ESTONIA
A ďŹ shmeal and ďŹ sh oil production plant opens in Estonia
Cooperation beats competition The Secretariat of EUďŹ shmeal estimates that the total European production of ďŹ shmeal and ďŹ sh oil is approximately 600,000 metric tonnes of ďŹ shmeal and 160,000 t of ďŹ sh oil annually, with a total value of approximately 1,000m euros annually. A new association of Estonian production organisations (POs) has established itself to enter the European market.
T
he three Estonian POs – the Estonian Fish Producers Organisation, the Estonian Trawling Association, and the Estonian Commercial Fishermen Association – have joined forces in the development and construction of a factory that will convert sprat and herring into fishmeal and fish oil for marine fish feed and other purposes. The union of POs has established a company, named the Central Association of Estonian Fish Producers, which owns the factory and the land on which it is situated, giving each PO one-third ownership. According to Mart Undrest, managing director of the Estonian Fish Producers Organisation, the largest of the three POs, cooperation
has been key to the new company’s success. “Each PO has at least five companies, and it has taken a while to get used to each other’s way of working and approach, but the cooperation continues to improve. That’s why the ministry and state have supported this. So, we have the entire sector behind it.� At the moment, Mart Undrest sees no advantage to merging the POs. He recalls that, ten years ago, they competed against each other, resulting in lower prices. Now, he thinks that it is more profitable to sell on the strength of their quality and not out of desperation. Fishmeal is made mostly from wild-caught, small marine fish, but approximately one-third of the
ingredients are the by-products of fish processing for human consumption in the form of heads, viscera, frames, skins, tails, fins, scales, mince, and blood. This source of ingredients increases fishmeal’s sustainability factor. Approximately 60 of the fishmeal produced is used to feed farmed fish.
In a fishmeal factory far, far away The Central Association of Estonian Fish Producers had very specific requirements for the factory’s location. It had to be close to highways, the deep ports, the fishing regions, and ferry connections. They selected a 21,000 m2, (2.1 ha) site on Pakri peninsula
in northwestern Estonia, 5 km north of the port of Paldiski. The nearest house or business is 2.5 km away, because the factory’s odour could have been an issue. The factory’s isolation meant that there were no roads, electricity, and sewage system, all of which had to be included in the plans. Further, a wastewater treatment plant, which was not in the original concept, had to be planned and built. Construction on the EUR10m, 4,500 m2 plant began in February 2017. Mart Undrest says that he continues to be surprised by unforeseen demands and problems that require the plan to be continually adjusted to reality. “We have three shifts, and the learning curve is steep.
The new fishmeal and fish oil plant is the culmination of a long negotiation process between the three Estonian pelagic POs. XXX FVSPl TINBHB[JOF DPN
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13/06/19 9:16 AM