Population ecology of coastal fishes

Norway has a complicated coastline with many fjords. While coastal ecosystems are small compared to the oceanic ecosystems, they are very important providers of ecosystem services such as recreation and fish resources, both for recreational and professional fishermen. Despite this, population biology of many common and important fish species is poorly known.

One of the better studies fjords in western Norway is Masfjorden, a small inland fjord north of Bergen. From mid-1980s to mid-1990s a large project was conducted here to study whether Norwegian fjords would be suitable for sea ranching of cod. The answer was negative, but much was learned about ecology of the fjord. Later on, Masfjorden has seen smaller studies and teaching cruises.