Norwegian bilateral assistance to Namibia in the fisheries sector started in 1990, the same year as Namibia became independent, and went on until 2005. Norway has contributed about NOK 400 million to this work, and a recent independent review concludes that the cooperation between Namibia and Norway has been largely successful. IMR and Centre for Development Co-operation in Fisheries have played a key role in this work.

Since the opening in 1971 the Research Station in Matre, one hour north of Bergen, has been the core facility for the salmonid research of the Institute of Marine Research and of several national and international collaborators. In 2006, the Research Station has been totally modernised with new water supplies, new and better experimental facilities and new analytical laboratories.

Norwegian waters cover a total of over 2 million km2. As of today, the knowledge about the seabed in these waters is limited: What does the seabed consist of? What is the relationship between the physical environment, species diversity and biological resources? How are contaminants stored in the sediments? These questions are being addressed by the MAREANO programme.

Farmed fish experience a number of stressors that may affect their health and welfare. Stressors can be acute,
like crowding during transport or lightning during thunderstorms, or chronic, e.g. high stocking density and low water-exchange rates, which result in high levels of metabolites in the water for long periods of time. How these stressors affect the fish depends on species, stage and age, and also the degree of habituation to the stressors.