trawlers with more than 800 m3 cargo space was to bring 40% of incidental cod heads ashore. Processing vessel with a usable cargo volume of less than 600 m3 were, however, exempted from this Regulation. The processing vessels were allowed to replace the heads, to bring the corresponding amount of gels, cheeks and / or feet ashore or of other products made from heads on board.
There are various problems with the possibility of landing cod heads on at least part of the freezer fleet. There is very limited space on the mezzanine deck of most ships and therefore it is difficult to install new equipment for processing heads, the freezing capacity is limited and the freezing equipment is not suitable for freezing heads, the heads used to deliver raw materials that are unsuitable for further processing, storage space in freezers is limited, the workload on the crews is already high and it is difficult to increase it for the relatively limited financial return from head processing.
However, some parts of the fleet come ashore with some of their cod heads, and this proportion has been increasing in recent years. In those cases, the company has managed to adapt the processing to the utilization of heads without this affecting the processing of the main products. However, it cannot be seen that the regulation in question has had a significant effect on this development, as there has been a similar development between the vessels that are exempt from the regulation and the vessels covered by the regulation. This is simply a value that many shipowners see an opportunity to retrieve, regardless of the regulation.
The main problems when it comes to the utilization of cod heads on board processing vessels are lack of space and limited freezing capacity. Therefore, there are opportunities to work the heads with the aim of reducing the scope and then only the most valuable parts. Now, for example, there are machines on the market that can process the most valuable products from the heads, such as gels, cheeks and lumps. By taking care of these three head products, the volume of what needs to be frozen and stored in trains can be reduced by 65% and still bring more value ashore than if the heads had been completely frozen. For the current Icelandic freezer fleet, there are opportunities in such processing. However, there is a great accumulated need for the renewal of the freezer fleet to meet new demands and challenges. Although their importance in the Icelandic fishing industry has diminished in recent years, there will always be a need for these vessels in the fleet, and especially to seek more distant targets. It can be expected that the design of new processing vessels and changes to the old ones will take into account requirements for improved utilization of all raw materials, heads and other by-products. The renewal of the freezer trawler fleet is therefore of great interest to the industry and the nation as the owner of the resource.
Matís has closely monitored head utilization on board processing vessels and assisted fishing companies in looking for opportunities in improved utilization of by-products. When Regulation 810/2011 was in the process of being reviewed, Matís' experts came to work on formulating the regulation, and they have subsequently been involved in research and development in that field. The AVS Fisheries Project Fund supported small projects in 2012 to assess the impact of the aforementioned regulation. This project has been carried out intermittently for the past three years and was formally completed with the publication of a Matís report which can be accessed here. Previously, the project had supported work on Gísli Eyland's master's project in Corporate Finance at the University of Iceland. Among the products of Gísli Eyland's project was an operating model for processing vessels where, among other things, it is possible to compare the profitability of different options for collecting and processing heads on board. This operating model can be accessed here. Gísli Eyland's project was also presented TAFT 2012 (Trans ‐ Atlantic Fisheries Technology Conference) with poster which attracted considerable attention.
The AVS Fisheries Project Fund is thanked for supporting the project.
For more information Jónas R. Viðarsson at Matís.