News & announcements

A new estimate of the Icelandic grey seal population, based on an aerial survey carried out in 2022, is now available. Regular population estimates have been conducted since 1982 and are based on pup counts in the autumn.

Scientists of the Marine and Freshwater Research institute, University of Iceland and Senckenberg Institute, all members of the BIODICE network, just published a paper in Marine Ecology raising their concern about the Greenland-Scotland ridge in a changing ocean.

Scientists from Marine and Freshwater Research Institute (MFRI) have successfully completed a habitat masurvey B8-2024. The objective of the survey was to map benthic habitats on the southern and eastern Icelandic shelf.

The Alfred Wegener Institute is carrying out an expedition in the Arctic on the historic research vessel and icebreaker RV Polarstern. An employee from MFRI, population geneticist Dr. Áki Jarl Láruson, is participating in the expedition, working on a project called “The impact of climate change on Arctic marine ecosystems”.

Marine and Freshwater Research Institute (MFRI) began extensive whale survey recently off the Icelandic coastline when the research ship Árni Friðriksson HF 200 docked from Hafnarfjörður.

MFRI (Marine and Freshwater Research Institute) has released advice on fishing opportunities for over twenty fish and invertebrate stocks in Icelandic waters in the 2024/2025 fishing year. The advice is available from the MFRI website under Advice.

Marine and Freshwater Research Institute is seeking an expert in modeling to develop and maintain the institute's oceanographic models and to participate in interdisciplinary work aimed at increasing knowledge about the marine environment and ecosystems.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Marine and Freshwater Research Institute (MFRI) and UNESCO‘s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) will host an open seminar on the occasion of the publication of the State of the Ocean Report 2024. The seminar will be held on Monday, June 3 at 10:00-11:15 in MFRI‘s building at Fornubúðir 5 Hafnarfjörður and will be held in English.

A recent review article titled " Abandoned, lost, and Otherwise Discarded Fishing Gear in World’s Inland Fisheries" was published in the article "Reviews in Fishery Biology and Fisheries." This comprehensive review delves into the issue of fishing gear left in freshwater systems worldwide, primarily associated with commercial and recreational fishing activities.

The Icelandic Seal Centre symposium, arranged in collaboration with Marine and Freshwater and Research Institute (MFRI) will be held for the third time at the Icelandic Seal Centre, Hvammstangi Friday the 17th of May. Several of the lectures about projects carried out by and/or in collaboration with MFRI, including a general overview of seal research in Iceland, as well as several student projects supervised by MFRI marine mammal specialist Sandra Granquist who works at Marine and Freshwater and Research Institute (MFRI). The symposium is free of charge and open to everyone.