Inaugural lectures

Lone Madsen holds a veterinary degree and a PhD in Fish Diseases from the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University. She has been employed at DTU (DTU Aqua and DTU Vet) for most of her career and was appointed Professor of Aquatic Disease Control and Bacteriology in December 2024.

Her research focuses on fish diseases, particularly fish-pathogenic bacteria, as well as diseases in molluscs. She works on disease prevention, including bacteriophage therapy, diagnostic methods, controlled infection models and pathogenesis. Her research also addresses the influence of feed and feed additives on fish health, including the intestinal microbiota of the fish.

Engagement in advisory work and collaboration with authorities and stakeholders are central to her research. She provides scientific advice to public authorities, including risk assessments related to aquaculture and aquatic animal diseases, and contributes to international research networks and coordination, including work within ICES and as the Head of the Danish National Reference Laboratory for Mollusc Diseases. In addition, she teaches the course ‘Health management and disease control in aquaculture’.

• Find Lone Madsen's publications in DTU Orbit

Prophylactic measures against disease in aquatic animals – defining a healthy direction for sustainable aquaculture 

Do fish and shellfish get sick? The short answer is yes. Can they be treated? Yes, to that, too. Bacterial diseases in cultured aquatic animals can be treated with antibiotics, just like in us warm-blooded animals. Would we like to lower the amount of antibiotics used in aquaculture? Yes, but how? One answer is to look for prophylactic measures to avoid disease in the first place.

A better understanding of preventative and prophylactic measures in relation to diseases in commercially valuable finfish and shellfish species is the primary focus of my research. A core element of this research is to improve knowledge concerning the bacterial pathogens responsible for these diseases, knowledge used towards improved pathogen screening and surveillance as well as improved diagnostic methods.

In addition, the role of environmental factors in disease development in aquatic animals should not be overlooked. In fact, the presence and severity of disease results from the interactions of pathogen factors, host factors and environmental factors.

This presentation will focus on my research on finfish diseases, specifically on the development of Flavobacterium psychrophilum, the causative agent of rainbow trout fry syndrome, as a model pathogen relevant to aquaculture in Denmark and overseas. I will show how the results of this research are relevant to industry needs today and in the future. 

Mikael Seehusen Kruchov van Deurs holds a PhD in Marine Biology from University of Copenhagen and went to Lund’s University in 2010 to carry out an individual postdoc project granted by the Danish Research Council (FNU). He has otherwise been employed at DTU Aqua for most of his career. He was appointed professor in Ecosystem based Management Advice for Fish Stocks at DTU in February 2026.

His research focuses on supporting conservation initiatives and advancing ecosystem-based fisheries management for exploited fish species in both coastal and offshore habitats. This work integrates key ecological processes, such as species interactions, species-habitat dynamics, and responses to environmental change, using modelling, statistical analysis, and field studies. 

Engaging with stakeholders and clearly communicating data and assessment outcomes to broader audiences are also central to his approach.

He coordinates the research area Fish Stocks and their Habitats and teaches the course Applied Fisheries Ecology. 

• Find Mikael Seehusen Kruchov van Deurs' publications in DTU Orbit

Linking ecology to fisheries management

How can biological and ecological knowledge be integrated into fisheries management and conservation, and provide a foundation for biological advice and communication with stakeholders and decisionmakers? This question has been a guiding thread throughout my research. 

A central focus of my work has been stock productivity and stock–recruitment relationships, as these provide crucial links between fish biology, environmental variability, climate forcing, and fisheries advice. My research therefore seeks to understand how these dynamics are shaped by environmental conditions and how such knowledge can be more effectively reflected in stock assessments and the advice we produce. Using this perspective, I will present examples ranging from the great North Sea sandeel stocks to the highly productive late summer feeding grounds of Øresund, highlighting the roles of climate variability, oceanographic processes, and prey quantity and quality.

I will touch upon cases where ecosystem information and biological knowledge have been successfully operationalized, for example in survey design, but, perhaps more importantly, why this often remains difficult. I will argue that one of the most immediate impacts of biological knowledge may lie in the communication of our research, including the use of targeted research to explain changes in productivity to fisheries organizations and stakeholders.

Finally, I will discuss the challenges that lie ahead. With ecosystem based fisheries management (EBFM) moving rapidly from concept to practice, the key question is no longer whether to adopt an ecosystem approach, but how to operationalize it. At the same time, fisheries management is undergoing a broader transformation, as EBFM increasingly overlaps with marine protected areas and biodiversity conservation. While this challenges existing assessment and monitoring approaches, it may also offer new and potentially stronger pathways for integrating biological and ecosystem knowledge into fisheries management and marine conservation.