Institute of Marine Research (IMR)

The Institute of Marine Research, IMR, is one of the biggest marine research institutes in Europe with about 1,000 employees. Our main activities are research, advisory work and monitoring. In January 2018, the IMR was merged with the National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research, NIFES.

IMR is a leading supplier of knowledge relating to the sustainable management of the resources in our marine ecosystems and the whole food chain from the sea to the table. IMR advises the Norwegian authorities on aquaculture and the ecosystems of the Barents Sea, the Norwegian Sea, the North Sea and the Norwegian coastal zone. For this reason, about fifty percent of IMR’s activities are financed by the Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs.

IMR’s headquarters are in Bergen, but important activities are also carried out at the department in Tromsø, at the research stations in Matre, Austevoll and Flødevigen and on board research vessels, which are at sea for a total of approximately 2,000 days a year. IMR is strongly engaged in the development aid activities through the Centre for Development Cooperation in Fisheries.