2017

Over the past four years, with a budget of NOK 70 million and around 45 planned scientific articles, researchers have endeavoured to find out what effect fish and seafood consumption have on our health. The Fish Intervention Studies project (FINS) is near completion and the results are starting to come in.

Controlled freezing and thawing of cod give consumers a product all year round that rivals fresh fish. A new research project shows that the way in which cod is frozen and thawed makes all the difference to the quality of the product.

So far, fish have been spared the problem of mycotoxins produced by mould, but the increase of plant ingredients in farmed fish feed has resulted in more such toxins in fish feed too. Many ‘new’ toxins have been discovered, and we know little about any consequences they may have for fish and people.

Norway received the IOC prize for its ocean science knowledge and capacity. Director General of NIFES Ole Arve Misund accepted the prize on behalf of Norway during the UN Ocean Conference in New York this week.

Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Minister of Petroleum and Energy Terje Søviknes announced on Sunday that the Government has said yes to a new building for the purpose of co-locating the soon-to-be-merged Institute of Marine Research and NIFES, and the Directorate of Fisheries.

A nutritious vegetable grows along our shores that we barely use. Scientists now want to investigate whether kelp can make up a greater part of the European diet.

NIFES scientists were surprised to find the parasite Chinese liver fluke in farmed Pangasius in Vietnam. At worst, the parasite can cause serious liver disease and cancer if the actual seafood is eaten raw, without prior freezing or properly heating.

The prevalence of goitre used to be high in the mountainous country of Nepal, and children were born with brain damage because of serious iodine deficiency. Now, Norwegian research shows, on the contrary, that many Nepalese people have a too high iodine intake. What happened?

We are now seeing much less of the ‘old’ environmental contaminants like dioxins and DDT in farmed salmon, after plant ingredients replaced fish oil and meal in the feed. Is it possible, though, that we have created a new problem caused by pesticides from agriculture ending up as residues in fish feed?

The annual monitoring showed that one in four flat oysters had cadmium levels above the maximum level, but that Norwegian bivalve molluscs are otherwise in good condition.

Farmed salmon often lose their sight in summer as cataracts make their eyes opaque. This happens when the temperature rises, but exactly why it happens has not been known. Scientists at NIFES have now found out more about the link between sea temperature and blindness in salmon.

In its revised national budget, the Norwegian government proposes merging the Institute of Marine Research (IMR) and NIFES – The National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research.

Bhaktapur is nearly 1,000 kilometres away from the nearest ocean. Nevertheless, the Nepalese have good levels of marine fatty acids in their blood. The reason for this is a mystery to scientists.

Large halibut weighing over 100 kg contain very high levels of undesirable substances, according to a new survey. Halibut weighing less than 40 kg, however, which accounted for more than 80 per cent of the analysed fish, contained low levels of undesirable substances like mercury and organic contaminants. For 85 per cent of the halibut analysed, the levels of undesirable substances were below the EU maximum level in all parts of the fillet.

Deficiencies in B vitamins such as folate and vitamin B12 affect the offspring’s genes. Studies on fish show that even a slight B vitamin deficiency leads to much lower fecundity and weaker offspring.