Brim’s Operations in 2022

Brim’s Board of Directors consists of five people who are elected at the company’s Annual General Meeting each year.

Brim’s Board of Directors from the 2022 AGM:

• Kristján Þ. Davíðsson, Chairman
• Anna G. Sverrisdóttir, Vice-Chairman
• Hjálmar Kristjánsson
• Kristrún Heimisdóttir
• Magnús Gústafsson

Further information about the Board of Directors can be found on the company’s website, which also includes the company’s articles of association, rules of procedure, governance statement, remuneration policy and other company policies.

Brim is extensively involved in accident prevention, as can be seen in both its internal work, i.e. education and prevention, and its support of robust accident prevention and rescue efforts both on land and sea. The organisation of safety issues is intended to increase the importance of the subject within the company and strengthen the efficiency of safety measures. Management is responsible for occupational safety.

Each and every employee is responsible for their own safety. One of the basic prerequisites of reducing the number of accidents is that everyone takes responsibility and that management, as well as employees, is determined to involve themselves in improving safety. The management is responsible for ensuring that all equipment is of the best quality and that the safety arrangements of the work areas and units for which they are responsible are up to date. The company relies on management to lead by good example and that they lead the occupational health and safety work of the company.

Safety Days are held annually, usually in autumn, but this time it was decided to change the timing, so the 2022 Safety Day was held on 5 January 2023.

One serious accident occurred during the year when a crew member was thrown overboard while fishing. The crew was able to quickly save the crew member, thanks to the crew’s good training, targeted response and collaboration. The incident was instructive and highlights the importance of regular training.

• Brim’s Work Environment and Safety Policy can be found on the company’s website.

Safety committees are active in Reykjavík, Vopnafjörður, Akranes and on the company’s vessels, and the Human Resources Department oversees and supervises the subject. This is in accordance with Regulation No. 920/2006 on the organisation and implementation of health and safety at work.

It is extremely important that employees comply with the safety rules in the workplace, participate in safety training and submit suggestions as to where improvements could be made.

Brim emphasises that all accidents are recorded, and the procedures and work processes are presented to employees. All lost-time and care accidents of employees on land are notified to the Administration of Occupational Safety and Health (Vinnueftirlit ríkisins), the Icelandic Health Insurance (Sjúkratryggingar Íslands) and the insurance company. Absence accidents of workers at sea are notified to the Icelandic Health Insurance, the Icelandic Marine Accident Investigation Board (Rannsóknarnefnd sjóslysa) and the insurance company.

Accidents are categorised as follows:

• Lost-time accidents are accidents that cause absences from work (work-related accidents), i.e. the day of the accident + the next day or longer.
• Care accidents are accidents where the injured party needs to seek assistance in a healthcare facility but comes back to work the next day.
• First aid accidents are minor accidents or accidents that require the use of first aid equipment (shallow cuts, etc.). The injured party does not take time off work.
• Leisure-time accidents are accidents that occur during the leisure time of employees or on the way to and from work.

A total of 25 accidents were reported during the year, which is 10 fewer than the year before, when there were 35. A total of 13 accidents at sea and 12 accidents on land were reported during the year. Brim has used its own accident registration system since 2017, but at the end of 2022 began implementing the Atvik accident registration system. A new system should facilitate the registration of accidents, tips, near misses and threats. The aim is to build an even better safety culture and encourage staff to take an active part in creating a working environment where everyone feels safe.

There was a significant cut to Brim’s groundfish rights in the quota year 2022/2023, or about 6% for cod, 20% for redfish and 20% for deep-sea redfish. However, there was an increase in haddock by 23%. No catch quota was allocated based on fishing rights in the Barents Sea is Russian jurisdiction for 2022, and there is no prospect of one being allocated for 2023. Brim has a share there and would have been allocated 919 tonnes for 2022 and 1,180 tonnes for 2023.

Total groundfish fishing therefore decreased significantly between years and was 42,967 tonnes against 51,286 tonnes in 2021. Thereof, the total catch of trawlers in 2022 was 41,226 tonnes and was 49,557 tonnes in 2020. Catch per fishing day was the same as 2021, or 29.5 tonnes. The longliner Kristján caught 1,740 tonnes this year and 1,729 tonnes in 2021.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the fishing of groundfish vessels went well. Extensive measures were taken to prevent COVID-19 infection on the trawlers, and these measures were generally successful. However, Örfirisey stopped for almost 3 weeks due to an infection that occurred on board in January. Then Vigri went on a 10-week layover at the end of the year, where the vessels’s refrigeration system was updated, the middle deck repaired and the vessel painted in Brim’s colours, along with other maintenance tasks. All wetfish vessels stopped for 10–20 days due to various maintenance tasks.

Catch for processing in Norðurgarður was 21,221 tonnes of cod, saithe and redfish, which is a little less than the previous year, when 22,262 tonnes were processed. The difference between years is due to a decrease in the issued catch quotas for redfish and cod. Processing went well, and investments in automation, which were made in the years 2020–2021, are fully operational with good results. Kambur processed 5,169 tonnes of cod and haddock, compared to 4,925 tonnes the previous year.

Sales companies owned by Brim are mostly responsible for the sale of the company’s products, but in addition, Brim employs three sales managers. Icelandic Japan, Icelandic China and Icelandic Hong Kong, which are owned by Brim, handle sales of the company’s products in Asia. Iceland Pelagic, in which Brim owns 33%, handles sales and distribution to the Eastern European market, which consists mostly of frozen pelagic product. Brim’s sales managers sell fresh and frozen products in Western Europe and the US. Sales of fishmeal and fish oil products are entirely handled by the employees of Brim’s pelagic department.

Sales of pelagic fish products were successful during the year, despite the uncertainty in the main markets for frozen pelagic products in Eastern Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sales to Ukraine continue, although to a lesser extent than before, and other markets have not yielded much. The prices of most products have remained fairly stable. Sales of fishmeal and fish oil have been very successful, and the prices of fishmeal and fish oil are at an all-time high. This can mainly be attributed to price increases in commodity markets.

Demand for most frozen sea products exceeded production from the beginning of the year through the middle of the year. Then sales began to slow down and tension arose in the markets, due to, among other things, rising energy prices and insecurity in energy and economic matters. Prices were at an all-time high in almost all species except redfish. Sales of fresh products went well during the year, and the prices of cod and saithe were high throughout the year, but redfish also strengthened with time. Market conditions for frozen products have changed so that the HORECA (Hotel – Restaurant – Catering) markets have grown stronger after the easing of the COVID-19 restrictions on gathering. On the other hand, demand for the retail market has calmed down. Nevertheless, prices have increased and sales have been successful.

The transport of goods generally went well, but transport costs have also increased, not least onward transport by land in Europe.

A dynamic group of students at UR completed their final project in the course Sustainability, which is taught in the third year of engineering in UR. The students are Bergþóra Hlín Sigurðardóttir, Harpa Hlín Ólafsdóttir, Harpa María Friðgeirsdóttir, Karen Hrönn Sævarsdóttir, Kolfinna Mist Rúnarsdóttir and Margrét Þórhildur Maríudóttir. Their project aimed to find a new energy source for Brim’s vessels. 

Brim has focused on electronic registration of various data in recent years. Examples include records of waste and its fate. Likewise, inputs have increasingly been ordered electronically; this applies e.g. to fuel and supplies for vessels. The size classification of fish in the catch is also managed electronically. Electronic registrations are important in order to have an overview of various aspects of the operation at all times, and they also provide opportunities for improvement projects of various kinds and the provision of information within and outside of Brim. In the coming years, the aim is to further increase the share of electronic external management in Brim’s supply chain and environmental accounting.

Electronic registrations are processed in various ways, e.g. in the form of summaries and reports that are accessible to staff and are in some cases displayed on smart screens and in apps. Brim has also collaborated with the Marine Research Institute, the Directorate of Fisheries, the Ministry of Food and the consulting company Intellecta on the use of the company’s data for improvements in marine research and monitoring of the use of fish stocks off Iceland. Last but not least, Brim has had extensive collaboration with universities, institutions and companies on the utilisation of data. In many cases, such collaboration is carried out in connection with Master’s or PhD projects and thus supports the creation of knowledge in a broader context.

Brim has participated in the development of the LearnCove software, which aims to facilitate training and education among staff. One of the advantages of the software lies in the possibility to work with content in many languages, but Brim, in addition to offering Icelandic lessons for staff, has emphasised that the company has educational material available that is useful for employees who are of foreign origin. Brim also aims to use LearnCove in connection with collaborative projects with students in domestic and foreign universities.

Dr. Kristján Þórarinsson was appointed Director of Fisheries at Brim in November.

Kristján is a research ecologist and has decades of experience in the field of fisheries and in the international fisheries sector. Kristján contributes to several multifaceted projects that the company is working on at any given time, including assessing the status of marine research of individual fish stocks. With Kristján’s appointment, Brim’s knowledge in the field of marine and ecological research is being strengthened and thus underpinning the company’s strategy of sustainable use of marine resources, minimising the carbon footprint and increasing value creation.