Contact
Stefán Þór Eysteinsson
Research Group Leader
stefan@matis.is
Increasing knowledge and understanding on current state and future collaboration on utilization of calanus and krill in the Nordic countries.
Calanus and Krill are among the most abundant bio-resources in the world. The Norwegian authorities have for example recently issued a 254-thousand-ton quota for Calanus, based on a stock assessment from IMR estimating the standing stock at 30 million tonnes and the annual production at 300 million tonnes. Similar estimates of calanus in Icelandic waters is around 7 million tonnes standing stock and Havstovan has recommended a 125-thousand-ton quota for Faroese waters.
Zooka – Calanus AS opened last year a Calanus processing plant in Norway and has been operating 3 large freezer-trawlers for the fishery. They have also been developing the fishing gear and on-board handling. The Faroese have been trying out commercial fisheries for calanus and trials have started as well in Iceland. A similar story is to be told about krill fisheries, where Aker BioMarin has paved the way with over a decade of R&I. However mostly in Antarctica. Trials with Krill fisheries in Nordic waters have been taking place, with variable success.
There are enormous opportunities in calanus and krill utilization in the Nordic countries. There is however major investment needed in R&I to develop the fishery and products, as well as in understanding the impact of the fishery on the ecology, where ecosystem approach to management is important. This project will facilitate networking, share information and initiate collaboration within the Nordic seafood sector.
The project will organize a conference and share information through the project webpage. The aim of the project is to facilitate collaboration that may result in cooperation on a commercial level within the Nordic seafood industry and/or spin-off R&I projects eg Horizon Europe project(s), Nordic Innovation (Sustainable Ocean Economy) or similar.
AG fisk supported a project in 2016/17 that has successfully contributed to Nordic collaboration on R&I in the utilization of Calanus Finmaricicus. There are currently ongoing national and international projects that were created through the networks established in the AG fish project. This project will follow a similar approach, where the future impact is highlighted.
The main focus of the project will be on the conference, which will take place in May 2024. The conference program is available here.