Funding
This PhD project was funded by the Research Council Faroe Islands (Granskingarráðið) under the MARiNAO (Marine Research in the North Atlantic Ocean) programme.
PhD defence
PhD defence by Costanza Cappelli
Costanza Cappelli will defend her PhD thesis “Physical processes affecting stock dynamics of blue whiting in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean”.
On Friday, 30 January 2026, at 13:00, Costanza Cappelli from DTU Aqua will defend her PhD thesis, “Physical processes affecting stock dynamics of blue whiting in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean.”
You can follow the defence online in Zoom via this link or in person at DTU Lyngby Campus in building 341, auditorium 23.
Costanza Cappelli’s PhD thesis investigates how ocean-climate dynamics shape blue whiting recruitment variability. Blue whiting is a very abundant fish in the Northeast Atlantic and supports one of the world’s largest pelagic fisheries. However, the number of young fish that survive to join the adult stock biomass changes widely from year to year, and this variability is not well explained by spawning stock biomass alone. Because of this, biological advice on the management of this fish stock is quite uncertain.
Costanza Cappelli’s research shows that the recruitment variability is closely linked to ocean-climate conditions around the main spawning grounds west of Ireland and the British Isles. Among other things, she demonstrates that a wind stress curl in the year before spawning is strongly related to recruitment, and she dives into the mechanisms underlying the relationship between wind stress curl and recruitment. Thus, the thesis provides a step toward a more climate-informed and ecosystem-based management.
Examiners
- Professor Marja Koski, DTU Aqua (chair)
- Professor David Reid, The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, Denmark
- Professor Neil Banas, University of Strathclyde, UK
Chair of defence
- Professor Patrizio Mariani, DTU Aqua
Supervisors
- Principal Supervisor: Professor Brian R. MacKenzie, DTU Aqua
- Co-supervisor: Researcher Hjálmar Hátún, Faroe Marine Research Institute
- Co-supervisor: Professor André W. Visser, DTU Aqua
Learn more
A copy of the thesis is available for reading at DTU Aqua. Please contact PhD Coordinator Susan Zumbach Johannesen, szjo@aqua.dtu.dk