Today the city council in the fishing town of Akranes, in west Iceland, will determine when the smell of fish processing becomes unbearable to nearby residents.
An extremely stinky, but valuable export commodity
In past years the fishing giant HB Grandi has built a large processing operation in Akranes, which is a small town on the north shore of Hvalfjörður bay, north of Reykjavík. The town has long been one of the centres of the fishing industry in Iceland. Part of the operations of HB Grandi is a facility which dries cod heads.
Cod heads had been thrown away at sea by fishermen, but in the late 1990s fishing companies began to seek ways to produce more value from the catch. Bringing the heads of the cod to land, where it is dried and processed for export, was one of those avenues. The heads are primarily sold to Nigeria, where tried fish heads are considered a delicacy.
Cod-head drying will never be completely odour free
But while this processing has produced a valuable new export commodity it has also created a massive stench, causing the nearby residents considerable annoyance and trouble. Now, as HB Grandi has applied for an expansion and modernization of its cod-head drying operations in town, the residents are debating what level of fish-processing stench can be considered “acceptable”. The CEO of HB Grandi tells the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service the new facilities will cut down on smell, but that drying cod-heads will never be completely odour free.
Today the city council in the fishing town of Akranes, in west Iceland, will determine when the smell of fish processing becomes unbearable to nearby residents.
An extremely stinky, but valuable export commodity
In past years the fishing giant HB Grandi has built a large processing operation in Akranes, which is a small town on the north shore of Hvalfjörður bay, north of Reykjavík. The town has long been one of the centres of the fishing industry in Iceland. Part of the operations of HB Grandi is a facility which dries cod heads.
Cod heads had been thrown away at sea by fishermen, but in the late 1990s fishing companies began to seek ways to produce more value from the catch. Bringing the heads of the cod to land, where it is dried and processed for export, was one of those avenues. The heads are primarily sold to Nigeria, where tried fish heads are considered a delicacy.
Cod-head drying will never be completely odour free
But while this processing has produced a valuable new export commodity it has also created a massive stench, causing the nearby residents considerable annoyance and trouble. Now, as HB Grandi has applied for an expansion and modernization of its cod-head drying operations in town, the residents are debating what level of fish-processing stench can be considered “acceptable”. The CEO of HB Grandi tells the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service the new facilities will cut down on smell, but that drying cod-heads will never be completely odour free.
