Freyr Fridriksson has one thing he thinks Atlantic Canadian seafood firms need: a technique to preserve harvested fish recent longer than earlier than.
He is the proprietor of KAPP, an Icelandic firm that manufactures supercooling tools that shoots slurry ice out of a hose, enveloping harvested fish and quickly bringing their temperature down, however not freezing them stable, inside two hours of touchdown.
Slurry ice could be made on board a ship touchdown white fish like haddock and cod or onshore processing farmed salmon. It is an enchancment on typical flaked ice storage.
“You get extra shelf lifetime of your fish, so you could possibly, for instance, have it within the retailer perhaps three, 4, 5 days longer than uncommon strategies. And also you get higher high quality as a result of it’s cooled so rapidly,” stated Fridriksson.
Fridriksson is a part of an Icelandic commerce delegation in Halifax this week assembly with dozens of Atlantic firms in a primary Canada-Iceland commerce present targeted on seafood expertise.
“We simply wish to introduce this to the market. Now we have been in touch with among the predominant leaders right here and in the case of, for instance whitefish, they usually know us and I feel sooner or later we could have an enormous alternative right here,” he stated.
Supercooling expertise
Supercooling has enabled the Iceland delivery line Eimskip to hold recent salmon from Iceland and the Faroe Islands throughout the Atlantic to Halifax and Portland, Maine, as cargo in a container field. It is cheaper than having to air freight it into North America.
“I imply that was not taking place two years, three years in the past,” stated Iceland’s ambassador to Canada Hlynur Guðjónsson, who helped set up the commerce present in partnership with Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, a federal innovation fund.
“You’ll be able to Enhance the product life that’s supplying you with a aggressive edge.”
Along with chilly storage, protein processing and ship design, the Icelandic delegation contains three banks.
“I do know from my conversations with among the Canadian gamers that, particularly, when you’re a small- and medium-sized firm, you do not really feel you may get the curiosity from Canadian banks that you really want,” stated Guðjónsson.
Iceland banks have been in Canada for a few many years.
Commerce present two-way avenue
Tim Spanos. government director of worldwide banking at Islandsbanki, stated expertise with the seafood business provides them perspective to look past cycles within the business.
“Having the ability to take an extended view and, in some respects, having the next threat urge for food for the correct purchasers, for selective purchasers, you realize, we predict that is vital,” he stated.
“We really feel like we will compete together with your banks right here.”
The tech commerce present isn’t a a method avenue.
On Friday, the Deep Sense IBM marine information centre at Dalhousie College showcased the substitute intelligence (AI) capabilities it has developed, which embrace fish-counting software program.
And Joe Murphy from Halifax primarily based Graphite Innovation and Applied sciences, which has developed an excellent slippery non-toxic hull paint that reduces gasoline consumption, sees a market in Iceland.
“Talking with firms right here as we speak, everybody’s targeted on inexperienced expertise. We offer an ideal alternative for firms in Iceland that wish to undertake newer applied sciences, changing present coatings market as an illustration,” Murphy stated.
