Ávarp sjávarútvegsráðherra Einars K. Guðfinnssonar við setningu ráðstefnu um skelrækt 2007

Address by the Icelandic Minister of Fisheries, Einar Kr. Guðfinnsson,
Opening the Conference Iceland Mussel 2007 – Opportunities and Future Prospects for a New Seafood Industry in Iceland

Conference participants, ladies and gentlemen, it is indeed a pleasure for me to have the opportunity of opening today’s conference on mussel culture. It has been no less gratifying to witness the energy evident in the development of mussel culture in Iceland in recent years. Since the same entrepreneurs at work there have taken the initiative in arranging this conference, there is plenty of reason to wish you both a useful conference and continuing success in developing this industry.

The aim of Iceland Mussel 2007 is to discuss and promote the possibilities for culture of mussels in Icelandic waters. The mussel Mytilus edulis is common to a large area around the North Atlantic, including Iceland. Despite this, consumption of mussels is not a traditional practice in this country, as Icelanders of former times had somewhat eccentric tastes. In the case of foods from the sea, our ancestors emphasised eating only species which they thought were pleasing to the eye. As a result, haddock and cod were favourites going back many centuries, while shellfish, crustaceans and “less attractive” or “odd-looking” fish species were considered unfit for human consumption. Mussels were, however, regarded as quite acceptable bait, and used extensively for the purpose. They served as food for humans only in times of scarcity, as is evident from the popular Icelandic description of going through hard times as “lapping up death from a shell”. There are, however, a few examples where mussels were eaten regularly, and considered a welcome addition to other available food supplies. They were even preserved in sour whey, a traditional method of preserving food in Iceland. Fresh mussels were also prepared in a variety of ways, but their consumption never became widespread, as I mentioned.

In other countries, however, the case was quite different. There the harvesting and growing of mussels has been practiced for centuries. In France, for example, written sources on mussel culture date back as far as 1235! Modern culturing methods, however, have a history of only about sixty years. Despite the strong traditions and conservative views which dominated until recent years here in Iceland, concerning food and food preparation, attempts were made to introduce innovations during the past century. In 1916, for example, the Fisheries Association of Iceland published a booklet with the title Inexpensive Food – Directions on cooking herring and mussels. As the objective and title of the booklet indicate, these were the days prior to modern prosperity, when fish and marine products were daily fare, not least among the less well-off in Iceland. In recent decades, eating traditions in Iceland have been transformed, both by influences from abroad and as a result of increased prosperity. Fish and seafoods are no longer eaten to the extent they once were. Only a generation ago fish was the staple dish practically every day of the week on most tables, generally boiled and eaten with potatoes. Today, fish is more often served on festive occasions. It is more expensive and available in a much wider variety.

Naturally, we aim to have seafoods consumed more extensively, so that they will continue to keep their place as a staple food as well. There are many positive factors to encourage consumption of seafood: it is both good-tasting and especially healthy food. Fish products are practically made-to-order for modern recommendations on a nutritious diet. Rich in protein and nutrients, seafoods are generally low in fat; and what fat fish does contain has a high content of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids. Mussels are no exception to this. They are rich in nutrition and store up energy in the form of glycogen during those periods of the year when the oceans are teeming with nutrients. Seasonal fluctuations in the contents of mussels are greater than for most other types of marine animals. Measurements have shown that the edible portion contains from 10 to 20% protein, 0.5 to 3% fat and 1-7% glycogen, depending upon the time of year and location. This shows clearly that mussels offer considerable advantages as healthy food.

When we add to this their appeal to popular taste as festive food, it means that they offer major opportunities for Icelanders if we can manage to gain a foothold in these markets.

Bearing this in mind, I would like to express once more my gratitude at what you pioneers in mussel culture have managed to achieve in the past few years. As pointed out previously, this is almost a completely new sector in Iceland. There were admittedly isolated attempts at mussel culture quite some time ago. The Icelandic Marine Research Institute did sponsor several pilot projects in mussel culture during the period from 1973 to 1987, with very varying degrees of success. One undertaking did carry out trial culturing of mussels from 1985 to 1988, while at the same time, harvesting of mussels by the general public became more common. The most recent attempts at culturing mussels have generally consisted of interested entrepreneurs achieving success in spat collection and grow out. On the other hand, they eventually gave up, lacking the stamina to push onwards and develop their production beyond the developmental phase into that of profitable operation. Generally this is due to a lack of patient financing. This makes it a welcome change to see that today we have entrepreneurs who appear to have advanced beyond this developmental phase and obtained financing. It definitely marks an important turning point for this new fisheries sector. It will definitely be interesting to hear what the representatives of Norðurskel have to say here today, as well as the information and conclusions with which the Icelandic Shellfish Culturers’ Association can provide us.

At the same time, we need to preserve the already existing knowledge which I referred to earlier, for instance, from the experiments carried out by MRI. In 1999, the Icelandic parliament, Althingi¸ passed a resolution to provide state support for mussel culture and other tidal harvests, as it was called. Following this, a grant was provided for a project comprised of a detailed feasibility study of culturing mussels and other endeavours, which substantially added to the available expertise. Subsequently new aquaculture legislation was adopted.

As part of the project “Value-added Marine Catch”, a special project management group focuses on aquaculture, including shellfish culture.

Additional steps have been taken by the public authorities in recent years to reinforce the operating basis for shellfish culture, for instance, by increasing funding of research on the safety and healthiness of the proposed culture environment. It will be interesting to hear suggestions from you, the shellfish culturers, as to other general actions which could be taken to support the foundations of the sector. The operating responsibility and initiative in the industry, however, lie with the operators themselves, as is the rule in all commercial operations.

We Icelanders have a lot to learn from those countries whose experience is many times greater than our own in this field, just as we can pass on our expertise where this is greatest. We have the most to learn from countries with a high level of expertise and an environment which is not dissimilar to our own. For this reason I would like to welcome those foreign speakers, who will be addressing us here today, while at the same time welcoming both foreign conference participants – and naturally my fellow countrymen who are here with us – to this gathering. I hereby formally open the conference Iceland Mussel 2007 – Opportunities and future prospects for a new seafood industry in Iceland.