Contact
Margrét Geirsdóttir
Project Manager
mg@matis.is
Experimental fishing and exploitation of Mueller's pearlsides
Gulldepla has been seen to a small extent off Iceland in recent years, but an unusual amount has been seen off the south coast of Iceland in the winters of 2008/2009 and 2009/2010. Several vessels started trying to catch it in December 2008 and January 2009 with good results and the hearth went into smelting. In the project, various possibilities were considered regarding the utilization of the gold mine and it would be interesting to examine some of them better with regard to the increase in value that they could entail. The possibility of using gold nuggets in surimi, canning, feed in aquaculture, bait, pet treats or the production of bioactive substances was discussed. It was especially interesting to see how light products from gold dust turned out to be when bioactive substances were made from it, compared to the starting raw material and also what taste and smell turned out to be acceptable.
Mueller's pearlside has not historically occurred on Icelandic fishing grounds, but from 2008 pelagic fishers found an increase on the south coast of the country. Exploratory fishing trips were undertaken by a few ships in December 2008 and January 2009. The catch rate was acceptable and the catch was processed into fishmeal. In the project, multiple potential uses for pearlside were investigated and some produced results that indicated it would be worthwhile to research further due to the increased value they may lead to. For example, applications included surimi, canning, aquaculture feed, bait, pet treats or products with bioactivity. The most interesting result was how light the fish protein extracts were compared to the raw mince material when the bioactivity was explored, and also that the taste and smell were very acceptable.