Åsa Maria Espmark

Dr Åsa Maria Espmark is based in Sunndalsøra and is Research Director of the Production Biology department within Nofima’s Aquaculture division. As a researcher and later a senior scientist, she has worked on welfare, welfare indicators and stress in farmed fish, with a particular focus on salmon. In recent years, her work has focused on developing new aquaculture technologies, emphasising that these must be designed around the needs of the fish.

Espmark has led major Norwegian and international projects, including OrAqua and FutureEUAqua. Until 2023, she devoted most of her time to leading CtrlAQUA, a Centre for Research-based Innovation. CtrlAQUA’s main objective was to develop technological and biological innovations to make closed-containment systems a reliable and economically viable option for rearing post-smolt salmon up to 1 kg.

In her presentation, Espmark will share her thoughts on how research institutions can help strengthen the knowledge base needed to improve fish welfare in aquaculture.