Yet another busy year for Dsolve is close to ending, and we can look back on a productive period. Through the continuous presentation of news, videos, and podcasts on our website, we have seen a noticeable increase in visits, indicating that many people are interested in our research and dissemination. Our focus remains on avoiding the harmful effects of macro- and microplastics caused by our important fisheries and aquaculture industries, as well as reducing losses to ghost fishing from abandoned and lost fishing gear. This year, we co-hosted a professional seminar and open boat event with FHF - Norwegian Seafood Research Fund at “FF Helmer Hanssen” during the “Skrei Conference” at Myre, which attracted significant physical and digital participation. At Nor-Fishing 2024, we promoted the work of Dsolve through a successful event in collaboration The Norwegian Fishermen Association.
We have expanded the consortium with three new industry partners. These include BR Karlsen, a traditional fisheries company specializing in whitefish and salmon, which also co-owns several coastal fishing vessels. The inclusion of a vertically integrated company in fisheries and aquaculture brings valuable expertise to research areas related to environmentally sustainable fishery products and consumer preferences. Additionally, two coastal fishing vessels (“Østkapp” and “Vardøyfisk II”), operating respectively with autoline and traditional hand-baited lines from Vardø, have joined Dsolve. Their participation strengthens the project's capacity to test degradable materials in costal line fisheries within WP3.
In preparation for the midterm evaluation scheduled for early 2025, the entire consortium has provided input to work package leaders and administration on how to achieve our goals before completion in 2028. Key points include developing and adopting biodegradable materials in the industry, ensuring our research supports industrial scaling of solutions, and designing fishing gear with recycling and reuse in mind.
We started 2024 by welcoming Dr. Valentina Pauna from partner Norsus as our new research coordinator. She is affiliated with the field of life cycle analysis and will ensure strong connections between the various work packages while coordinating meetings with industry partners. Throughout the year, we increased our focus on identifying challenges with the use of plastic materials and exploring potential solutions for the aquaculture industry. We are proud to have Kvarøy AS, named Seafood Company of the Year, as an industrial partner. With SalMar ASAs inclusion in the partner portfolio we set the stage for strengthened efforts in this important segment of the Norwegian seafood industry. A new PhD position will address questions primarily related to aquaculture.
Our PhD candidates in work packages (WPs) 2, 4, and 5 are on track within their respective fields. At the beginning of the year, Anja Alvestad was appointed as a PhD candidate in WP3, focusing on field studies of gillnets and longline. We hope to recruit two new PhD candidates in early 2025 (for WPs 2 and 4) and will also welcome a new postdoctoral researcher for WP4. The first PhD candidate affiliated with WP3 graduated in May.
Dsolve continues to receive requests for result sharing and potential collaboration outside the consortium, both nationally and internationally. Most of these projects involve developing biodegradable solutions for fisheries, but there is also growing interest from the aquaculture sector for more environmentally friendly solutions. On the other hand, a survey conducted by our researchers revealed that only 65% of the responding fishers were aware of biodegradable materials for fishing gear. This serves as a clear reminder for us to maintain a strong focus on communication to reach a broader audience with our research findings. It is motivating to see that many pupils and university students approach us to discuss solutions, such as preventing ghost fishing from lost fishing gear.
It has been inspiring to lead a new master’s course on UiT on the topic «Marine litter and Arctic fisheries; challenges and solutions». A total of 18 students attended most of the lectures, which featured excellent speakers and seminars hosted by personnel affiliated with Dsolve. Students also participated in beach cleanups in harsh weather, sorting and reporting activities, a cleanup expedition for lost fishing gear in collaboration with The Directorate of Fisheries, and a short research cruise at the end of the year.
In November, representatives from over 190 countries gathered in Busan, South Korea, to negotiate a global plastics agreement aimed at contributing to a more circular plastic economy and sound waste management to prevent plastic from entering the environment. Unfortunately, the negotiations ended in disappointment without reaching an agreement.
At the time of writing, several researchers and students from Norway, Canada and Scotland are wrapping up a research expedition in the Barents Sea. Over the past two weeks, we conducted trials with modified snow crab traps and experiments with bottom trawls focusing on "labbetuss" used in bottom trawl, and the use of a modified ground line. All crew members and participants look forward to starting their Christmas holidays in just under a week. On behalf of all partners and participants from research and industry, I wish everyone interested in a cleaner and healthier ocean a wonderful Christmas celebration and all the best as we embark on 2025 with renewed energy.
Roger B. Larsen,
Center Director CRI Dsolve
