New master's degree candidates in fisheries and aquaculture science at UiT the Arctic University of Norway

June 29th, 2026 | Students

During the spring semester three students affiliated with Dsolve completed their five-year studies at the Norwegian College of Fishery Science (NCFS), Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics (BFE). The final examination consists of a written thesis and an oral defense. All three have worked together with researchers at NCFS, SINTEF Ocean (Trondheim), NORSUS (Fredrikstad) and the Directorate of Fisheries (Bergen). They can now call themselves Master of Science and will hopefully have time to relax with some days of holiday before entering full-time work.

MSc Eirik Høgbakk

Eirik Høgbakk defended his thesis “Spatial analysis of abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded crab pots in Arctic Norwegian waters” on 12 June. His master’s project investigated the spatial distribution and the potential ecological consequences of lost crab pots associated with the snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) fishery in the Barents Sea and the king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) fishery along the Finnmark coast for the period 2018–2024.

Fishing gear lost at sea for various reasons is a persistent source of marine pollution and ghost fishing in commercial fisheries worldwide. In crab fisheries, lost pots can remain active for long periods, causing ongoing mortality of different organisms and contributing to the accumulation of plastic on the seabed/marine environment. The data was obtained from clean-up cruises performed by experts from the Directorate of Fisheries.

Eirik received permission from the Directorate of Fisheries to use data from 7 years with ALDFG (abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear) retrievals and good supervision from Dorian Vodopia, our PhD student in Dsolve within work package 5 led by NORSUS.

MSc Tom-Erik Eilertsen

On 23 June Tom-Erik Eilertsen defended his thesis “Ghost fishing in lost Greenland halibut gillnets in Norwegian waters - Empirical observations from deep-water gear retrieval operations.” In Norwegian waters, deep-water gillnet fisheries for Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) are considered particularly prone to gear loss due to challenging environmental conditions, offshore operations and the use of long gillnets fleets (up to 30 nets = total length ca. 800 m).

His project is based on data collected by himself in collaboration with skilled experts from the Directorate of Fisheries during the 2025 clean-up operation, which set a “sad record” with the recapture of 1,687 lost bottom-set gillnets. The findings indicate that ghost fishing from lost gillnets represents a persistent and spatially structured source of unreported fishing mortality in Norwegian deep-water fisheries. Participation in the Directorate of Fisheries’ clean-up operations requires a relatively large effort from all parties. At the Norwegian College of Fishery Science, we are very grateful that our students can take part and contribute to publishing such unique and important data.

Tom-Erik also received good advice from the Directorate of Fisheries personnel , crew on board M/V “Vikingbank” and supervision from our Dsolve PhD student Dorian Vodopia.

MSc Martine Støversteen Johansen

Martine Støversteen Johansen defended on 25 June her thesis “Alternative materials for codend chafing gear in bottom trawls — An experiment under commercial fishing comparing cowhide and biodegradable polyester as alternatives to petro-based fibres (‘dolly ropes’)”. Conventional chafing gear with “dolly rope”-fibres made from polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) are used to protect the underside of the codend in bottom trawls and have been documented as a significant source of marine plastic pollution. The OSPAR Commission (2025) has therefore issued recommendations on phasing out the use of “dolly rope” fibres.

Martine’s data were collected to document whether cowhide or biodegradable polyester (bio‑PES) can function as alternatives to conventional “dolly ropes” in bottom trawls, evaluated by wear resistance, wear patterns and the practical consequences of a material change. The experiment was conducted over a 25 day period on board the trawler “Hermes” from Dsolve partner Hermes AS, Tromsø.

The results showed that neither of the test materials worked as full replacements for “dolly ropes”. The study nevertheless concludes that bio‑PES fibres have significant potential as a substitute, provided the attachment method is improved.

Martine received useful information from the crew on board M/Tr “Hermes” and valuable supervision from work package leader Jørgen Vollstad (SINTEF Ocean) and Dsolve PhD student Anja Alvestad.