I was invited on a learning journey to Iceland organised by Seafood Scotland and Opportunity North East.
The week was busy and filled with vast opportunities to learn and work with other key people in the Scottish Seafood industry as well as meeting up with delegations from other countries.
Iceland’s main industries are tourism and fish processing and it was great to see first hand how their seafood processing sector approaches processing with investment in automation and a high level of utilisation and value of what was previously seen as waste products, may other countries are marketing these as Co Products.
There is also collaboration with food technologists, biotechnologists, medical, pharmaceutical and textile industries which has been crucial to utilise up to 90% of white fish species and 42% of salmon.
The Iceland Ocean Cluster and Thor Sigfusson were key to starting this journey which is by no means over, with the aim being to increase the utilisation of the white fish and salmon species to 100%.
Attending the Fish Waste for Profit Conference allowed us to see the opportunities available for increased utilisation and value of the whole fish carcase.
We visited the Marel and Curio production sites to see where the equipment is built and programmed, they have state of the art equipment and are focussed on innovation and problem solving for food processors all over the world. For more information on automation please contact Richard Adam at Curio ra@curiofoodmachinery.com, who have a Scottish demonstration and training site in Peterhead.
A visit to the Fiskkaup site gave us an excellent opportunity to see a site with a high level of automation and fish quality and quality of co products (previously waste).
The learning journey was invaluable in gaining knowledge and making connections within the industry and globally. This will enable us to be more aware of how we can support our industry in to the future.
Jean Meikle
