As was reported in the news this week, IFL has moved its protein company, Iceprotein ehf, to Sauðárkrókur. The company, founded in 2005, is a development, production and marketing company that develops, manufactures and will sell wet protein for the fishing industry in Iceland and dried protein for the health and food supplement market.
The goal with the establishment of Iceprotein ehf was to develop, produce and sell protein products from pelagic fish and cuts of catfish in fish products and health products. The company was initially based in Akranes, but it soon became clear that more suitable facilities had to be found for the company, especially in terms of food production. In the end, it was decided that Iceprótein ehf would get inside FISK Seafood's premises in Sauðárkrókur.
The transfer was announced when Verið, Þróunarsetur Hólaskóli was formally opened th. March 7 in the same building FISK Seafood by the harbor in Sauðárkrókur. The development center is a collaborative project of the Fisheries Research Institute, the University of Akureyri, the University of Iceland, FISK Seafood and Hólar University, and the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Fisheries contribute a total of ISK 9.6 million to the project. Valgerður Sverrisdóttir, Minister of Industry and Trade, and Einar K. Guðfinnsson, Minister of Fisheries, signed an agreement to that effect at the ceremony in Verin þ. March 7.
Iceprótein ehf is, however, far from being the only forum for protein research at IFL. For example, IFL manages Propephealth-the part of SEAFOODplus, a large European scientific project, which studies, among other things, whether there are any substances in the fish other than omega fatty acids that have a positive effect on human health. There is some evidence that this is the case and the research focuses mainly on proteins and peptides found in pelagic fish, capelin, herring and blue whiting.
Then there is research on whether it can be used unused protein from wastewater from fish processing on land, even for human consumption, but the proteins are usually used in feed or lost to the environment. The project will promote cleaner production technology, increase the value of land-based catches and promote the development of technical additives from underutilized raw materials.
Then we can mention a project on the use of fish proteins in fillet processing, where the purpose is to be able to use protein products as natural auxiliaries to improve the stability and utilization of products. There are also projects about use of fish proteins as a dietary supplement where the goal is to process odorless and tasteless and water-soluble proteins with high nutritional value from fish that can be used as a dietary supplement.