HB Grandi’s groundfish production at its Norðurgarður location has gone well throughout the quota year that comes to an end on the last day of August. A staff of around 160 work in production and process 550 to 600 tonnes of saithe, redfish and cod every week.
Production manager Gísli Kristjánsson said that he is satisfied with the way the quota year has worked out, with good fishing and production ashore.
‘At the beginning of the quota year production in Reykjavík and Akranes were merged to one location at Norðurgarður. Taking this step was a demanding one for everyone involved with production ashore, but the merger was very successful and the results have been better than we hoped,’ he said.
HB Grandi has for many years been a leader in utilising new technology in processing and part of this development has been to invest further in new equipment when it became clear that the Reykjavík and Akranes production facilities would be merged.
‘At the start of the quota year we invested in a new waterjet cutter for removing bones from redfish fillets, which has performed extremely well. A new packing grader for fresh fish was also acquired for groundfish in addition to the existing system, and this was a much-needed measure to increase production rates and the flow of fish through the building,’ Gísli Kristjánsson said, adding that the Norðurgarður factory works a single shift, with a working day of eight, ten or twelve hours. A ten-hour working day is nothing unusual for the staff.
‘This summer we have had close to sixty summer staff working for us. They have done well and there has been plenty to keep everyone busy,’ he said.
