Dr. Erla Örnólfsdóttir leads the Marine Research Center (VÖR) at Breiðafjörður, Ólafsvík, Snæfellsnes, Iceland. The institute, situated on a small peninsula at a remote fjord, currently consists of six people – including herself – and she started it from scratch in 2006. This is the story:

Returning to Iceland after a postdoc in the US, Erla heard about an initiative by a local group of fishermen around Breiðafjörður. The fishermen wanted to know more about the fjord and what mechanisms are driving the fish populations in it. They had also started to find new species in the fjord that they had not observed before. Aware of the changes, they wanted someone to properly – scientifically – look at the ecosystem and tell them what is going on. To do this, a small research institution was founded.

“I heard about this and thought ‘this is unique, it’s so cool – I totally want to do it’!” Erla says. “The interview panel consisted of several fishermen and other interested parties sitting in a circle around me and asking all kinds of questions”.

So why did they want to do this?
“Of course, the fishermen’s interest is economically driven.”
And what happens should you find something they don’t like – for example, if you have to tell them that they shouldn’t fish for certain species?
“I asked that exact question at the end of the interview: so, if I find something that says that your gut feeling about how things work in the fjord is wrong – what will you do then? They assured me that they would go with the science facts because sustainability of the fisheries is in their own interest and knowledge is what they are after.”

The first weeks of the institute’s existence were spent in Erla’s apartment with only her laptop, writing grant proposals. Then things started coming together, first with temporary housing until, early in 2008, the building for the institute was completed. Erla: “At first, the lab had only one small sink – too small to wash plankton nets, we had to wash them outside with buckets of water. But the current research facility is quite nice and meets our needs.”

Sampling trips initially consisted of fishermen taking Erla and her staff out on their fishing boats. Recently, because the fishermen are not always available, they started hiring another boat.

Because the fishermen are interested in the project and are asking questions, some science education is happening. So far, the lab hosted one open day to introduce the institute and project to local people. The attendance wasn’t great, “but now there are quite a few people that tell me that next time, they will come, that now they are curious about what we do.”

Current projects look at the base of the food web: the phytoplankton dynamics in relation to the physical and chemical environment, zooplankton biomass and community composition. Investigaions of the biology and population structure of the common whelk in Breidafjordur are also under way.

The institute’s funding consists of contributions by the fishermen, the fishing industry and the local community, while more substantial amounts are contributed by research grants and by the Icelandic government. Up to now, funding is stable, despite the financial situation in Iceland.

The entire enterprise was financially insecure to begin with, of course, with complete uncertainty about the institute’s future. Erla: “But I love my job. And I was able to go for it because I don’t have family or children I need to worry about.” “I work hard – as hard as during my PhD. I remember saying in the last week of my PhD that ‘I could do this again’. Friends thought I was crazy, but considering what I do now, it’s probably just as well I felt that way.”