Now into a third year of successful trading since the company was reorganized into its present form, Faroe Fish Market (FMF) has embraced new technology in a way that auctions on mainland Europe can only envy.
The nature of the compact but technologically advanced society in the Faroe Islands has contributed to making the FMF able to operate entirely remotely. Add to that, a strong sense of teamwork, says managing director Jens Christian Olsen.
Mr Olsen explains that the telephone auction has been in use for a good many years, and since then changes have been made gradually in a process of evolution based on a formula that clearly works for FMFs customer base.
Were using a combination of voice, instant messaging, email and web technologies to exchange vital information between ourselves, sellers, and buyers, he says. I believe the fact that this has worked remarkably well is not only because of technology itself, but because our staff and our partners, both sellers and buyers, are making an excellent job both when it comes to communicating effectively as a team and also in terms of being open to learning new technology.
Although buyers can attend an auction in person, this is a rare event, and virtually everything is sold over the telephone auction at a speed that can be bewildering for anyone not used to this kind of business.
FMFs quiet revolution came in 2005 when the auctions ownership changed, putting it 50 percent in the hands of the vessel owners who sell through it.
A new company was formed to manage the auction while the original company then Fiskamarknaður Föroya, now named Landingarmiðstöð Föroya changed its focus to handle landings and grading fresh fish at Toftir and Klaksvík.
Although FMF is watching overseas auctions carefully to monitor trends, at present the system of having a shout auction via telephone works very well, but a switch to a purely internet-based arrangement is a possibility for the future. However, with the 70 or so registered buyers on the auction around 40 of them buying regularly and the others on an occasional basis satisfied with the way things are run, there is no urgency to change.
Information is the key to FMFs successful operation. Sales information is delivered direct to the sellers mobile phone by SMS as soon as fish has been sold, which is something smaller operators who are generally back at sea by the time their fish is sold appreciate. A similar arrangement is being developed to transmit sales data directly to larger vessels is in development. The auctions website is also updated immediately an auction has closed so the sales data is accessible straightaway.
Values are clearly improving as the auction reported a leap in turnover from 540 million dkk (72.5m eur) in its first year to 637m dkk (85.5m eur) in its second year at the same time as quantities fell from 45,500 to 43,500 metric tons over the same period, largely attributable to rising prices for cod and haddock products internationally. The third year of operation saw a further rise in average prices, but 2007 was a leaner year in terms of tonnages landed with shortfall mainly in saithe landings. FMF handled 37,154 mt over the year, accounting for 34 percent of all demersal fresh fish landed in the Faroe Islands, while still yielding a highly respectable turnover of 618m dkk (83m eur).
As part of the companys drive to expand its work and bring more fish to the auction, a concerted effort is being made to tempt sellers from Norway and Iceland to bring their fish to the Faroese auction and in this connection efforts are underway to make the auction more accessible to foreign buyers, but without losing the current high level of flexibility that FMF has achieved.
Mr Olsen points out that the auction is still a domestic one, admitting that the auction being held in Faroese is sufficient barrier for most overseas buyers. We are a local auction and this we want to continue to be, yet with increasing international participation, he says.
The FMF will remain anchored in the Faroese fishing industry, however with some international buyers and sellers involved. A note to foreign buyers, though, is that theyre well advised to establish local representation as the final grading of all fish traded takes place at local fish landing stations.
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