Dalvik – a small village with a big harbour
Dalvik – a small village with a big harbour
During their northern trip the fellows visited Dalvík, a small village of 1,500 people with a large fishing harbour and commercial port operating a scheduled ferry service to the island of Grímsey lying on the Arctic Circle. First stop was a visit to the fish auction run by the company Nordfisk and here we were welcomed by Benedikt Snær, the market manager. Norðfisk operates as a link between business of fishing and fish processing with the raw material changing hands between sellers to buyers through the auction market. All Norðfisk´s business is conducted digitally, from how the catch is estimated to how bidding and purchasing is arranged. After giving a brief description of Nordfisk, Benedikt presented a number of fish species caught in the north of Iceland and showcased a few species unique to Icelandic waters. Benedikt answered many questions from the fellows regarding the selling and buying process in Iceland and how to run a successful auction market.
Afterwards Benedikt Snær took the fellows to Valeska, a company only a few steps away from the auction market, offering landing services to fishing operators in Dalvik and Akureyri. Valeska started by providing fish storage services using specially designed plastic boxes, and now they also build wooden pallets used by landing workers. The fellows had the opportunity to look around the pallet workshop (pallets made from wooden planks) and the timber recycling workshop (wooden pallets recycled into sawdust chips for horse stables). Outside in the harbour, the fellows tried out the landing weighing machine, a huge metal weighing slab, and when all FTP fellows stood on the weighing platform, their combined weight came to 2,375 kg.
After an informative morning, the fellows and staff thanked Benedikt for the presentation, and for gifting some fresh fish, which was happily incorporated later that evening into the group dinner. Thank you very much, Benedikt, and hope to meet you again next year.
