On 28 June 2021, Søren Post will defend his PhD thesis. The defence can be watched online.
Blue whiting is a widely distributed and highly abundant fish species in the North-Atlantic and the commercial fishery on this species is one of the largest in the world.
The seas around Greenland are generally considered as fringe areas of blue whiting distribution and it is only caught sporadically here. With increasing ocean temperatures due to climate change, blue whiting may become more abundant and widespread in Greenland waters and could potentially be an additional target species for the growing pelagic fleet in Greenland. However, the necessary knowledge about the biology and the dynamics of the stock size in this region is lacking and will be needed for sustainable management of this natural resource.
In his PhD, Søren Post, who is affiliated to DTU Aqua and Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, has investigated the distribution and migration of blue whiting in Greenland waters, analysed potential environmental drivers of its abundance, and studied its diet and feeding behaviour.
The studies reveal new areas of the distribution of blue whiting, showing demographic differences between areas, and discovers that the abundance in Greenland waters increase during years of warmer ocean temperatures. The results also show that the abundance is linked to properties of major oceanic circulation systems (the subpolar gyre) of the North Atlantic. Further, the PhD project has identified the most important prey groups and specific diel feeding patterns.
About the PhD defence
Søren Post will defend his PhD thesis "Blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou): behaviour and distribution in Greenland waters” on Monday 28 June 2021 at 1:00 pm (CEST) via Zoom. Find link to Zoom in the box below.
Supervisors
- Principal Supervisor: Senior Researcher Teunis Jansen, DTU Aqua and Greenland Institute of Natural Resources
- Co-supervisor: Senior Researcher Sigrun Jonasdottir, DTU Aqua
Examiners
- Associate Professor Mikael van Deurs, DTU Aqua
- Principal Scientist Richard Nash, Marine Fisheries – Cefas, Lowestoft, UK
- CEO, Principal researcher Agnes Christine Gundersen, Møreforsking AS, Norway
Chairperson at defence
- Senior Researcher Karin Hüssy, DTU Aqua
Learn more
A popular science summary of the thesis can be downloaded here
A copy of the thesis is available by e-mail on request. Please contact Karin Stubgaard, stub@aqua.dtu.dk.
It is possible to attend Søren Post’s defence on Zoom using this link:
https://dtudk.zoom.us/j/61337005366?pwd=M2EyTHEybU1DSkJDSEFzMktoTm1idz09
Please, enter the meeting 10 minutes prior to the defence proceedings are scheduled to start.
All participants are muted per default, but we ask you to double check that your microphone is turned off.
There will be instructions regarding the proceedings in the beginning of the defence.