According to the Danish Pelagic PO, blue whiting has proved to be an increasingly important resource for Denmark’s fishmeal sector. This year Danish pelagic vessels have landed 81,000 tonnes of blue whiting valued at DKK132.4 million (€17.80 million) compared to 61,000 tonnes last year worth DKK83.50 million (€11.20 million) last year.
The Síldarvinnslan fishmeal plant at Seyðisfjörður in eastern Iceland was last night evacuated after a long period of snowfalls combined with rising temperatures and rain created an avalanche risk as snow on the Strandartindur mountain overlooking the factory began to loosen.
A&S Thai Works (ASTW), located in Samut Prakan west of Bangkok, has finalised an order for a 500 tonne per day fishmeal plant for Russia with a value of more than US$12 million. The customer is PCF Yuzhno-Kurilsky Ryibocombinat Co Ltd (YUKR) and the plant will be installed on Kunashir Island in the Kuril Islands.
Good news for Danish fishermen as the Brisling Box off Denmark’s west coast is open as of today (29th July).
Fishing has been good since this year’s North Sea sandeel fishery opened on the first of April, with reports of good catches right from the very first tow of the season.
Norwegian sales organisation Sildelaget reports that there has been good fishing on blue whiting off St Kilda, but other pelagic landings have been slow.
Síldarvinnslan’s three fishmeal plants between them took delivery of 131,460 tonnes of raw material during 2016, a drop over the previous year when the three factories accepted 259,394 tonnes.
An investment by United Fish Industries (UFI, UK & Ireland) and its parent company, the Norwegian-based Pelagia Group, of €30 million has seen one of the most iconic fish processing plants in Ireland being totally redeveloped and reconstructed into one of the most modern marine ingredient plants in the world.
The sea is full of fish that may not be caught, according to FF Skagen CEO Johannes Palsson, commenting on the reduction in catches of industrial species for protein production.
FF Skagen, which produces around 100,000 tonnes of fishmeal and fish oil annually, is facing down the competition in the industrial fish sector with a planned DKK85 million investment in production systems, replacing six older production lines with four new ones.