Uitnodiging Noorse mariene grootdenkers

Noorwegen is wereldwijd toonaangevend op gebied van onderzoek-en beheer in de maritieme sector. HAV21 demonstreert de typische Noorse brede benadering, en een aanzienlijke hoeveelheid aan marien onderzoek, innovatie en ontwikkeling, maar het lijkt alsof Noorwegen niet in staat is om het volledige potentieel te benutten.

De visindustrie is een van de weinige sectoren waar Noorwegen houdt wereldwijd toonaangevende onderzoeksinstellingen , die een belangrijk concurrentievoordeel zijn geweest voor de industrie , maar de industrie zal extra kennis nodig om kansen te gebruiken en om te slagen in een internationale wedstrijd arena .

“Onze toekomst ligt in de zee. Als Noorwegen wil slagen als een wereldwijd toonaangevende zeevarende natie, moeten we erin slagen om met gerichte initiatieven, kennis en links tussen innovatie en industrie te komen in de verschillende sectoren en het vermogen te hebben om op lange termijn te denken”.

De belangrijkste vragen voor de komende tijd zijn dan ook:

  • Hoe kunnen we gezamenlijk de maritieme industrie verbeteren waar het gaat om
    talent-ontwikkeling en rekrutering?
  • Hoe kunnen de grote steden beter samenwerken om Noorwegen
    haar leidende positie te laten behouden in maritieme kennis?
  • Hoe kunnen we onze voordelen verder ontwikkelen als een globale
    toonaangevende mariene kennis-natie?

Het grootste netwerk van grote steden nodigen geïnteresseerden uit voor een een startbijeenkomst over verdere samenwerking op het gebied van kennis over onze oceanen en kustgebieden. 22 Jan Oslo.

E.e.a. wordt geleidt door de Nederlander Ernst Kloosterman, Managing Director at Industrial Biotech Network Norway.

Ik vraag me af welke partijen aanwezig zouden moeten zijn mocht er in Nederland een dergelijke bijeenkomst georganiseerd worden??

Norway heavily investing in marine economy

The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation has asked Sustainovate to make an inventory of Norwegian strategies, instruments and key players that support its BLUE ECONOMY. This memo will also assess which approach The Netherlands could follow to connect to the Norwegian strategy.

The Norwegian government’s ambition for its seafood industry* is that Norway will be the world’s leading seafood nation. Besides producing bulk seafood, Norway’s goal is to create even greater value based on ALL their marine resources through for exmaple bio-refinery and bio-technology.

Two reasons are given for a large scale and continuous investment in this industry:

1) Norway is the world’s second largest exporter of seafood, and is now exporting 33 million seafood meals to the world daily. Norwegian waters are seven times larger than its land surface, and include some of the world’s richest fish stocks. In addition, Norway has a long coastline that is very suitable for aquaculture.

2) There is a high recognition by the Norwegian political& business society that oil & gas will run out in a few decades. For that reason the country is actively developing their secondary marine industries. Even the oil & gas industry itself is investing in biofuels and seeking synergy with other blue sectors.

We can state that Norway is heavily investing in its entire BLUE ECONOMY which includes:

  • Oil & Gas
  • Seafood (fisheries & aquaculture)
  • Bio-technology and bio-prospecting
  • Maritime services ( oil/gas; pipelines; cables)
  • Energy (wind-wave-hydro)

Consequently, innovation and scientific research which form the backbone of the BLUE ECONOMY are given high priority by both public and private stakeholders. For this reason the Netherlands should take advantage of Norwegian strategy on innovation and research.

* The term ‘Seafood industry’ is defined here as food, suppliers, knowledge, bio-economy and biotechnology.

Master thesis with distinction

‘Opportunistic data to improve sustainable fisheries’. Master student ‘Sven Gastauer’ has joined a field survey with Norway’s most advanced fishing trawler ‘LIBAS’. The trawler has been chartered by the Norwegian Institute for Marine Research in Bergen to study herring, mackerel and blue whiting in the Norwegian Sea.

UPDATE:

Master student Sven Gastauer, who completed his master thesis at the University of Bangor in cooperation with Sustainovate, Liegruppen AS and the Institute for Marine Research in Bergen, Norway (IMR), was awarded a distinction mark on his thesis and an overall degree, master of sciencewith distinction in Marine Environmental Protection.

The thesis was under supervision of Prof. Dr. Michel Kaiser and Sytse Ybema.

Sven has left Oslo on July 14th for joining Leif Nottestad and his scientific team onboard LIBAS in Bergen, Norway. His BLOG is a mixture of his impression of daily life onboard this fishing vessel combined with online tools that could enhance data communication. Follow him and the LIBAS crew at http://svengastauer.zoka.cc. He is expected to return to Oslo on the 6th of August.

It’s not the first time that Sven Gastauer has reported live from the oceans: he also reported love from the Dutch research vessel TRIDENS!


COLLABORATION WITH OUTSIDE BODY

  • Sytse Ybema Owner of Sustainovate (Consultancy in Fisheries R&D) – External Supervisor
  • Liegruppen AS – Corporation Managing Fisheries Company – Data provision for the pilot
  • Marelife – Independent Science-Based Biomarine innovation Network
  • Olav Rune GodøMR (Institute for marine research, Norway) acoustics specialist
  • Myriax – Sophisticated marine technology and 4D geospatial software developing company – Provision of software and technical assistance
  • IMR – Institute for Marine Research (Norway)
PROJECT Environment and Communication – keys to success in modern fishery- A pilot study of the Virtual Marine Platform in the Norwegian Sea –NAME Sven Gastauer (University of Bangor, UK)PROJECT SUPERVISOR(S) Prof. Michel Kaiser (University of Bangor, UK)
TITLE/RESEARCH TOPIC AREA In order to optimise marine harvesting and quality of the catches:

  • What are the main environmental parameters driving fisheries success and how can these be visualised in a comprehensible, directly usable way?
  • What technological advances are needed to set up an improved data- and communication flow between fishing vessels as well as to onshore facilities?
Research area:Norwegian SeaResearch period:June 10-Sept 30. At sea testing: July 15-August 6 onboard LIBASType of fisheries:pelagic (herring, mackerel, blue whiting etc.)Type of data:opportunistic and scientificCompetences: fisheries acoustics, geographical mapping, online communication tools, environmental measurements.

Aim of the research The proposed research is part of a Dutch-Norwegian project, the Virtual Marine Platform or ‘VMP’ aiming at constructing a fisheries decision tool based on opportunistic marine data. VMP runs a pilot where the Norwegian fishing company Liegruppen AS has been selected as a data and vessel supplier. The aim of this pilot is to fuse and visualize fisheries data (acoustics and catch) and various environmental variables, directly affecting fisheries success. The availability of such data in a comprehensible way is directly working towards more efficient operational decisions at sea, and hence directly affecting fisheries sustainability.

The overall goal of the VMP is to improve fisheries efficiency and reduce environmental impacts (bycatch, IUU, fuel waste) using cross disciplinary marine data sources. The idea is in compliance with some suggestions towards a co-management of fisheries put forward by WWF and EUCC to be included in the revised common fisheries policy to be released later this year. In order to achieve this, sharing of knowledge and improved communication by the different actors is essential.

Underlying rationaleThe sea is used by a multitude of players, all constantly collecting data. Mostly this data is solely used to optimize a specific operation, though its potential, especially in combination with cross-disciplinary information is much higher. Fishermen in particular often collect large amounts of data but find it difficult to handle it correctly to improve their operations. In order to improve the common understanding of their environment Sustainovate is exploring experimental data visualisation techniques in multidimensional geospatial maps. Besides this the VMP also acts as a communicator and works towards a better mutual understanding between, as well as within various interest groups. ICES (2007) underlines the potential of opportunistic acoustic data from fisheries vessels for scientific purposes. The project aims to explore the potential of combining and analyzing opportunistically collected Operational data (fuel consumption, time efficiency), Resource related data (Catch information, biological sampling, Acoustic data) and Environmental data with a 4-dimensional visualization.

Thesis objectives

  • Integrate environmental, acoustic and catch information into a 4-D map using Myriax Eonfusion by Post-processing acoustic data originating from a fisheries vessel during normal operational process, Extracting and using fish quality information from the catch (e.g. Length distribution, Length-Weight relationships, fat content), Gathering environmental data from opportunistic sources and Search for underlying correlations in the combined data based on fishermen’s ideas, environmental factors and temporal and spatial dynamics.
  • Define technological needs for improved data sharing at sea. Which infrastructure do we need and what does already excist?
  • Define which environmental information and data sources would be essential to optimize skippers performance.
N.B. All collected fisheries data are owned by Liegruppen and will not be used outside the Virtual Marine Platform project.

 

Virtual Marine Platform at NASF 2010

For the second time in the history of the North Atlantic Seafood Forum the MareLife innovation Seminar was held in Oslo.

At the main conference, the captains of marine industry look ahead to future market developments, while the innovation seminar hosted open minded trendsetters. The Netherlands has its own Fisheries Innovation Platform (VIP),


but this international MareLife seminar had a typically Norwegian approach: focusing on strategic and business innovations rather than technological achievements. The main questions were: How do we use each other’s technologies and knowledge?  How do we get the most out of multi-sector and international cooperation? Most importantly, how do we add value to the marine industry through sustainable development?

The MareLife seminar was attended mainly  by Norwegian delegates but some of the major revolutionary ideas came from abroad. Delegates from the UK, Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, USA, Iceland and Italy shared their innovations and future visions.

The Dutch made a substantial contribution, opening with a speech by Reinder Schaap, Councillor of Fisheries and Marine Biodiversity, attached to the Dutch Embassy in Oslo. Mr. Schaap explained how the Dutch government encourages the fishing industry in preparing for new European fisheries policy. He also proposed to take the Dutch Fisheries Innovation Platform to European level and took the opportunity to invite the Norwegian industry to participate in the upcoming state visit by Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of Norway. Sustainable fisheries and Energy will play an essential role during this visit.

Sytse-Ybema_1110

After a novel presentation by StatOil Vice President Eli Aamot (on the vision of an oil company in cooperation with the fishing industry) it was Sytse Ybema’s turn to demonstrate the advantages of cross-sector collaboration between the petroleum, maritime and marine sectors. In the current era of rapid communication technologies, the fishing industry cannot be left behind. An opportunity to increase efficiency and drastically decrease discards, through tactical information sharing, was the main message.

Sytse Ybema, in collaboration with the Norwegian fishing company ‘Liegruppen AS, had earlier drawn attention to this issue at the Fisheries Innovation Conference in Rotterdam, November 2009. Some key players were once again present ,and discussed how this project could be made more financially secure.

Introducing 2 fishing companies at NASF 2010

Two trendsetting fishing companies, ‘Hermes AS ‘ from Norway and ‘The Atlantic Company Ltd. (TASC)’ from The Netherlands were put forward by Sustainovate to present their innovative business solutions at the anual North Atlantic Seafood Forum in Oslo.

Hermes-AS: Creating business by implementing social responsibility.

Starting in 2010 a new EU regulation will require detailed catch certificates from all fishing vessels selling their products in the EU. While fisheries around the world are struggling to effectively meet the new law, Hermes is leading the way. After entering a product code on the Hermes’ website, users can view the entire product history as well as a map of the catch location. The information will even be available on mobile phones.

With this system Hermes not only saves costs and time associated with claims or quality matters, but it also builds a reputation with partners and customers which strengthens its position in the market.

The North Atlantic Seafood Company Ltd.: Introducing Sustainable Atlantic Tropical Sole into Europe through sustainable business.

TASC_TheTHSCteamThe Atlantic Seafood Company (TASC) is a Dutch owned fish processing company with a factory located in Gambia, West Africa. The company successfully combines its handling of people, planet and profit. Its aim is to create a sustainable fishery using local fishermen and non-destructive methods, enabling them to provide sustainable sole to the European market.

The business concept of The Atlantic Seafood Company is unique in:

  • Combining research and business to raise the potential of the Gambian fishing industry and to secure a stable base for certified fisheries.
  • Interlinking research and business to upgrade the potentials of the Gambian fishing industry and secure a stable base for certified fisheries
  • Providing full product processing in Africa
  • Offering an alternative to non-sustainable sole.

The company fulfils a need for financial support in the fisheries industry, which creates significant export earnings for Gambia and its population. The EU sees this business concept as setting an example to other African nations wishing to take advantage of an earning opportunity. The main export product (Atlantic Sole) is now sought by the Scandinavian, East European and Russian markets. Further scientific collaboration will help the company to build an even stronger brand.