Five Norwegian companies, including Lerøy Norway Seafood and Lerøy Havfisk, have launched a new hyperspectral camera solution that can rapidly determine the quality of round fish.
The camera is the product of the KVASS research project, which received funding from Norway’s Fishery and Aquaculture Industry Research Fund (FHF) with the goal of developing a quality measurement tool for whitefish through the analysis of spectral images in real-time. Others involved in the project were Maritech, a Norwegian traceability and business software developer, research institute Nofima, and technology company Norsk Elektro Optikk (NEO).
“With the KVASS scanner Maritech QT Vision, we now see the possibility of being able to better sort the catch on-board based on quality, which makes it possible for us to offer a fully sorted raw material, Lerøy Havfisk AS Operations Manager Odd Johan Fladmark. “We believe this will give us a better price for the fish and improve profitability for the onshore facilities.”
Fladmark said Lerøy Havfisk AS will begin installing the equipment on the company’s 10 trawlers, which primarily fish for cod. He said the camera will allow the company to determine whether they have caught world-class cod even before the fish is gutted.
Roy Martin Martinsen, who oversees quality management for whitefish as a raw material for Lerøy Norway Seafoods, said his company will immediately implement the new tool on its processing lines, including at its Båtsfjord facility in Finnmark, Norway, where the trial of the KVASS project took place.
“Lerøy works every day to raise the quality at all levels of our production of high-quality seafood. With this project, Lerøy has contributed to the development of a technology that provides a better and more consistent raw material quality, which in turn delivers seafood of an even higher quality to our customers," Martinsen said. “The intention is that this machine can be implemented in a process line and also contribute to a more efficient production by sorting the raw material based on different qualities in a fish grader.”
The new imaging spectroscopy technology developed by the KVASS project is able to detect blood accumulation in ungutted, whole fish. Martinsen said the technology will be further developed so it is able to assess even more quality parameters.
Maritech CEO Odd Arne Kristengård said the camera will result in reduction of waste and a reduction in quality complaints, leading to increased profitability and sustainability.
“The solution represents a significant competitive advantage which may transform the entire industry as well as help boost the reputation of Norwegian seafood exports further,” Kristengård said.
Nofima scientist Karsten Heia initially thought up the project in the late 1990s, and played a key role in the development of the new camera.
“Being able to utilize imaging spectroscopy in an industrial setting is a major milestone for me as a scientist, for Nofima as a research institute and for the Norwegian fishing industry,” he said. “The fact that we, as an institute for applied research, using funding from the FHF, can contribute to uplifting the Norwegian business community in terms of both technological developments and innovations in the food industry, is a big deal.”
Norwegian Minister of Fisheries and Seafood Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen, who attended the official launch ceremony on Monday, 23 November, said the government was happy with its investment.
“This project is a prime example of the possible achievements when the business and research communities collaborate on technical innovations,” Ingebrigtsen said. “Better quality sorting will increase profitability and the reputation of the Norwegian seafood industry.”
Photo courtesy of Lars Åke Andersen/Frifoto/Maritech
