At a time when US environmental groups are encouraging regulators to shut down cod fishing in New England entirely, the codfish industry in Iceland is enjoying something of a boom. Although its landings are a fraction of years past, export income from Icelandic cod continues to rise.

How do they do it? Turns out that, when it comes to cod, Iceland is all-in. Only 25 percent of the cod’s export value is derived from the sale of fresh and frozen fillets. The real money now comes from “increased raw material utilization,” according to the Icelandic Ocean Cluster, a business incubator in Reykjavik focused on fostering innovation in ocean-related industries.

The materials in question — cod heads, livers, skin and intestines — are as about as raw as it gets but they are nothing to sniff at, and the numbers bear that out. In 1981, the Icelandic cod fishery produced 460,000 tons, worth $340 million. In 2011, only 180,000 tons came ashore but these "holistic" fish swelled the cod coffers to $680 million that year.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times>>