News

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) recommends that the cod quota in the Barents Sea next year does not exceed 712,000 tonnes. This is a reduction of 20% compared to this year’s quota.

“We are experiencing a natural decline in Atlantic cod stocks, which we need to take into consideration,” says the Research Director at the Institute of Marine Research, Geir Huse.

The new RV Dr. Fridtjof Nansen arrived in her home harbour Bergen for the first time today.  Now starts a two months period of testing of equipment and functions before she leaves Casablanca in the beginning of May for her very first scientific survey.  

Anna Wargelius received the Institute of Marine Research’s 2016 publication prize for an article on how mutations can be used to change the DNA sequence in salmon. Essentially, the technique involves “knocking out” specific genes to create a sterile farmed salmon.

Since 2011, over 250,000 mackerels have been electronically tagged and released back into the sea. On Thursday King Harald of Norway and the Icelandic presidential couple sent out another three mackerels to collect data in the name of research.

A joint Norwegian-Chinese project in Austevoll is investigating whether kelp farms in China can protect farmed mussels against increasing ocean acidification.

The Institute of Marine Research (IMR) and The National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES) now share the same homepage. This is due to the process of merging the two institutes. The formal date for the merge is the 1th of January 2018.

From the tropics to the Arctic; increased ocean acidification will have huge, negative effects on marine ecosystems. A new study shows that the ocean management should be less sector based, according to scientist.

At several locations in Norway, brown crabs contain high levels of the toxic heavy metal cadmium. By preparing a crab correctly, you can prevent the great majority of the heavy metal from entering the claw meat.

The Soviet research vessel Sevastopol arrived in Bergen on 16 February 1958. On board were eight scholars who were to resume the marine research cooperation that Norway and Russia had established before the Russian Revolution of 1917. Half a year later, Norwegian marine scientists returned the favour by visiting Murmansk.

Salmon escaping from fish farms is a known problem. New research shows that wrasse can also escape and spread their genes amongst the “locals”.

A five-year interval between trawling is not enough for the kelp forest in Nordland. The important flora and fauna in the kelp forest does not have time to establish itself during the normal gap between kelp harvests. Kelp forests are believed to be an important nursery and feeding ground for many species of fish.

The lobster reserve was supposed to ensure more and bigger lobsters in the surrounding area as well. Then people started fishing three times as much just outside the borders.

The mercury found in fish at Fedje does not come from the submarine wreck. That is confirmed by the mercury’s own “fingerprint”.

The corkwing wrasse has a fascinating behaviour. Now, researchers have mapped the sounds made by this colourful fish. 

The key to its success is fresh water from the Matre mountains.

In Western Norway, over half of all sea trout are infested with so many salmon lice that you would expect it to seriously harm their health.

New and improved technology allows researchers to track the movements of fish and other animals from second to second.

The first bilateral quota recommendation for cod, haddock and deepwater redfish in the Barents Sea is now ready. 

Seafood safety in a changing environment is the focus of the recent special issue of Environmental Pollution, a joint effort by IMR and UN-IAEA. Two out of eleven papers were written by IMR scientists.