How to use our heads in the fishing industry Käytetään järkeä kalateollisuudessa Hreiðar Þór...

How to use our heads in the fishing industry

Käytetään järkeä kalateollisuudessa

Hreiðar Þór ValtýssonAssistant professor, MSc fisheries biology

University of Akureyri / The Marine Research InstituteBorgir v/ Nordurslod, IS-600 Akureyri, Iceland

[email protected]

Bjarni EirikssonMSc student fisheries sciences

University of [email protected]

Introduction

1. Flashback to the age of settlement2. Fast forward to the 14th century3. The 19th century, some changes4. Semi-modern times5. Today in Dalvík - Video

Finish Fishermen Association 13.11.2007 Hreiðar Thor Valtysson The web

http://staff.unak.is/not/hreidar/index.htm

The 9th century

First settlement in 874Iceland fairly rich

– New unspoiled country– Relatively few people– Warm climate

Agriculture the mainstay of the economy

Mostly fisheries for subsistence



The 9th century

• The 10th century





The population at around 70.000Gradually the climate declines and the land becomes less productiveCivil war and a loss of independence

But nothing much happens in the fisheries


The 14th century

Iceland under Norwegian and then Danish rulePoor contry

– Cool climate– Infertile soil– Volcanic eruptions– Diseases

Population around 50.000Fisheries become more important

– As food instead of less agricultural output– As export



The 14th century

Fish products at least as important as agricultural productsStays like that for many centuriesThe fleet in Icelandic waters

– Large English, later Dutch and still later French sailing boats fishing offshore

– Icelanders use small open rowing boats



The 14th century

The most important species1. Cod – catches estimated from

10.000 to 40.000 t annually2. Greenland shark – unknown catch3. Halibut and haddock – unknown catch

Processing method– Drying stockfish most important (skreið in Icelandic) for export– Fish oil also important for export and local consumption– Curing (buying it in a pit near the waters edge for some months) of

shark important for local consumption


– Some pickling (in whey) for local consumption

• No salting, smoking, freezing, icing or canning


The 14th century

What parts of the fish were used => everything


Head, dried and eaten mostly locally. Very common food

Liver eaten, processed for oil, oil mainly for fire, also medicine

Fins pickled and eaten

Swim bladder, pickled and eaten

Gonads eaten

Skin eaten or used to make shoes

Stomach used for sausages

The flesh dried and exported =$

Bones pickled and eaten or used as firewoodOtoliths used as toys


The 14th century






The population at around 50.000Diseases, volcanic eruptions and cool climate keep the population level low

Nothing much happens in the fisheries


The 19th century

Iceland under the Danish crown but some gradual independenceThe economy improves despite a cool climate

– Technological improvements

Gradual population increase to 75.000Fisheries become even more important


Fisheries products as percentage of export earnings

1733-1742

1818-1839

1896-1900

1996-2000


The 19th century

The fleet• Still foreign boats, mostly French schooners. English trawlers and Norwegian

herring boats appear at the end of the century• An Icelandic sailing boat fleet began to emerge in the 18th century,

approximately half of the catch by them• Majority of the Icelandic fleet still open rowing boats, why??

– The fishing grounds were also close by so big boats were not essential– Harbours were few and none in most areas– Not much capital available.



The 19th century

The most important species1. Cod – estimated catches from 50.000 to 80.000 t2. Greenland shark – important until around 19103. Herring – emerging as an important species

Processing method– Drying stockfish still important in beginning– Salting becomes by far the most important method– Fish oil (Greenland shark and cod) important for

export– Some Curing, pickling and smoking– No freezing, icing or canning



The 20th century

Iceland becomes independentThe economy improves rapidlyPopulation increase to 300.000Fisheries very important but relative

importance declines toward the end



The 20th century

The fleet• Motorized from the beginning of the century• Icelandic trawlers almost from the beginning of the century,

numbers variable, around 100 in the later part.• Many size and type categories



The 20th century

The main species• Cod nearly always the most important• Some years the herring was more important• The second and third species variable

between decades, mainly haddock, redfish, shrimp, capelin, Greenland halibut and herring

• Greenland shark and halibut of no commercial importance although consumed locally



The 20th century

Processing methods• Salting the most

important in the beginning and freezing from around 1950

• Fish meal, oil, dry fish and freshfish of some importance

• Canning, and smoking of little importance


Value of exports


The 20th century

What parts of the fish were used => mainly the fillet


Head into fish meal

Liver processed for oil but mostly thrown away

Fins into fish meal

Swim bladder into fish meal

Gonads mostly thrown away

Skin into fish meal

Stomach thrown away

The flesh salted or frozen

Bones into fish mealOtoliths thrown away


The 21st century

Icelandic companies expand abroadIceland very rich (how long will it last ??)The importance of fisheries declines

The fleet– Fewer but more

mechanized and computerized boats



The 21st century

The main species– Mostly the same but changes in species composition

due to warming climate– Reduced importance of cod as the stock was

overfished and rebuilding the stock have so far failed

The processing methods– More freshfish, less frozen– Salted fish still important, high quality market in the

Mediterranean region– More emphazis on full utilization– Increase in fish drying, especially the heads !!!


The 21st century

What parts of the fish were used => everything


Heads dried

Liver processed for oil and fish meael

Fins dried

Swim bladder dried, sometimes pickled

Gonads, roe into caviar

Skin into gelatine

Stomach into skin care lotion

The flesh fresh, frozen or salted

Bones driedOtoliths thrown away

The 21st century

Video, Dalvík fish processing plant


The 21st century

This trend is probably driven by scarcity.

1. Before the 20th century food from agriculture was barely enough to feed the nation and the fish was hard to get. Thus every conceivable part of both the fish and the lamb was used.

2. The 20th century was time of abundance, fish stocks were not yet overfished for most part of the century and technology allowed people to fish easily.

3. In the beginning of the 21st century the picture facing the fisheries sector is bleaker, many stocks have been overfished and capacity of the fishing fleet is much higher than the fish stocks can tolerate, thus driving the fishing sector to attempt to increase the value of the limited catch.


The end


• Thanks to– Samherji hf– Salka – Norfisk ltd– Sigurjón Arason Matís

• References– Arason, S. 2003. The drying of fish and utilization of geothermal energy – The Icelandic experience. GHC Bulletin, December 2003: 27-33– Jónsson, G. and Magnússon, M.S. 1997. Hagskinna – Icelandic historical statistics. Statistics Iceland.– Thor, J.Th. 2002, 2003, 2005. Saga sjavarútvegs á Íslandi, volumes I, II and III. – Kristjánsson, L. 1985. Íslenskir sjávarhættir, volume IV,

How to use our heads in the fishing industry Käytetään järkeä kalateollisuudessa Hreiðar Þór...

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