All 32 employees of Kraekir, a fish-processing plant in Dalvík (pop. 2,000), northeast Iceland, have been made redundant following operational difficulties. New operational methods and partnerships with other companies are being considered.
According to Henning Jóhannesson, Kraekir’s owner and the chairman of its board, the operational difficulties were caused by the unstable situation of the ISK, the price of fish and poor catch. The drastic cut to the cod fishing quota was the final blow, Morgunbladid reports.
Mayor of Dalvík Svanfrídur Inga Jónasdóttir said it is always bad when jobs disappear from the municipality, but its inhabitants are not prepared to give up.
Locals worry about the situation of the business environment for fish processing, however, especially since fishing is Dalvík’s most important industry. “But we are lucky to have a few other fish-processing plants, which have been here for a long time and are doing good things,” Jónasdóttir added.
Kraekir was founded in 2006 and specialized in producing fresh, frozen and salted fish for export. The fish-processing plant was successful in its operations to begin with.
Click here to read more about the consequences of the cut to the cod fishing quota.
