Tag: Catching

Reports

Hunting, processing and exporting of live bait king

Published:

06/12/2018

Authors:

Jónas R. Viðarsson, Ásbjörn Jónsson

Supported by:

AVS Fisheries Research Fund (V 11005-11)

Contact

Jónas Rúnar Viðarsson

Director of Business and Development

jonas@matis.is

Hunting, processing and exporting of live bait king

This report outlines the implementation and main results of a research project that took place in the years 2012-2013. The reason for delaying the publication of the final report of the project is that in 2013 the owner of the project, Sægarpur ehf. bankrupt. The project was therefore not completed and has been largely dormant since 2013. However, since most of the project had been completed before Sægarpur went bankrupt, the authors consider it right and obligatory to publicly report here what took place in the project and what the main results are. its were. The aim of the project was to develop fishing, processing, storage and transport of live bait kingfishers, as well as to explore the market for such products. Experiments were carried out with different catch treatments on board a fishing vessel and storage or transport, which gave indications that with the right handling and finishing it would be possible to keep the bait king alive for approx. week. the aim had been to ensure at least 10 days of survival in order for it to be considered realistic to intend to export a live bait king. However, the results of the experiments showed that when more than a week had passed since the hunt, survival decreased rapidly and the meat had become unfit for consumption on the tenth day. It is possible that these processes could be better developed to ensure better survival, but based on these results, the shelf life is not long enough to be considered a viable option at this time. Attempts were also made to keep the bait king alive in a cycle system in a fish tank. The aim of these experiments was to investigate whether it was possible to store live bait king in a "warehouse" for processing on land. A circuit system was equipped with filter equipment that was sufficient to keep the bait king alive for a week. The authors believe that it would be possible to extend the time with more powerful filtering equipment. These results must be considered positive and conducive to the fact that they could be taken up by companies that process bait king. Markets for live bait king were also examined, but it can be said that this survey has finally brought home the truth that the export of live bait king is not a viable option. It is simply a better option to win the bait king here at home. If market conditions change, however, it is not ruled out that processes can be improved to make such exports possible.

This report contains an overview of the progress and main results in a research project that ran in 2012-2013. The reason for the delay in publication of this final report is that the project owner was declared bankrupt in 2013 and the project has been dormant since then. The authors of the report did however feel obligated to make public the progress and main results that were achieved before the owner went out of business. The aim of the project was to develop best practice for catching, handling, packaging, storage and transport of live whelk; as well as studying the markets for live whelk. Experiments were made with different onboard handling, storage and transport of live whelk. These experiments indicated that it should be possible to keep the whelk alive for one week after capture, with correct handling. The goal had however been to ensure that the whelk could be kept alive for at least ten days. Experiments were also made where it was attempted to keep whelk alive in a regular plastic fish-tub equipped with a circulation system. The objective with this was to examine if whelk could be stored, in a relatively simple and inexpensive manner, in-stock for land-based processing. The results indicate that such a system could be used to keep a living inventory of whelk for the processing. The authors of this report are confident that the timeframe could be extended by fitting the system with more efficient filtration equipment. The markets for live whelk were briefly analyzed and the results of that analyzes indicate that export of live whelk from Iceland is not economically feasible or practical. There is simply too little premium paid for live whelk at the moment.

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Reports

Catching, processing and marketing of Neptune whelk

Published:

01/10/2018

Authors:

Jónas R. Viðarsson, Lúðvík Börkur Jónsson

Supported by:

AVS Research Fund (small project S 12 002-12)

Contact

Jónas Rúnar Viðarsson

Director of Business and Development

jonas@matis.is

Catching, processing and marketing of Neptune whelk

Kingfisher (Neptunea despecta) is a kingfisher that resembles a kingfisher, but is somewhat larger and usually stays at a deeper depth. It is believed that the kingfisher is in large quantities in many parts of the country and that the stock can withstand considerable fishing. The MRI has recorded information about the king of the sea from lobster expeditions for many years, which indicates considerable density in many parts of the country. In 2012, Sægarpur ehf. in Grundarfjörður a grant from the AVS research fund in the Fisheries sector to investigate the possibilities of fishing, processing and exporting kingfishers. This was a so-called small project or preliminary project. The project was divided into work components that involved distribution mapping and experimental fishing, processing experiments, chemical measurements and market research. On the other hand, Sægarpur ehf. became bankrupt during the project period and it can be said that the project has to some extent resurfaced as a result. However, since a large part of the project was completed when Sægarpur went bankrupt, the authors now consider it right and obligatory to publicly report on the progress and main results of the project. In addition, the experiments carried out by the company Royal Iceland hf. has been involved in connection with fishing and processing of sea king, but Royal Iceland bought the assets of Sægarp's bankruptcy estate in 2014 and has since then, among other things, fished and processed bait king. The main results of the mapping of distribution and experimental fishing were rather limited, as information on kingfishers as by-catch in other fisheries is scarce and the species has received little attention in the research of the Marine Research Institute. The experimental expedition led by the project also yielded very little results. The results of processing experiments showed that it is possible to remove the king of the sea's toxic glands and that it is possible to measure whether tetramine (the poison) is found in products, but this does require a considerable cost. The results of a basic market survey indicate that it is possible to sell kingfisher products, especially in well-paying markets in Asia. But since the king of the ocean is not known in Asian markets and there is always a risk of tetramine poisoning, marketing of the products is very difficult. It is clear that there is a need for significantly more research in the entire value chain before it is possible to state whether and how much opportunity there is in fishing and processing kingfishers in this country.

Neptune whelk (Neptunea despecta) is a gastropod that looks a lot like the common whelk, but is though considerably larger and is usually found in deeper water. Neptune whelk is believed to be in significant volume in Icelandic waters, but concreate knowledge on stock size and distribution is however lacking. In 2012 the company Sægarpur ltd., Which was during that time catching, processing and exporting common whelk, received funding from AVS research fund to do some initial investigation on the applicability of catching, processing and marketing Neptune whelk. Sægarpur did however run into bankruptcy before the project ended. The project has therefore been somewhat dormant since 2013. The company Royal Iceland ltd. did though buy the bankrupt estate of Sægarpur and has to a point continued with exploring opportunities in catching and processing Neptune whelk. The authors of this report do now want to make public the progress and main results of the project, even though the project owner (Sægarpur) is no longer in operation. The project was broken into three parts ie mapping of distribution, processing experiments and initial market research. The main results of the mapping exercise showed that very little knowledge is available on distribution of Neptune whelk in Icelandic waters and data on Neptune whelk by-catches is almost noneexistent. The Marine Research Institute has as well awarded very little attention to the species in its research. The project organized a research cruse, where a fishing vessel operating a sea cucumber dredge tried fishing for Neptune whelk in 29 different locations; but with very little success. The results of the processing experiments showed that it is possible to remove the poison glands from the Neptune whelk, bot mechanically and manually. It also showed that the products can be measured for the presence of tetramine (poison). Both the processing and the measurements do however require significant efforts and cost. The initial marketing research indicated that there are likely markets for Neptune whelk products. These markets are primarily in Asia and some of them are high-paying markets. The efforts of Royal Iceland in marketing the Neptune whelk have though shown that this is a difficult product to market, especially because the Neptune whelk is unknown on the Asian markets and there is always a possibility of a tetramine poisoning. It is clear that much more research is necessary throughout the entire value chain before it is possible to say with level of certainty if and how much opportunities are in catching and processing of Neptune whelk in Iceland.

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Reports

Preliminary study on the processing and marketing of Icelandic crabs / Crab; fishing, processing and marketing. Preliminary study

Published:

01/03/2011

Authors:

Óli Þór Hilmarsson, Guðjón Þorkelsson, Davíð Freyr Jónsson, Gunnþórunn Einarsdóttir

Supported by:

AVS Fisheries Research Fund

Contact

Óli Þór Hilmarsson

Project Manager

oli.th.hilmarsson@matis.is

Preliminary study on the processing and marketing of Icelandic crabs / Crab; fishing, processing and marketing. Preliminary study

The project is a preliminary project on experimental fishing and processing of crabs in the Southwest. Experimental fishing resulted in increased knowledge / experience of crab fishing off the coast of Iceland. The crabs that were caught were rock crab, bow crab and crayfish. Work was done on proposals for procedures and quality rules / guidelines for crab fishing in Iceland. Efficacy procedures for the killing of crabs were developed. Products from other processing processes were also introduced, such as whole frozen, boiled and frozen whole, also clustered and frozen or divided, boiled and frozen. Experimental marketing of crabs in Iceland was successful and better than expected at the beginning of the project.

This was a preliminary study on catching and processing of crab in Southwest Iceland. Knowledge and experience on how, where and when to catch crab was gained. The crabs that were caught were Atlantic rock crab, common shore crab and common spider crab. The first recommendations on procedures and quality guidelines for catching crab were issued. Processes for killing crab were adapted from other countries and the products were developed eg frozen whole crab, boiled and frozen whole crab, portioned (cluster) and frozen or portioned, boiled and frozen. The preliminary marketing of the crabs in Iceland was more successful than expected.

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Reports

Fishing and processing of live nephros for exportation

Published:

01/12/2009

Authors:

Guðmundur Heiðar Gunnarsson

Supported by:

AVS Fisheries Research Fund

Fishing and processing of live nephros for exportation

This was a pilot project aimed at defining conditions for efficient export of live lobsters. The project spanned the process from fishing to lobster marketing in Europe. The project succeeded in defining conditions for bringing live lobster from Hornafjörður to the market in Southern Europe. It was shown that it is possible to catch lobster in trawls for live export if it is ensured that precise quality categories take place on board the fishing vessel. Work processes were defined as minimizing discounts for short-term storage of lobster on land and for transport to the European market. A comparison with comparable Danish studies showed that survival was better in our process or 66% compared to 53%. However, there were higher discounts due to hake during trawling on Icelandic vessels, but this was supplemented by three times higher survival when transported ashore and short-term storage ashore (96 hours). It was shown that lobsters could be kept alive without discounts for up to 48 hours when transported to a foreign market. It was estimated that lobsters would need to live for at least 37 hours. in transit to reach the consumer in Europe. Prices in foreign markets were in line with market analysis. The project has therefore defined a work process that can be built on to start selling live lobster on the market in Southern Europe. However, it is necessary to master the catch of lobster traps in order to increase survival even further and reduce time-consuming sorting work in the process.

This research project was initiated to define conditions for optimized export procedure for Icelandic live nephrops. The project was based on holistic approach spanning the progress from catching nephrops to marketing of the live product in Europe. We were able to define conditions allowing for live export nephrops from Hornafjordur to Europe. We showed that it is possible to export live trawl fished nephrops but only after rigorous quality assessment. We defined workflow allowing for high survival rate of live nephrops during transportation and storage prior to exporting. Comparison with similar Danish project revealed that our setup allowed for higher survival rate or 66% compared to 53%. The survival rate after Icelandic trawl catching was lower than after Danish trawl catching. Survival rate during transportation and short time storage (96 hours) was three times higher in our setup. It was possible to keep nephrops alive for 48 hours in the export packaging, while it was assumed that such export would typically take up to 37 hours. Prices obtained in the pilot marketing tests were in the price range expected based on our marketing analysis. We have therefore defined a procedure suitable for initiating commercial export of live nephrops to Europe. However it is critical to build up capacity for creeling of nephrops in Icelandic waters to ensure higher survival rates and longer storage time of the live products. This would also reduce the extensive quality assessment needed if the nephrops is trawled.

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