News

Millions of cleaner fish are used in farm cages to eat lice off salmon every year. However, there is limited research into how efficiently they do this job. Now scientists have gone through all published studies in the field – and found large knowledge gaps.

And that is just one of the challenges that seals face in a changing world. 

The Institute of Marine Research’s monitoring of the sea shows that temperatures have fallen in recent years.

Right now, millions of northeast arctic cod (skrei) are migrating from the Barents sea to the Norwegian coast to spawn. They are the lucky few survivors.

The polar cod, a key species in the Barents Sea ecosystem, is struggling with recruitment due to warmer waters and declining sea ice cover. 

Where do young marine researchers go to learn about the latest and greatest sonar technology? To a narrow fjord in western Norway, onboard RV “G.O. Sars”.

The ocean can supply much of the food required to feed an ever growing world population, primarily through the sustainable expansion of marine aquaculture. But not without improved ocean management and new technology.

Peter Haugan of the Institute of Marine Research has been asked to chair the national expert committee that will set the course for the Norwegian contribution to the UN Decade of Ocean Science.

Physically separating salmon from salmon louse larvae reduces infestation of salmon by 75 percent compared with a normal sea cage. This has now been scientifically demonstrated using a “snorkel” cage at a commercial fish farm.

They were testing methods to survey for corals when the IMR researchers discovered the “new” deep water coral reef Bukkarevet in the Hardangerfjorden threshold. 

A new study by the Institute of Marine Research (IMR) shows that a major oil spill off the Lofoten and Vesterålen islands could produce long-term changes in the ecosystems in the Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea.

If farmed salmon receive the minerals in their feed in organic forms, they need smaller amounts of them to grow big and strong. As a result, less of these minerals enter the environment.

The Institute of Marine Research has analyzed 182 Our Ocean commitments from the past five years. Overall, the commitments have mainly generated attention and funding. The direct impact on sustainable fisheries and management is less obvious.      

Researchers used to enter their survey data into cumbersome spreadsheets. These days they have StoX – a free, open source program, developed at the Institute of Marine Research (IMR) that has now been documented in an international research journal.

Hard to catch, may overheat and can’t cope with rough seas – those are just a few of the challenges for fishers targeting the world’s biggest tuna.

Today the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is launching its special report on the oceans and cryosphere. Geir Ottersen, a scientist at the Institute of Marine Research (IMR) and one of the main authors of the report, is concerned about the changes taking place in the Arctic.

The Arctic cod, the Arctic cousin of the Atlantic cod, is a key species in the northern Barents Sea. The whole ecosystem may therefore be destabilised by the spawning grounds of the Arctic cod shrinking as a result of declining sea ice cover.

Where is the world’s oldest ice found? And what will happen if the Greenland ice sheet melts? Climate scientists Anne Britt Sandø and Vidar Lien have the answers.

Fish communities from southern Norway have consolidated their significant move north. The Barents Sea may become home to as many as 25 new species as a result of climate change.

In a magnetic tank in which researchers can make north become south, “baby” haddock swim northwest.

DNA testing reveals that the world’s biggest tuna cross the ocean frequently.

Smart fishing gear, scientific publications and training new researchers are just a few of the achievements of the Centre for Research-based Innovation in Sustainable fish capture and Pre-processing technology (CRISP).

By analysing their stomach contents and faeces, and multiplying the results by the number of grey seals in Norway, researchers estimated that they consume 8,000 tonnes of fish per year. Saithe, cod and wolffish were their favourite foods.

In the North Atlantic there are several hundred thousand baleen whales that migrate long distances, whereas in the North Pacific there are just a few hundred of them. That is the conclusion of a new study.

We joined “Geir II” on a scientific fishing expedition to Jan Mayen, where significant numbers of spawning cod have been discovered recently.

The data from the Antarctic krill expedition is ready. This is the first estimate of the krill population in the Southern Ocean fishery in 19 years. 

In 1999, researchers caught 50,000 of the juvenile cod’s favourite food in their beach seine. In 2018 that number had collapsed to 500.

In much the same way as humans, mackerel need their own personal space too. Crowding the mackerel during the catch process might have significant consequences when those mackerel end up on our dinner plate.

Field experiments show that seismic activity does not harm this important species of zooplankton: not at all when the air guns are over ten metres away, and with a maximum of 30% higher mortality than controls even in close proximity.

Researchers have documented a leak from the wreck of the Soviet nuclear submarine. However, it poses no risk to people or fish.