There is a popular myth that fish can only remember anything for a few seconds, which suggests that they are poor learners. Our experiments have shown that cod have no problems in remembering associations that they had learned three months previously.

Together with Aqua Gen AS, scientists at the Institute of Marine Research (IMR) in Bergen are investigating the possibility of reducing the vulnerability of farmed salmon to lice through selective breeding.

What would sea ranching of scallops and lobsters mean for our coastal environment? The new Sea Ranching Act offers the prospect of developing a future industry free of undesirable impacts on the environment. The Institute of Marine Research has defi ned potential impacts, and has started work on acquiring the knowledge that will be needed to provide the best possible advice to the authorities.

An advisory committee has proposed the inclusion of 36 areas in the fi rst phase of a Norwegian national marine conservation plan. The areas concerned range in size from fi ve to 3450 square kilometres, and most of them lie within the coastal zone. Representativeness and distinctive qualities have been the most important criteria involved in the selection of these areas, which are intended also to serve as reference areas for research and monitoring.

The EU Water Framework Directive is intended to provide a set of guidelines for integrated management of water resources in the European Union and its individual member states. The Directive will function as a set of minimum requirements, i.e. each individual country may draw up more stringent requirement than those set out in the Framework Directive.