Press release from Iceland Seafood The board of directors of Iceland Seafood International hf. (“ISI”), a leader in exports of seafood from Iceland, is pleased to announce the appointment of Ægir Páll Friðbertsson as the new CEO of ISI, succeeding Bjarni Ármannsson, who is stepping down after five years with ISI. Simultaneously, Sjávarsýn ehf., a…
Press release from Iceland Seafood
The board of directors of Iceland Seafood International hf. (“ISI”), a leader in exports of seafood from Iceland, is pleased to announce the appointment of Ægir Páll Friðbertsson as the new CEO of ISI, succeeding Bjarni Ármannsson, who is stepping down after five years with ISI.
Simultaneously, Sjávarsýn ehf., a holding company fully owned by Bjarni Ármannsson has sold its total shareholdings of 10,83% in ISI to Brim hf. as further set out in a separate notification regarding manager’s transaction that has been notified and made public according to Article 19 of regulation No. 596/2014.
The board of directors will summon to a shareholders meeting in the coming weeks.
Ægir Páll has been Chief Operating Officer at Brim hf. for the last 5 years. Before that he was Managing director for Útgerðarfélag Reykjavíkur hf. for 3 years and a managing director for Ísfélag Vestmannaeyja for 9 years. Ægir Páll has worked in the seafood industry for most part of his professional career. He holds a business degree from the University of Iceland and a master degree in finance.
Ægir Páll Friðbertsson, incoming group CEO:
“I’m very pleased to take the helm at Iceland Seafood. I believe the company has a good potential and I look forward to work with its employees, suppliers and customers to further develop the company.
The company has built up a leadership position in Europe and has first-class track record for a very long time for quality, innovation and reliability of its products.
The company is deeply rooted amongst Icelandic producers and I’m confident we can continue to produce value added products in Europe at a premium for the advantage of all stakeholders.”
Bjarni Ármannsson:
“I’m very grateful for the opportunity to lead Iceland Seafood for the last almost 5 years. It’s been a time of learning for me and characterized by volatile externalities that have at times been challenging. I would like to thank the people I’ve worked with and the board of Directors in particular for its continued support.
The Iceland Seafood group is a strong entity with a very good potential for profitability and growth going forward. Its unique position in delivering quality seafood to its customers, particularly in Europe is something that has been developed for a very long time and remains with many good opportunities.
I strongly believe in Ægir Páll Friðbertsson, whom I’ve known for many years. He will be a good leader for Iceland Seafood. His knowledge, drive and persuasive character will drive the company forward. I wish him and everyone at ISI well and look forward to closely following their continued success.”
Ægir Páll will conclude his current duties at Brim hf. in October and starts as CEO of ISI on November 1st, replacing Bjarni, who will support the transition for the following months.
Originally published on 25 September.
Press release from Luke As fish consumption is growing in Europe, new methods for sustainable fish farming are needed. Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) together with European fish farmers, breeders and feed producers as well as researchers raised selective breeding and fish farming to a new level by linking the effects of fish genome and…
Press release from Luke
As fish consumption is growing in Europe, new methods for sustainable fish farming are needed. Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) together with European fish farmers, breeders and feed producers as well as researchers raised selective breeding and fish farming to a new level by linking the effects of fish genome and nutrition. Some of the methods developed in the five-year project have already been taken into use by European companies.
Fish consumption in Europe is growing alongside vegetarianism, and at the same time there is a growing need for fish farmers to meet demand more safely, efficiently and with less environmental impact. Selective breeding of fishes has helped and continues to help to develop fish farming. Breeders select individuals for breeding that have been found to make effective use of feed for growth and remain healthy.
In addition to selective breeding, sustainable fish farming is promoted by feed developed specifically for certain fish species and certain conditions. However, so far fish feed developers have had only limited information about the changes in fish traits brought about by breeding, even though the trait changes affect nutrition. Feed developers are also challenged by the fact that as fish consumption increases, more fish feed is needed, and therefore new sustainable raw materials must be found.
“Selective breeding and fish feeds have been developed extensively in Europe, but typically in separate projects. Inside Luke, we had the experience of combining these fields of research, and now we did it on a large scale. For the international EU-funded AquaIMPACT project, we gathered challenges of fish farming and experts from 10 companies and 12 research institutes to solve them,” says Antti Kause, principal scientist at Luke, who leads the project.
The five-year project is nearing its end, and Kause says the goals have been met.
“We developed a method based on a mathematical model, which allows feed manufacturers to predict how feed composition will affect, for example, the growth or health of a fish, when its genetic characteristics are known. This is a significant breakthrough in the industry.”
A groundbreaking feature in the AquaIMPACT project was that breeding experts based their selection on the genome of the fish and not, as has been customary, on the family tree. According to Kause, genomic selection is already common in the selective breeding of cattle, pigs, chickens and plants, and thus familiar work at Luke as well.
“We have 25 animal and plant breeders in Luke, who analyze the genomic data from breeding programmes. We also have 40 years of experience in selective breeding of fish and responsibility for the national breeding programme for rainbow trout. This made it natural for us to take responsibility for genetics research and the development of breeding methods in the project.”
The experimental work was divided among different countries according to, among other things, fish species, which were rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon from cool waters as well as gilthead sea bream and European sea bass from the Mediterranean. For example, researchers at Luke and a Finnish company developed selection methods to improve disease resistance of rainbow trout in their own aquaculture facilities.
“We also showed that selective breeding has yielded results even when the selection has been based on the family tree. We have managed to improve the feed efficiency of rainbow trout by about 18 percent over the past 25 years. This means that breeding has made fish farming more efficient and reduced the nutrient emissions from fish farms into the sea.”
Although the AquaIMPACT project focused on European fish species, according to Kause, the computing and genomic methods developed can be used anywhere. Some of the methods have already been implemented by European companies that participated in the project.
“The absolute strength of the project was that the same people who have participated in the development work get to use the results right away.”
Press relese from Laxey Land based salmon farming with 32 thousand tons capacity Westman Island based seafood family with 75 years heritage – as anchor investor Hatchery to start operation by end of 2023 Production in grow-out tanks to commence in 2024 Westman Islands, Iceland, 14th September 2023. The Icelandic land-based salmon company LAXEY, previously…
Press relese from Laxey
Westman Islands, Iceland, 14th September 2023.
The Icelandic land-based salmon company LAXEY, previously named Icelandic Land Farmed Salmon, has completed its first phase of equity capital increase of EUR 42 million.
LAXEY has already commenced the construction of its fish farming facilities in Westman Islands, an archipelago off the south coast of Iceland. The project consists of a hatchery and a grow-out facility.
The company will produce 27 thousand HOG (Head On Gutted) tons of farmed Atlantic Salmon by 2031 with construction in 6 sections, while in comparison the current production of land-based salmon in Iceland is less than two thousand tons.
The first section will be operational by mid-2024 and sales of salmon should start late 2025. The first section will be cash-flow positive as a stand-alone operation, with each additional section increasing efficiency of production, with lower investment cost and operational cost per kilogram produced.
Unique conditions in the Westman islands
Conditions for land-based salmon farming are very good in the Westman Islands. A stronghold of the Icelandic fishing industry, the islands have a strong tradition for, and deep knowledge of, protein production and seafood export. The infrastructure is strong, the community is cohesive, and access to talent and know-how in food production is very good. In addition, emphasis will be placed on shipping fish to market by sea, lowering the carbon footprint of the salmon.
LAXEY has been successfully introduced in the community and the municipality has shown strong support for the project. When fully operational, LAXEY will employ over 100 people all year round, as well as creating a number of derived job opportunities.
Value creation through environmental emphasis
Demand for farmed salmon is growing steadily worldwide, due to increased emphasis on healthy lifestyles, an expanding middle class world-wide, and increased emphasis on sustainability in food production. Great emphasis has been placed on careful preparation of the project, and a thorough assessment of the environmental impact.
LAXEY will base its production on 100% renewable energy sources, and will recycle biological waste for fertilizer production. The fish farm will use a hybrid flow-through system where about 65% of the sea is reused, while 35% is fresh sea water, pumped from boreholes in the area, at optimal water temperatures for salmon farming.
Strong local anchor investors
The company was established by a group of entrepreneurs, led by a local family with over 75 years history in the seafood industry, extensive know-how and a strong reputation. The family has recently sold their seafood companies and is re-investing in this land-based salmon farm as anchor investor.
Lárus Ásgeirsson, chairman of LAXEY:
„We are extremely proud of reaching this milestone, and appreciative of the trust our investors have shown by participating in this unique project. Our team has been preparing this project since 2019 and we see great opportunities in the production and sale of Icelandic land-farmed salmon from the Westman islands. The location offers ideal conditions for producing high-quality fish products through superior know-how and a strong talent pool, which is a key factor in this sector.”
Mar Advisor were sole financial advisor to Icelandic Land Farmed Salmon in this local funding round. The company offers tailor-made advisory services to corporate clients globally, specializing in the seafood, energy, and infrastructure sectors.
As construction progresses, the company will seek new stakeholder partnerships and capital in the Nordic and international capital markets. For that purpose, LAXEY has brought in Norway headquartered investment bank Arctic Securities as sole global coordinator and bookrunner, with Mar Advisors continuing as financial advisor to the company.
For further information contact:
Lárus Ásgeirsson, stjórnarformaður
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +354 867 0449
Originally published on 15 September.
Press release from BODENNXT Boden will play a central role in the development of sustainable fish feed for the future. At Vattenfall’s fish farm in Heden, they are following the project with great interest. The food industry accounts for about one third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and animal products have the greatest impact…
Press release from BODENNXT
Boden will play a central role in the development of sustainable fish feed for the future. At Vattenfall’s fish farm in Heden, they are following the project with great interest.
The food industry accounts for about one third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and animal products have the greatest impact on the environment and climate. In Sweden, feed accounts for 50 to 85 percent of the climate emissions from fish, pigs, poultry and eggs.
To address the issue, Axfoundation and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) have launched a project with practitioners and researchers from Boden to Öland, to develop the feed of the future.
Boden will play a pivotal role in the development of fish feed which will partly be based on larvae raised with the help of local food waste. A pilot facility for the insects is expected to be in place soon, adjacent to the existing test greenhouse in the industrial area Boden Plug & Play, located next to the Arena area. Just like the greenhouse, the insect facility will also be powered by waste heat from a small data center.
Hanna Carlberg, researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), and Christian Sjöland, project manager for Food of the Future at Axfoundation, recently visited Boden to discuss and experience the conditions of the project.
One of the visits was to Heden’s fish farm, which each year raises and releases hundreds of thousands of salmon and trout to compensate for the impact of hydropower on the fish’s natural environment.
– For us, this is interesting for several reasons. The goal of our project is to develop future circular and climate-smart feed for several different animal species. Specifically for the salmon smolt in Heden, we want to explore whether it’s possible to add entirely locally-produced larvae to their diet,” says Hanna Carlberg.
This is something that Henri Heimonen, operations manager at Vattenfall’s fish farm in Heden, welcomes.
– We have been testing insect-based feed and animal feed for sea trout for three years, and we see no difference. It would be interesting to see if it works just as well for the salmon,” he says.
He and the operation was awarded the municipality of Boden’s environmental grant in 2022 for their active work to improve the processes in fish farming, resulting in positive measurable effects on the local environment. However, one area where he still sees great potential for improvement is fish feed, which is seen as a contributing factor to the overfishing of the world’s oceans.
– The feed fishing we see it today is a worryingly large problem and to me it doesn’t seem relevant to keep feeding salmon with forage fish if there are other alternatives. I will be very happy if we can participate and try to make it even more locally produced and sustainable,” says Henri Heimonen.
The project also includes feed for fish in food fish farms, food birds, laying hens and pigs. The project is run by Axfoundation and SLU together with 23 additional partners and is partly funded by Vinnova.
Read more about the project here :
Originally published on 29 August.
Press release form Royal Greenland June 1st, Royal Greenland acquired the majority shareholding in Nordic Marine Nutrition as part of an increased focus on utilising side streams and by-products especially from cod and shrimp, and as part of the company’s pilot project in seaweed cultivation. At the beginning of 2020, Royal Greenland entered a collaboration…
At the beginning of 2020, Royal Greenland entered a collaboration with Nordic Seaweed to develop competences within the seaweed area. Nordic Marine Nutrition was previously owned by Nordisk Tang with Kristian Ottesen at the helm, which is why the collaboration with Kristian is now formalised in Nordic Marine Nutrition. In the new constellation, however, Nordic Marine Nutrition will not only contribute with knowledge of seaweed, but also with extensive experience and competences in the utilisation of side streams and by-products.
Royal Greenland’s increased focus on side streams is a natural extension of a circular mindset that continuously works throughout the entire seafood value chain.
Thomas Meiner Jensen, Group Purchacing Director says;
Nordic Marine Nutrition has extensive knowledge of side streams – in particular, they have worked on several projects within animal feed among other things. We expect that with these competences on board, we can take our own work with side streams to the next level and ultimately create added value. Side streams and offcuts are in general a challenge where Royal Greenland has an untapped potential, where we want to strengthen our efforts and earnings.
The work on side streams will initially focus on shrimp shells, but later also on off-cuts from cod and cod skin. The fishing industry has generally not been leading this area and Greenland represents a challenge logistically. Therefore, in the start-up phase, the focus will also be to learn more about the different production sites and build up a reasonable volume to get a good flow for production.
Kristian Ottesen, Director at Nordic Marine Nutrition explains;
Initially, of course, we need to work on uncovering the process for side streams and identify the opportunities that can bring value to the organisation. The shrimp shells are a good place to start, as they are a well-known product in the industry and represent a value especially in Asia, where they are used as an ingredient in flavour enhancers.
Nordic Marine Nutrition will also strengthen Royal Greenland’s competences within seaweed, both by working with the cultivation, but also in the last link of the value chain with developing an attractive product range.
Thomas Meiner Jensen explains;
Seaweed is a new and important business area for us, that is aligned with our overall vision for the company. So far, we have invested a significant amount in infrastructure and equipment for seaweed cultivation in Greenland. We are still in a pilot phase until the summer of 2024, and it is essential to strengthen our competences as much as possible in order to succeed with the project.
Because of this, Nordic Marine Nutrition will focus on the continued development of seaweed products, including market and technology development. However, due to the company’s experience in the industry and Royal Greenland’s ambitions for growth and volume, a large part of the work will also be about cultivation and upscaling.
Kristian Ottesen elaborates;
“What we bring to the seaweed project is our experience with flavours, the various biocomponents and end products for consumers. But we have an ambition to grow large volumes, so we also need to look at other applications such as functional ingredients and, as a natural extension of this, also offer advice on cultivation, where we will focus on hatching. ”
Nordic Marine Nutrition will work closely with Royal Greenland’s Innovation Department on the seaweed project, which recently received a 5.5 million DKK grant from GUPD for further development.
Originally published on 18 August.
Press release from Skaginn 3X Skaginn 3X has signed a contract with BlueWild, Norway, to supply a full fish processing factory onboard the company’s innovative new trawler. The trawler is designed to deliver sustainability, quality, and efficiency on all levels. From new propeller technology and groundbreaking trawl handling, to ecofriendly catch pumping and innovative production…
Press release from Skaginn 3X
Skaginn 3X has signed a contract with BlueWild, Norway, to supply a full fish processing factory onboard the company’s innovative new trawler. The trawler is designed to deliver sustainability, quality, and efficiency on all levels. From new propeller technology and groundbreaking trawl handling, to ecofriendly catch pumping and innovative production facilities,the new trawler is set to revolutionize onboard processing with its ECOFIVE concept.
A milestone agreement for onboard factory
“The agreement marks a turning point for us,” says Ragnar A.Guðmundsson, Skaginn 3X’s Director of Sales for Scandinavia and Europe. Mr.Guðmundsson has led the project from Skaginn 3X end from the beginning. “We have worked closely with the Bluewild team for the last two years. After many meetings and researches the team effort paid off and we will deliver a new and exciting onboard processing solution that harmonizes really well with their strategy.”
Fish processing innovation
The concept of responsible fisheries is at the core of the new project. ECOFIVE – the new and innovative concept developed by Bluewild and their partners – is designed to deliver the highest-quality products possible with reduced energy consumption. The concept is nominated for The Nor-Fishing Foundation Innovation Award 2022.
“It’s an incredible opportunity to be chosen as the fish factory supplier for such an innovative project,” says Mr. Guðmundsson. “Our onboard processing system fits incredibly well with the principle of sustainable fishing, maximum product utilization and increased product and by-product value.”
Sustainable fish processing principles in play
Catch is transferred directly into water-filled storage tanks below the waterline where it remains alive before being taken to the factory facility. Overpressure release is used to bring the live catch to Skaginn 3X’s processing line on the factory floor. The turnkey processing system will process fillets, loins, center pieces, tails, and bellies from whitefish, cooked and single-frozen consumer prawns or deliver blocks of industrial shrimp for further production on land.
Top quality, from filleting to frozen product
“Our focus is on quality and maximum product utilization,” explains Guðmundsson. “This means that each and every piece offish receives top treatment throughout the process, from filleting to frozen product. In addition, the system’s full product utilization methods are designed to deliver maximum by-product value, that means every part of the fish is processed for human consumption.”
Collaboration is the key to success
The ship and all of its systems are designed and built by incredibly professional teams from the Westcon shipbuilder, Ulstein Design & Solutions AS, CFlow Systems, PTG and now Skaginn 3X. “We are honored that the customer has chosen our company for this project and very proud to be a part of this group,”says Mr. Guðmundsson. “Our experience in the Icelandic and international fish industry has allowed us to build world-class teams. Our people bring in-depth processing knowledge, extensive technical expertise, and innovative thinking to this venture.”
Originally published on 18 August.
