Icelandic fish processor, HB Grandi, has processed and frozen around 12,500 tonnes of capelin at its pelagic factory in Vopnafjördur since the beginning of 2013 - leaving last year’s previous record of 9500 tonnes far behind.
Magnús Róbertsson, factory manager at Vopnafjördur, says that frozen production has exceeded expectations because the factory has been able to maintain full production.
Meanwhile, Mr Róbertsson expects that production of frozen capelin roe for the Japanese market will start being processed later this week. He said that production would start at HB Grandi’s Akranes factory and would then begin later at Vopnafjördur.
But although capelin production is ahead of the game on last year – it’s a different story for roe production.
“The roe content of the capelin looks good at around 21-22%, but the maturity of the roe isn’t at the same stage it was at this time last year,” MR Róbertsson said. He added that last year roe extraction and production started at Akranes on the 26 February. Last year a record 4000 tonnes of capelin roe were frozen by HB Grandi, this year’s production is not expected to break last year’s record."
HB Grandi also operates a cod farming unit in eastern Iceland, close to the town of Djupivogur. The unit is run on an experimental basis, focusing on research of breeding, feeding and disease control. Meanwhile, its daughter company, Stofnfiskur, specialises in breeding technologies and roe production.
