Icelandic company Sildarvinnslan (SVN)'s target of processing 10,000 metric tons of whitefish at its plant in the town of Grindavik -- acquired as part of its takeover of Visir in 2022 -- has been sidetracked by volcanic activity in the area, but looks back on track this year.

With day-to-day operations relatively normal again -- barring the occasional evacuation drill -- the plant should hit the target soon, it said.

Omar Enoksson took over as operations manager at the cold storage facility in Grindavik in the summer of 2024.

"The number of employees in the cold store is around 70 people and we mostly process cod and haddock, and have actually recently started processing saithe as well," he said. "The fish leaves us both fresh and frozen, and then we also freeze a considerable amount of the lightly salted fish that comes from the salt store. The fish leaves us far and wide. For example, it goes to Belgium, France, America, the UK and Spain. The markets have proven to be solid, and this indicates that the product is popular."

The aim has been to increase production after SVN acquired Visir, which he felt was "very positive." 

Sundhnukur volcano has erupted multiple times since December 2023, including in February and March 2024. 

"In the first half of last year, fish was processed in Helguvik. From the spring of 2024 to the present day, however, processing has proceeded normally here in Grindavik, even though people do not live in the town. Only a few days have been lost due to evacuations."

He added that 98% of the staff are the same people who worked there before the eruptions.