Funding agency: The Research Council of Norway, Collaborative and Knowledge-building Project
Project period: 2024-2028
Project leader: Elin Sørhus, with Co-PI Espen Johnsen; our WP – Alessandro Cresci, Howard Browman, Guosong Zhang, Anne Berit Skiftesvik & Caroline Durif

Project summary

Marine ecosystems are under increasing pressure from expanding energy production, including offshore petroleum, wind, and carbon capture projects. This expansion leads to cumulative pollution and a higher risk of oil spills, exacerbating the impact on the marine environment. Climate change further compounds these challenges. The lack of dynamic data pipelines hampers the integration of scientific findings into spatial planning tools for eco-sustainable development in the offshore energy industry. Knowledge gaps about vulnerable early-life stages of key fish species, like the lesser sandeel, hinder effective regulation in the North Sea and Norwegian coast industries. The lesser sandeel plays a crucial role in marine food webs, connecting plankton to top predators. Despite protective measures for adult sandeel, knowledge gaps persist regarding larval dispersal, recruitment dynamics, and responses to stressors from the petroleum industry. The survival of sandeel larvae depends on behavioral patterns, and anthropogenic stressors can impact behavior, affecting individual survival and larval drift pathways. Existing risk assessment models in Norway consider fish eggs and larvae dispersion but lack species-specific
knowledge on larval drift patterns and vulnerability to stressors. The KnowSandeel project aims to address these gaps by enhancing risk assessment models by including realism-based larval drift model and empirical sensitive data in addition to develop an operational larval drift forecast tool specifically for sandeel. The project contributes to more precise and sustainable decisions in spatial planning and industrial development in marine environments. Overall, KnowSandeel seeks to promote the coexistence of ecological sustainability and industrial development in offshore activities.

Funding agency: The Institute of Marine Research, North Sea Program.
Project period: 2024-2028
Project leader: Howard Browman and Alessandro Cresci
Co-investigators: Guosong Zhang, Anne Berit Skiftesvik, Caroline Durif

Project deliverables
1) Identification of the species of fish that will be vulnerable to OW impacts. Candidate species are cod, haddock, herring, mackerel, saithe, sandeel, among others.
2) Quantification of the distance at which fish will be able to detect future OW farms, and the magnitude of the effects of the exposure.
3) Characterization of the type of behavioral response (attraction/repulsion..) that fish will have in presence of the noise and electromagnetic fields from the turbines.
4) Quantification of the proportion of the populations of fish that will be impacted of future OW farms.
5) Forecast the spatial and temporal scales of changes of species distributions caused by wind turbines. Forecast of potential aggregations or migrations caused by future OW farms.
6) Apply the preceding to compare areas targeted for OW development in a risk assessment framework. That is, Identification of which area will have minimum-maximum impact.

Funding agency: Institute of Marine Research, Marine Processes and Human Impact Program
Project period: 2024 – 2028
Project leader: Howard Browman and Alessandro Cresci
Co-investigators: Anne Berit Skiftesvik and Caroline Durif

Project summary
This is a long-term project in which we make behavioural and physiological observations of ichthyoplankton and zooplankton, in the laboratory and in situ, with the aim of delivering empirical relationships on vital rates, swimming and orientation for parameterization of various components of ecosystem and trophic interaction models. For the laboratory-based observations, we use microrespirometry, electrophysiology, microspectrophotmetry, flumes, plankton kriesel tanks, a plankton grazing wheel, a magnetic coil system to manipulate the field orientation and strength to which organisms are exposed, and silhouette and schlieren imaging for behavioural observations of swimming and escape response kinematics. For the in situ work, we use Drifting in situ Chambers, passive acoustics and tagging.
Currently, the objectives of this project are to link empirical data and biophysical models of larval dispersal to assess anthropogenic impacts on fish larvae at the population scale and provide knowledge of the biophysical processes – and how they are impacted by climate change and anthropogenic activity – regulating the dispersal phase of fish larvae of commercial and ecological importance in Norway.

Funding agency: The Research Council of Norway, Oceans Program, Researcher Project for Scientific Renewal
Project period: 2023-2028
Project leader: Caroline Durif, with Co-PIs Anne Berit Skiftesvik, Alessandro Cresci, Howard Browman +++

This project is featured as a UNESCO Ocean Decade Action – See here.

Project summary

The overall goal of ECOLUMP is to characterise potential subpopulations or ecotypes (hereafter only referred to as ecotypes) corresponding to different migratory strategies. To achieve this, we have outlined the following specific objectives (SO):

SO 1) Map the genome-level divergence of lumpfish in Norway and identify genomic regions separating the ecotypes, and the Norwegian lumpfish from the Icelandic ones
SO 2) Characterize the life-history traits of the “ocean migratory” and “fjord resident” ecotypes
SO 3) Develop a non-lethal biopsy method to determine individual ecotypes
SO 4) Validate ageing techniques for lumpfish
SO 4) Integrate this new knowledge into lumpfish stock assessment and design a roadmap toward a common lumpfish assessment between Iceland and Norway to understand the origins and dynamics of lumpfish found in the Norwegian Sea.

The main impediment to stock assessment and management of Atlantic lumpfish comes from the lack of knowledge concerning its population structure and migration patterns. Lumpfish sustains two types of fisheries: one targeting females for their roe, the other targeting mature individuals to produce cleaner fish for salmon aquaculture. Studies on lumpfish population genetics so far have been somewhat contradictory. Some have shown little to no structure along the Norwegian coast, while others have revealed clear genetic differences and cryptic groupings even at a local level. Lumpfish is semipelagic fish that spawns in shallow coastal areas in the spring. The rest of its life cycle is spent offshore in pelagic feeding areas. However, the presence of immature adults in coastal areas as well as anecdotal spawning events in autumn question the current description of the lifecycle. In project ECOLUMP, we hypothesize that some individuals do not migrate offshore but feed in coastal areas and that these individuals constitute a separate subpopulation or ecotype than the migratory individuals. To uncover this alternate life strategy, we will use an interdisciplinary approach including population genetics, and methods that will allow us to retrace the migratory history of the fish (i.e. microchemistry of calcified structures and stable isotope analyses). A non-lethal biopsy will be developed to determine individual ecotypes. The proportion of resident and migratory lumpfish targeted by both types of fisheries will be quantified during the project. Acoustic telemetry will be used on coastal lumpfish to further document their coastal-offshore movements and behavior after spawning. We will also test whether lumpfish display different innate orientation and migratory tendencies by comparing their swimming behaviors and orientation cues (visual or magnetic) in the sea and in a laboratory.

Funding agency: The Research Council of Norway, Oceans Program, Researcher Project for Scientific Renewal
Project period: 2023-2027
Project leader: Arild Landa (NINA)
Work package 1 – Ecological impacts of fishing pressure, participants: Kim Halvorsen, Anne Berit Skiftesvik, Marthe Ruud, Tore Strohmeier, Øystein Varpe (UiB), Steven Guidos (NINA)

Project summary

CASCADES seeks to further our understanding of how current fisheries for wrasse, which are essential for de-lousing farmed salmon in the Norwegian aquaculture industry, impacts the stability and long-term health of our coastal marine food webs in western Norway. Specifically, we aim to determine what cascading effects the wrasse fishery has on other important marine species groups like shellfish and gadoids, as well as the wrasses themselves. The project aims to discover what the cascading impacts of this fishery are on a more holistic perspective by studying diet composition of semi-aquatic predators between areas of intense fishing activity and marine protected areas. This will allow us to gauge how entire food webs are impacted by fishing activities related to aquaculture, and even gather information on cascading effects outside of the marine environment. CASCADES will also define to what extent past industries – specifically mink (Neovison vison) farming continues to impact coastal ecosystems throughout Norway and Europe. The project will focus specifically on the invasive mink’s relationship with vulnerable seabirds and its main native competitor, the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra). CASCADES is expected to provide significant new insight into what the long-term ecological consequences of human activity in the coastal environment will be in a broad perspective.

Funding agency: The Research Council of Norway, Researcher Project for Scientific Renewal, Oceans Program
Project period: 2021-2025
Project leader: Kim Halvorsen
Project participants: Tonje Knutsen Sørdalen, Morten Goodwin, Diana Perry, Suzanne Alonzo, Cigdem Beyan, Holly Kindsvater, Howard Browman, Anne Berit Skiftesvik, Vaneeda Allken, Ketil Malde, Kristian Knausgård

Project summary
Effective monitoring and management of coastal ecosystems is limited by observation methods. Underwater cameras are increasingly being used to monitor and study coastal fish communities; a major bottleneck for upscaling their use is dependence on human experts for image and video analysis. CoastVision will use the power of deep learning to refine and extend a computer vision pipeline for detecting, classifying and sizing the key fish species in shallow water coastal ecosystems, facilitating a transition to fully automated video analysis. Our models will be trained on data sets from several different surveys, ensuring cost-efficient development of routines that will be widely applicable. Computer vision for re-identifying (re-ID) individuals solely based on their unique visible features will also be developed. This novel aspect of CoastVision could ultimately provide new opportunities to obtain detailed knowledge about behaviour and population dynamics in wild fish populations, with minimal negative impact on animals and habitats and at a low cost. Our focal species for re-ID are Atlantic cod, ballan wrasse and corkwing wrasse, commercially important species with complex, high-contrast skin patterns. To generate the necessary training data for re-ID we will use synchronized radio frequency identification and camera systems. CoastVision’s automated video analysis pipeline will be integrated into ongoing ecosystem surveys and case studies whose main objective is to better understand the factors that affects the reproduction, recruitment and survival of commercially important coastal species. As such, CoastVision will contribute to independent, but complementary, research objectives. The project will advance the international research front for applied machine learning in marine ecology, which ultimately can revolutionize our ability to observe, understand and respond to ecological change at scales far more refined than is currently possible.

Funding agency: The Research Council of Norway, Collaborative projects to meet challenges in society and business Program.
Project period: 2021-2024
Project leader: Nicholas Robinson (NOFIMA)
Workpackage leader for semiochemical WP: Aleksei Krasnov (NOFIMA) – Howard Browman, Anne Berit Skiftesvik and David Fields are participants in this WP.
Project summary
The overall aim of this project is to identify compounds (semiochemicals) that are associated with Atlantic salmon susceptibility and resistance to the parasitic copepodids Lepeophtheirus salmonis and Caligus elongatus and to develop tools that can be applied to boost Atlantic salmon resistance and reduce lice infestation in Norway. We have previously established that there is substantial genetic variation in susceptibility to L. salmonis within farmed Norwegian Atlantic salmon populations and also detected some compounds released by the skin of Atlantic salmon that are associated with this variation. However the mechanisms triggering the release of these compounds, and their underlying genetic basis is still unknown. This project will identify host-specific semiochemicals (kairomones that attract and/or allomones that deter lice) within the Atlantic salmon population associated with the level of lice parasitisation, test whether measurement of semiochemical production could provide an accurate and more ethical phenotype (without challenge testing) for breeding to boost resistance, identify and test feed additives that could potentially block semiochemical attractant production or boost mucosal secretion of semiochemicals repelling lice and test for additional effects on the reproductive capacity of the lice and its epidemiology that might be derived from breeding for resistance. The research objectives and results of this project will integrate with those of a separate research project funded by FHF, and utilise results from our previous projects, to enhance genomic selection and prioritise candidate genes for manipulation via feed additives to produce salmon with full or high resistance. Outcomes will include improved fundamental knowledge of lice resistance mechanisms and development of tools that can be applied to boost genetic and non-genetic resistance to sea lice.

Funding agency: Fiskeri- og havbruksnæringens forskningsfinansiering AS
Project period: 2021-2024
Project leader: Nicholas Robinson (NOFIMA)
Workpackage leader for semiochemical WP: Aleksei Krasnov (NOFIMA) – Howard Browman, Anne Berit Skiftesvik and David Fields are participants in this WP.
Project summary
Elaborate and document the potential for utilising genetic traits and mechanisms of salmon lice resistance in Pacific salmon as tools to achieve an Atlantic salmon with high or full salmon lice resistance – Identify and document genes and mechanisms responsible for the difference in salmon lice resistance between salmonid species – Elaborate and document the potential for utilising the identified genetic traits and mechanisms of salmon lice resistance as tools to achieve an Atlantic salmon with high or full salmon lice resistance – Conduct a risk evaluation on the possibilities for, and consequences of salmon lice adapting to Atlantic salmon with salmon lice resistance.

Read the press release for the project
Watch an animated video about the project

Funding agency: Institute of Marine Research, Coastal Ecosystems Program
Project period: 2024 – 2028
Project Leaders: Anne Berit Skiftesvik and Kim Halvorsen
Co-investigators: Howard Browman, Caroline Durif, Alessandro Cresci

Project summary
To assess the population dynamics and status of wrasse populations that are now exploited for use as cleanerfish on salmon farms.

Funding agency: The Research Council of Norway, Collaborative and Knowledge-building Project
Project period: 2024-2028
Project leader: Alessandro Cresci
Project participants (from our team): Reidun Bjelland, Caroline Durif, Howard Browman, Anne Berit Skiftesvik, Guosong Zhang

Project summary
Offshore wind farms (OWF) will occupy thousands of square kilometers of the continental shelf. As such, OWF represent the most expansive industrialization of the ocean in history. Turbines will have a semipermanent footprint on marine ecosystems, with societal and economic consequences. For an eco-sustainable development of OWF, forecasts of their impacts on marine organisms, before the turbines are built, are essential. Current impact/risk assessments are based upon years of data collection, producing results that are site-specific and available long after installation. WindFisk will develop a unique tool to forecast the impacts that planned OWF will have on the dispersal and distribution of marine fish larvae, juveniles and adults of commercially and ecologically important species. Although large areas of the continental shelf have been allocated to the development of OW, how OWF will affect the early-life and adult stages of fish is still a major knowledge gap. OWF introduce underwater noise and magnetic fields (EMF) up to kilometers away from the facilities, altering sensory cues that fish use and, thereby, their behavior (e.g. orientation and dispersal). WindFisk will use a multidisciplinary approach to characterize the noise and EMF at OWF and assess how fish respond to both of these signals throughout the life cycle. The physical and behavioral data will be used in larval dispersal and spatial distribution models coupled with underwater noise/EMF propagation models to simulate OWF-associated shifts in distribution of fishes. This approach represents a breakthrough, as it is applicable in any geographical area of interest before OWF are in place and the results are relevant at any location. The project will incorporate the models and data into a forecasting application on a digital platform as a tool to forecast the risk of any planned OWF. The ambition is for WindFisk to lead a shift from a “reactive” to a “forecasting” paradigm in the science of OW impacts.

Funding agency: The Research Council of Norway, Collaborative and Knowledge-building Project Program
Project period: 2024-2028
Project leader: Elin Sørhus
Project participants (from our team): Reidun Bjelland, Caroline Durif, Howard Browman, Alesandro Cresci, Anne Berit Skiftesvik

Project summary
Marine ecosystems are under increasing pressure from expanding energy production, including offshore petroleum, wind, and carbon capture projects. This expansion leads to cumulative pollution and a higher risk of oil spills, exacerbating the impact on the marine environment. Climate change further compounds these challenges. The lack of dynamic data pipelines hampers the integration of scientific findings into spatial planning tools for eco-sustainable development in the offshore energy industry. Knowledge gaps about vulnerable early-life stages of key fish species, like the lesser sandeel, hinder effective regulation in the North Sea and Norwegian coast industries. The lesser sandeel plays a crucial role in marine food webs, connecting plankton to top predators. Despite protective measures for adult sandeel, knowledge gaps persist regarding larval dispersal, recruitment dynamics, and responses to stressors from the petroleum industry. The survival of sandeel larvae depends on behavioral patterns, and anthropogenic stressors can impact behavior, affecting individual survival and larval drift pathways. Existing risk assessment models in Norway consider fish eggs and larvae dispersion but lack species-specific knowledge on larval drift patterns and vulnerability to stressors. The KnowSandeel project aims to address these gaps by enhancing risk assessment models by including realism-based larval drift model and empirical sensitive data in addition to develop an operational larval drift forecast tool specifically for sandeel. The project’s deliverables can be adapted for other species, contributing to more precise and sustainable decisions in spatial planning and industrial development in marine environments. Overall, KnowSandeel seeks to promote the coexistence of ecological sustainability and industrial development in offshore activities.