CRI Dsolve has been active for over 5 of the planned 8 years. One of the most important events for the center in 2025 was the underway evaluation. Based on several reports prepared at the end of 2024, we were measured against the original project plan and evaluated by an expert panel with leading specialists from the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, and Plymouth Marine Laboratory. The evaluation was consistently positive but also provided clear advice to Dsolve on how the center should further develop to achieve its goals and vision. In addition to the development of new materials and documentation of their properties, life cycle analyses, and the industry's willingness to adopt these materials, the importance of recruiting students and educating new researchers was highlighted. The Research Council of Norway has approved the continuation of CRI Dsolve until November 2028. At the board meeting held in Tromsø on September 23-24, a revised roadmap for the final period of the centre was developed in light of the evaluation.
We held our annual meeting at partner NORNER AS on April 2-3 and had two pleasant and educational days in Porsgrunn. NORNER leads research area (RA) 1 in Dsolve and has, during the period up to now, tested many products for their properties, including strength and chemical composition. Over the past two years, they have also produced their own products, which are being tested in longline fisheries and snow crab fisheries with pots.
I am grateful that our partners contribute to the development of new products, ensure the testing of equipment, and that researchers and students contribute with analyses and publication of results. Direct collaboration with partners in fishing with nets, pots, longlines, Demersal seines, and bottom trawls is crucial for assessing properties of new alternative materials. Such trials are costly, and we rely on multiple sources of funding. Support from for instance the Directorate of Fisheries' fund for fisheries research is often key to unlocking further financing through side projects from, for example, FHF (The Norwegian Seafood Research Fund). Disseminating findings, research results, and innovative uses of the results is a central task in a CRI. Furthermore, it is important that we can communicate the knowledge in an easy way through popular science to maximize the outreach.
On our Dsolve website, research results are published in an plain language with references (links) to publications, news articles, master's theses, and doctoral dissertations.
Congratulations to PhD candidate Luat-Huu Do, who on October 1 defended his dissertation, "Economics of Ghost Fishing: Incentives, Behavior and Management," after an interesting trial lecture titled "Leveraging social norms for more sustainable harvesting." Our other PhD candidates, Waranya Wataniyakun, Anja Alvestad, Erik Johannes Bakke, and Dorian Vodopia, within RA 2, 3, 4, and 5, are on track in their respective fields of work. At the beginning of the year, we hired Dr. Ngan Le Thi Thanh as a postdoc. Under the leadership of Professor Claire Armstrong (RA 4), she will analyze which political measures are needed to reduce plastic pollution from aquaculture with the aim of achieving more sustainable practices for producers and consumers. At the beginning of 2026, we will hire three new PhD students (to RA 2, 3, and 5) and one postdoc (to RA 3). Additionally, we have two MSc students working on their theses related to ghost fishing from lost fishing gear and one student working on replacements for "dolly ropes" used in bottom trawl chafing mats. Dsolve is grateful to the Directorate of Fisheries and Hermes AS for all the support and assistance in the form of participation at sea and sharing of expertise, also to our master's students.
Our master's course, "Marine Litter and Arctic Fisheries; Challenges and Solutions," at the Norwegian College of Fishery Science attracted 18 students also this year, all of whom completed a five-day home exam. I am pleased that personnel associated with Dsolve have provided excellent lectures and seminars. Several of these students will participate in a research cruise in the northern Barents Sea in January 2026 with UiT's vessel "Helmer Hanssen."
With this, I wish everyone who has a vision or hope for a cleaner and healthier ocean a Merry Christmas and All the best for a prosperous 2026.
Roger B. Larsen,
Center Leader, SFI Dsolve
