Fish farming is gaining in importance in Iceland''s range of fish products. Pilar Santamaria reports from Reykjavik on how salmon production has increased in two years from 3,000 tonnes to 10,000t and production is on course to reach as much as 50,000t to 60,000t by 2010.
According to Vigfús Jóhannsson, who has just stepped down after more than a decade as Chairman of the Icelandic Sea Ranchers and Fish Farmers Associations, interest in aquaculture is growing because of a mindset change among the processing companies.
"Our main industry is the fisheries sector. For a long time, aquaculture was something to compete with, but this has changed. Processing companies realise that fish farming can go hand-in-hand with wild catch and that can be beneficial for them. Also, we will not see major changes in [the size of] quotas and this means that the increase in production will come from the fish-farming sector," Vigfús Jóhannsson told World Fishing.
The strategic aquaculture project in Iceland at the moment is cod farming. Companies are joining forces with the Marine Institute to develop quality cod. "We are working on the texture, colour and other characteristics. Our plan is to have available cod from fish farming that is very suitable for the processing industry," says Vigfús Jóhannsson. The programme's target is to produce between 10,000t and 20,000t of cod by 2010. This year's aquaculture production of cod stands at 500t.
Vigfús Jóhannsson underlines the importance of Iceland's thermal waters from its geothermal geysers that pervade the Island. This allows the development of juveniles on land and then they can be released into sea cages.
Vigfús Jóhannsson is already thinking about the possibility of having an Icelandic label for aquaculture products. He recognizes that the main challenge for the fish farming sector now is its image. "We need to get closer to consumers, spend more money on marketing, although we are improving."
Another important species for aquaculture in Iceland is Arctic char. The country accounts for 65 per cent of world farmed production.
At the moment, production stands at 2,000t but is expected to increase to between 8,000t to 12,000t over the next five years.
