ESTONIA
Construction of new ďŹ shmeal factory underway
A successful collaboration among three POs The idea of creating a factory in Estonia that would convert sprat and herring into marine ingredients to be used for ďŹ sh feed and other purposes has been discussed for a while. Earlier this year the three Estonian producer organisations for pelagics ďŹ nalised plans to establish such a factory and construction commenced.
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ince the Russian ban on seafood imports from the EU and Norway, Estonia has had to find an alternative source of consumers for nearly half of their sprat and herring exports. Much of it was redirected to Ukraine, but also to Denmark and Sweden, for a variety of purposes including fish feed and animal feed. The three Estonian pelagic POs have now got together to build a factory for marine ingredients to be used both for fishmeal but also for higher value products. The months leading up to February were filled with land scouting and research, and paperwork to get the construction permit approved. Mart Undrest, managing director of the Estonian Fishing Association, the largest of the three POs, says they were looking for a very specific plot of land. The location had to be close to the deep ports, the fishing regions, highways, and ferry connections to best suit their purposes. They selected a location five kilometers north of Paldiski, and two kilometres from human habitation, since the smell from the factory could be a problem. As the location is devoid of electricity or a sewage system these had to be included in the plans. The total investment in the project was 10 million euros. Support from European Maritime and Fishery Fund (EMFF) was pegged at a maximum of 75
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though not exceeding EUR6m, giving a self-financed component of EUR4m.
Conservative steps in the initial stages In the first stage of production, Mart Undrest predicts the factory will be able to process 300 tons of raw fish per day (25 to 30 thousand tons per year), which is about a third of the overall quota of POs in Estonia and elsewhere. The rest of the raw material will continue to be processed in other production units for human consumption. The annual production of fishmeal is expected to be around five thousand tons, along with 2200 to 2500 tons of fish oil. While these estimates lean toward the conservative side, it is important for the factory to take small steps in first getting the production going, emphasising quality and safety over quantity. Mart adds that they will rely on high prices to ensure that enough attention is paid toward fish quality and the processes of gathering and converting raw material into fishmeal, such as trawling time, cooling time, and cleaning. As good hygiene practices are essential to preserving the health of the fishmeal and fish oil, and in turn the health of the fish that goes toward human consumption, there are many precautions to take during the manufacturing
Construction of a new fish components factory in Estonia has already started and should be completed by the end of the year.
process; these include keeping machinery clean and uncontaminated and separating ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ areas of the plant. Building will be finalised in September, so the factory can undergo a thorough testing period by mid-December, and production can start by midJanuary. Inspection testing has already been scheduled, with the machinery procured through a contract with Danish Haarslev Industries. The first stages of production will focus on monitoring the factory’s role in the global market and economy, the quality and size of the fisheries that are supplying the factory, and the type of food quality being produced. While fish by-catches are rarely a problem for waters near Estonia, a part of less than 0.1 of
the total catches, the business has also prepared solutions to adjust for shifts in certain fisheries and stocks in the southern Baltic Seas, where by-catches pose more of an issue. Arrangements have also been made with companies who will buy from the factory; Mart Undrest hopes the partnerships will allow them to learn from these companies, who have much more experience in this sector.
Additional collaboration with Baltic countries While none of the supplying fisheries are currently MSC certified, Estofish is willing to participate in getting certification because the Baltic fisheries are all using the same stock and the same approach. Furthermore, the factory is attempting to work out
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