Icelandic processor Vinnslustöðin hf. í Vestmannaeyjum (VSV) has opted for blast freezing technology at its pelagic processing plant in the Westmann Islands.
The decision to install blast freezers instead of the more usual plate freezing equipment is down higher prices paid by the Asian market in particlular for blast-frozen fish as this method retains a higher quality.
The factory was opened last week with several hundred guests visiting to take a look at the company’s new facilities following the extensive refit as the new equipment was installed.
The factory could previously produce around 250 tonnes per day, and this is expected to jump to a 420 tonne per day throughput capacity.
VSV chairman Guðmundur Örn Gunnarsson commented that the factory opens following its ISK1300 million refurbishment, just as the Marine Research Institute has recommended that there should be no capelin fishery for the 2016-17 season, which some would see as a setback.
‘Experience shows us that we have to allow for nature’s fluctuations and that’s what we do. This building makes all our production of other species, such as mackerel and herring, better and more effective,’ he said.
