News & announcements

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.

In response to the pressing challenges posed by human activities and climate change on marine ecosystems, BioProtect, a newly-funded EU project, has been officially launched. Coordinated by MATIS in Iceland, in cooperation with Marine and Freshwater Research Institure, the 8 million EUR bring together 18 partners from 8 countries.

A graduation ceremony for GRÓ Fisheries Training Programme’s 25th cohort of fellows will be held Wednesday 15 May. The ceremony will take place at the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, Fornubúðum 5 Hafnarfirði and starts at 15:10. Concurrently, a poster exhibition of the final projects of the graduating fellows will be on display at the same location.

A new study, published in Cell Reports Sustainability, shows the persistence of long-standing biases in research to conserve biodiversity. These biases remain and will ultimately lead to uneven loss of biodiversity as understudied groups decline and disappear - some species before they are even identified and described.