PhD defence on optimization of decision processes and resource utilization in the fishing industry

Europe’s fishing industry processes over five million tonnes of fish annually. Almost two-thirds end up as side-stream resources, either used for low-value animal feed or disposed of. If these side-streams can be utilized to a greater extent and for higher-quality products, the sector can enhance both its sustainability and economic returns.

To achieve this, storage solutions, sorting technologies, and management tools need to be developed to secure supplies from the fisheries’ bycatch and better utilization of side-streams from aquaculture, fishing, and processing industries.

One of the barriers to this development is the decision-making process itself: How does one make the objectively best decision when faced with a new and complex area with significant economic consequences, as is the case of the fishing industry’s transition to greater side-stream utilization? This question has Søren Espersen Schrøder addressed in his PhD project at DTU Aqua.

The goal of his thesis, "Decision Tools and Management in the Fish Sector," is to demonstrate how companies in the fishing and seafood processing industries can optimize their decision-making processes by using decision support tools. He has particularly worked with a modified AHP decision support tool (Analytical Hierarchical Process) that can account for a decision-maker's various cognitive biases and minimize their influence on the results of the decision support tool.

As a result of this research focus, Søren Espersen Schrøder has developed a novel and acknowledged method framework called "Debias Your Decisions" (DYD). Unlike previous frameworks, DYD includes both the process of identifying specific biases that can influence the results, and a structured approach to correcting these biases in an AHP tool setting. As part of the PhD project, the method was tested in a company processing fish and seafood, where it contributed to optimizing the utilization of the company's side-streams.

About the defence

Søren Espersen Schrøder will defend his PhD thesis, “Decision Tools and Management in the Fish Sector. Examining the psychological components of the Analytical Hierarchy Processes methodology and its effect on decision-making”, on Thursday, 21 March 2024, at 13:00. The defence can be followed online or at DTU Lyngby Campus (please see below).

Examiners 

• Professor Charlotte Jacobsen, DTU National Food Institute (chair)
• Associate Professor Nurcan Deniz, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Turkey
• Chief Engineer Sigurjon Arason, MATIS, Iceland

Chairperson at defence

• Senior Researcher Jonna Tomkiewicz, DTU Aqua

Supervisors

• Principal supervisor: Professor J. Rasmus Nielsen, DTU Aqua
• Co-supervisor: Senior Consultant Erling Larsen, DTU Aqua
• Co-supervisor: Professor Anders Nielsen, 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